Garmin Colorado

20.7k · January 15, 2008

I would like to use the unit for hiking purposes primarly, but using the GPS w/ City Nav for turn by turn routeable directions to the trail head would be almost as important. But to me if it doesn't provide any beep or tone about an upcoming turn its worthless. I don't want to have to constantly look at the thing while I'm driving!
Wouldn't it make more sense to have a dedicated dash GPS for road routing? They talk, larger screen and the maps are included, and not very expensive.

The GPSr would not have to talk, if the mount did. Consider a mount like the Quest uses. You snap the GPSr into it and 1) the mount powers the GPSr, 2) the backlight automatically comes on, and 3) voice guidance is given through a speaker in the mount.

As for screen size, the Colorado uses a screen that is somewhat larger than that of my Quest.

While it is true that maps are included with 'street' GPSrs, what about next year when you wish to upgrade them? You can either buy one copy of the new maps for a unit that you use for geocaching and street navigation, or you can buy two copies for two GPSrs.

It is also true that 'street' GPSrs are not that expensive. Of course'not very expensive' is relative. They are still going to set you back a few hundred dollars, at least. If I had a choice between a single unit that was good at two things or that same unit plus another unit, I'll take the single unit and use the extra money to feed my Happy Meals addiction.

I tried some level on road routing with my Venture, a joke. The screen is to small and to dim. The audible tone is inaudible inside a car.

Again, I disagree. While I primarily use my Quest for steet navigation, my wife and I were in Florida a few weeks ago and it carped out on me. We were driving a sweet loaner BMW convertible, but the cig lighter didn't work, so the Quest's battery died. Luckily, I had my Venture Cx with me so we used that to navigate. It wasn't as easy as having Ginger tell us when to turn, but it did the trick. The beeps were audible and teh screen plenty viewable with the backlight turned on.

I concluded dual-purpose car/hiking is to big a compromise and dismissed the whole idea.

Dual purpose doesn't have to be a compromise, as long as the necessary features have been engineered in. Garmin's past units prove that it can be done and done well.

2.3k · January 15, 2008

Sharing cards between the units is a mean of conveying information, that's already supported by the Zumo, for example. You can export things on one, then import on the other.

Or you bring the card in to your computer, load the stuff there, then insert it in both units and import data to them.

That could be done with software alone, so it wouldn't need any additional hardware.

It's possible to use a unit like the Colorado for car navigation, sure. But having a "real" such navigator, which in my case also provides handsfree for my phone, via Bluetooth, gives live traffic information via TMC over RDS, has a screen that's large enough to be easy to see, allows displaying a proper QWERTY keyboard on the touch screen, talks about turns and charges while in the cradle, that's something else.

There simply are too many of these things that aren't realistic to put into an outdoor unit.

Comparing it to the Quest doesn't really count, as everyone who has tried carrying a Quest around in their hand, compared to holding one of the dedicated outdoor units, would know. In the specific case of the Colorado, as it's designed today, almost all of the back of the unit slides off to allow access to the battery bay and the card reader. That's a very convenient design, for an outdoor unit, but it makes adding a click-in connection, like what you find on the Quest, difficult, as there's hardly anywhere to put it.

Designing for this to begin with could overcome that, of course, but probably at expenses I wouldn't want to pay for a dedicated outdoor unit.

20.7k · January 15, 2008

Sharing cards between the units is a mean of conveying information, that's already supported by the Zumo, for example. You can export things on one, then import on the other.

Or you bring the card in to your computer, load the stuff there, then insert it in both units and import data to them.

That could be done with software alone, so it wouldn't need any additional hardware.

It's possible to use a unit like the Colorado for car navigation, sure. But having a "real" such navigator, which in my case also provides handsfree for my phone, via Bluetooth, gives live traffic information via TMC over RDS, has a screen that's large enough to be easy to see, allows displaying a proper QWERTY keyboard on the touch screen, talks about turns and charges while in the cradle, that's something else.

There simply are too many of these things that aren't realistic to put into an outdoor unit.

Comparing it to the Quest doesn't really count, as everyone who has tried carrying a Quest around in their hand, compared to holding one of the dedicated outdoor units, would know. In the specific case of the Colorado, as it's designed today, almost all of the back of the unit slides off to allow access to the battery bay and the card reader. That's a very convenient design, for an outdoor unit, but it makes adding a click-in connection, like what you find on the Quest, difficult, as there's hardly anywhere to put it.

Designing for this to begin with could overcome that, of course, but probably at expenses I wouldn't want to pay for a dedicated outdoor unit.

Again, you and I disagree.

My references to the Quest were only to explain that the unit need not have a speaker to allow for voice guidance.

Obviously, the mount for the Colorado would not be designed exactly the same, but that doesn't mean that a mount could not be designed and that the Colorado could not be plugged into it. (After all, they offer a mount for it anyway that allows it to be used in a vehicle and accept external power.)

While I agree with you that the Quest is not the best GPSr to use on trail, I don't see how that makes the Colorado bad for use off-trail. (Anyone who has ever used a V knows that a unit can work very well for both.)

Regarding all the other options and do dads that you want on a 'street' GPSr, I don't want them. I suspect that there are many GPS users who have no interest in my GPSr having bluetooth so they can use their phone through it or any of those other things except for a 'talking' cradle which could certainly be designed for the Colorado. (Heck, pivot the current mount sideways and add a speaker to the power cable and you are done. Everything else is software.)

Edited January 15, 2008 by sbell111

1.9k · January 15, 2008

I would like to use the unit for hiking purposes primarly, but using the GPS w/ City Nav for turn by turn routeable directions to the trail head would be almost as important. But to me if it doesn't provide any beep or tone about an upcoming turn its worthless. I don't want to have to constantly look at the thing while I'm driving!
Wouldn't it make more sense to have a dedicated dash GPS for road routing? They talk, larger screen and the maps are included, and not very expensive.
The GPSr would not have to talk, if the mount did. Consider a mount like the Quest uses. You snap the GPSr into it and 1) the mount powers the GPSr, 2) the backlight automatically comes on, and 3) voice guidance is given through a speaker in the mount.

As for screen size, the Colorado uses a screen that is somewhat larger than that of my Quest.

While it is true that maps are included with 'street' GPSrs, what about next year when you wish to upgrade them? You can either buy one copy of the new maps for a unit that you use for geocaching and street navigation, or you can buy two copies for two GPSrs.

It is also true that 'street' GPSrs are not that expensive. Of course'not very expensive' is relative. They are still going to set you back a few hundred dollars, at least. If I had a choice between a single unit that was good at two things or that same unit plus another unit, I'll take the single unit and use the extra money to feed my Happy Meals addiction.

I tried some level on road routing with my Venture, a joke. The screen is to small and to dim. The audible tone is inaudible inside a car.
Again, I disagree. While I primarily use my Quest for steet navigation, my wife and I were in Florida a few weeks ago and it carped out on me. We were driving a sweet loaner BMW convertible, but the cig lighter didn't work, so the Quest's battery died. Luckily, I had my Venture Cx with me so we used that to navigate. It wasn't as easy as having Ginger tell us when to turn, but it did the trick. The beeps were audible and teh screen plenty viewable with the backlight turned on.
I concluded dual-purpose car/hiking is to big a compromise and dismissed the whole idea.
Dual purpose doesn't have to be a compromise, as long as the necessary features have been engineered in. Garmin's past units prove that it can be done and done well.

I can't compare with your experience, the Venture Cx is my first and only GPSr, I use it for hiking and occasional backroad intersections. As in "If their's a fork in the road, Take it!!!" I don't Geocache, I tried placing a few caches, but my cache descriptions weren't politically correct, so end of the line.

So I'll retain my opinions while deferring to your superior experience.

Edited January 15, 2008 by MtnHermit

1.9k · January 15, 2008

Anders,

The back and sides of my Venture Cx are rubber coated. Does the Colorado have the same rubber feel?

Thanks

18.9k · January 15, 2008

Pure speculation here but......

Sounds like the new paperless geocaching feature was implmented as a specialized POI - and thus all the caches are not visible on the map screens and the ability to mark as found. Just like any POI.

Also speculation - if you load up all 1000 geocaches as both waypoints AND load a GPX - you can view details and continue to geocache as you did with previous units. Similar to loading a POI to see more details AND loading the caches as waypoints on say a Legend "H" model.

January 15, 2008

Is it true we can expect the 300 out tomorrow on the 16th?

2.6k · January 15, 2008

Is it true we can expect the 300 out tomorrow on the 16th?

Dates can change but I had a vendor tell me last week that Garmin was expected to ship to dealers on the following timetable:

(300) Week of 1/14

(400c) Week of 1/14

(400t) Week of 2/7

(400i) Week of 3/3

24.7k · January 15, 2008

Additionally, the Techie I spoke to said you can use any sized SD card you want, but the unit will only recognize and read up to 4GB. He was not 100% sure if the SDHC format would work.

I was also told you can swap out pre-programmed cards between units. He said the authorization code is for the card only and the card is not restricted for use only in one unit. He also cautioned me to stress how important it is NOT to alter the content of the cards and said one of their most common issues with the pre-programmed cards is people accidentally save to the card and this overwrites the maps. Oops!!

Edit: Added the word "work" 01/11/08 9:43pm CST

Don't SD Cards have a slider that lets you "Lock them"

January 15, 2008

do we know yet what the Topo program will be on the 400t? Is it going to be topo 08? 24?

24.7k · January 15, 2008

For the people that do a lot of caching, holding lots of information is desirable.

For instance, I hold all of my found caches, plus unfound for the normal areas I travel. This gets up around 3000 caches.

Yes, but with the GPX file support, that's almost a moot point. If you're that into caching, you'll likely be a premium member and will be using GSAK to manage your GPX files. True, we don't yet know for sure how many caches it will hold, but it's probably more a function of memory than of some artificial limit.

For "normal" usage of waypoints (to mark something of interest to you, one point at a time), 1000 is a lot.

A GPS file has 500 caches. GSAK has a steep learning curve and it flat out doesn't do things the way I like. i'd rather load my GPXs straight to the GPS and load it up and skip GSAK. No muss no fuss.

24.7k · January 15, 2008

Reading the specs it appears that the 300 is a 400 without the pre loaded maps. So you can buy the 300 upload a sale priced map and have a 400 for 50.00 less. ?

20.7k · January 15, 2008

Additionally, the Techie I spoke to said you can use any sized SD card you want, but the unit will only recognize and read up to 4GB. He was not 100% sure if the SDHC format would work.

I was also told you can swap out pre-programmed cards between units. He said the authorization code is for the card only and the card is not restricted for use only in one unit. He also cautioned me to stress how important it is NOT to alter the content of the cards and said one of their most common issues with the pre-programmed cards is people accidentally save to the card and this overwrites the maps. Oops!!

Edit: Added the word "work" 01/11/08 9:43pm CST

Don't SD Cards have a slider that lets you "Lock them"

Yup.

January 15, 2008

This was mentioned in the Wherigo threads and it's something that didn't dawn on me, but the Colorado doesn't have a speaker, or a headphone jack. This will seriously limit the numbers of Wherigo cartridges one could do as any made that rely on sound based components won't be doable on the Colorado. I'm really shocked to see that a unit that was supposedly in partnership with Groundspeak and advertises it's ability to Wherigo isn't fully capable of doing the full variety of Wherigo cartridges that will be available. There's really no excuse that a $600 unit couldn't have a speaker on it. The Triton 2000 has a voice recorder and a speaker and it still has the same waterproof rating (not saying the Triton is the answer, just giving an example of a product that has the necessary equipment).

2.3k · January 15, 2008

The current Colorado doesn't have a powered mount. The power cable powers the unit through the mini USB, which is the only connector there is.

As you who have read above have understood, I'm still of the opinion that it was a wise decision to concentrate on the outdoors, provide limited car guidance but mainly leave that field to those units that are designed for it. Crossovers tend not to be good at anything. I do however endorse the idea that increased capability for data sharing between Garmin's different models would be a good idea, probably both for us users as well as for their sales. Loading a new GPS file to the Colorado and then "beaming" it over to the car navigator, to reach the nearest parking place, would be very convenient. Admittedly, only a minority in the world are crazy enough to try something as obscure as geocaching, but still. There may be other uses too.

The battery compartment cover has a rubberized feel, but not that soft as the rubber lining around my eTrex Vista. I don't know if the current eTrex models are the same, but I assume they are similar.

January 16, 2008

do we know yet what the Topo program will be on the 400t? Is it going to be topo 08? 24?

Topo 2008. I was at MacWorld San Francisco today and that was confirmed at the Garmin exhibit

January 16, 2008

Reading the specs it appears that the 300 is a 400 without the pre loaded maps. So you can buy the 300 upload a sale priced map and have a 400 for 50.00 less. ?

Yes, that is correct. Confirmed by a Garmin rep at MacWorld San Francisco today.

1.3k · January 16, 2008

What about the larger Memory in the 400? There was only a $70 difference between the 300 and 400 series where I ordered mine. It's worth it to go top shelf for me. It keeps me from going back and wishing I would have spent the extra few dollars to go all the way.

3k · January 16, 2008

Reading the specs it appears that the 300 is a 400 without the pre loaded maps. So you can buy the 300 upload a sale priced map and have a 400 for 50.00 less. ?

Yes, that is correct. Confirmed by a Garmin rep at MacWorld San Francisco today.

Something doesn't make sense. In order to preload Topo 2008 onto this device I would think you would need 2-3GB. That would mean that a 300 (which doesn't have the preloaded topo maps) would have that amount of internal memory free if it is the same exact hardware as at 400t. The specs on Garmin's site seem to indicate that a 300 only has 384MB of internal memory. If they are the same exact unit where did all the memory go on the 300?

I've been assuming that they are the same hardware except the 400 has a larger internal flash memory which would make it cost a little more (plus the added cost of the mapping software).

GO$Rs

January 16, 2008

For Anders :

Will the Colorado talk to a computer with the dongle thing that the new wristwatch #50 thing uses to keep

track of workouts, . . . Hmm, that would be cool for tracks and routes at the very least, or loading caches.

Norm

Re-iteration

Norm

January 16, 2008

Reading the specs it appears that the 300 is a 400 without the pre loaded maps. So you can buy the 300 upload a sale priced map and have a 400 for 50.00 less. ?

Yes, that is correct. Confirmed by a Garmin rep at MacWorld San Francisco today.

Something doesn't make sense. In order to preload Topo 2008 onto this device I would think you would need 2-3GB. That would mean that a 300 (which doesn't have the preloaded topo maps) would have that amount of internal memory free if it is the same exact hardware as at 400t. The specs on Garmin's site seem to indicate that a 300 only has 384MB of internal memory. If they are the same exact unit where did all the memory go on the 300?

I've been assuming that they are the same hardware except the 400 has a larger internal flash memory which would make it cost a little more (plus the added cost of the mapping software).

GO$Rs

Topo 2008 is about 3-4GB.

If I understand you correctly, you believe that the 300 and 400's have the same amount of built-in memory. That is not the case. the 400 series has more built-in internal memory to accept the preloaded mapping data. Other than the basemap, the 300 does not have preloaded maps, and you must use an SD or an SDHC card to provide the necessary memory to store Topo 2008, City Navigator, etc.

.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Barrikady

3k · January 16, 2008

Reading the specs it appears that the 300 is a 400 without the pre loaded maps. So you can buy the 300 upload a sale priced map and have a 400 for 50.00 less. ?

Yes, that is correct. Confirmed by a Garmin rep at MacWorld San Francisco today.

Something doesn't make sense. In order to preload Topo 2008 onto this device I would think you would need 2-3GB. That would mean that a 300 (which doesn't have the preloaded topo maps) would have that amount of internal memory free if it is the same exact hardware as at 400t. The specs on Garmin's site seem to indicate that a 300 only has 384MB of internal memory. If they are the same exact unit where did all the memory go on the 300?

I've been assuming that they are the same hardware except the 400 has a larger internal flash memory which would make it cost a little more (plus the added cost of the mapping software).

GO$Rs

Topo 2008 is about 3-4GB.

If I understand you correctly, you believe that the 300 and 400's have the same amount of built-in memory. That is not the case. the 400 series has more built-in internal memory to accept the preloaded mapping data. Other than the basemap,The 300 does not have preloaded maps, and you must use an SD or an SDHC card to provide the necessary memory to store Topo 2008, City Navigator, etc.

.

This makes more sense. So there are two differences between a 300 and a 400. For roughly $100 you get more internal memory and the preloaded maps on the 400.

Out of curiosity, I wonder how much free memory is available on the 300 and 400t once you take out all the memory for preloaded data and maps?

GO$Rs

January 16, 2008

This makes more sense. So there are two differences between a 300 and a 400. For roughly $100 you get more internal memory and the preloaded maps on the 400.

Out of curiosity, I wonder how much free memory is available on the 300 and 400t once you take out all the memory for preloaded data and maps?

GO$Rs

what do you do when topo 2009 comes out?

what about using the topo on a computer?

at one time, you could share maps between a single user on 2? different gps's

2.3k · January 16, 2008

To install maps with a coverage similar to what the 400 models offer from start, you need an SD-card in your 300. Otherwise, it will not fit.

That's the main difference when using them. It can be done on the 300 as well, but a great deal of the card space is occupied to bring it to the same level as a 400, where the card slot is still empty.

20.7k · January 16, 2008

The current Colorado doesn't have a powered mount. The power cable powers the unit through the mini USB, which is the only connector there is. ...

Of course, you are correct that the Colorado doesn't have a powered mount. However, the auto navigation kit for the Colorado consists of a mount and a power cable. This becomes virtually the same thing as a powered mount. Stick a speaker on the power cable (ala Quest) and update the firmware and you would have a perfectly good 'street' GPSr. It still wouldn't have all the silly extras like bluetooth cel support and mp3 player. If people want those features, Garmin has the unit for them, but not having those features doesn't mean that this unit wouldn't be an awesome combo unit.

Edited January 16, 2008 by sbell111

3.8k · January 16, 2008

To install maps with a coverage similar to what the 400 models offer from start, you need an SD-card in your 300. Otherwise, it will not fit.

That's the main difference when using them. It can be done on the 300 as well, but a great deal of the card space is occupied to bring it to the same level as a 400, where the card slot is still empty.

So would there be a performance hit (screen refresh/scrolling) between having the maps in the internal memory (400 models) or on the SD-card (300 model)?

2.3k · January 16, 2008

Probably not, as the maps have to be read from some memory, somewhere, no matter what you do. But there's a space/flexibility penalty, as then the SD slot is definitely occupied, and to some extent the available space there is already used.

If someone want's to augment the pre-loaded maps of a 400 with some other map, and that other map is the kind that's locked to a certain card, that's no problem. The SD slot is free. But on a 300, the SD lot is alrady busy with a crad with the Topo maps. This then implies that this particular user can't use the Topo maps for the US in his unit at the same time as the pre-loaded card. They'll not fit on the pre-loaded card, and the maps on that card will not run from another card.

Returning to the speaking thing, I don't say it can't be done, but I do say it can't be done in the same way on the Colorado, as it is now, compared to units like the Quest. The other units I've used, where the speaker is on the power cable, they all have audio output from the GPS. The Colorado doesn't. It has USB only. So that implies a full little computer has to be behind the speaker, to convert some commands sent via USB to synthetic speech. Or the Colorado has to be redesigned to include audio out.

January 16, 2008

The current Colorado doesn't have a powered mount. The power cable powers the unit through the mini USB, which is the only connector there is.

Where do the advertised external antenna(s) plug into with an MCX connector and a single USB port on the unit itself?

January 16, 2008

@apersson850

1) does the Colorado have no status bar? (on your Pic compared with the gpsmap there is no status bar)

2) does the colorado swim on the water like the 76CSX or not (like 60CSX) ?

Edited January 16, 2008 by freeday

1.2k · January 16, 2008

The current Colorado doesn't have a powered mount. The power cable powers the unit through the mini USB, which is the only connector there is.

Where do the advertised external antenna(s) plug into with an MCX connector and a single USB port on the unit itself?

Scroll down.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Klatch

January 16, 2008

The current Colorado doesn't have a powered mount. The power cable powers the unit through the mini USB, which is the only connector there is.

Where do the advertised external antenna(s) plug into with an MCX connector and a single USB port on the unit itself?

Scroll down.

Thanks!

1.3k · January 16, 2008

Better yet, just look here.

January 17, 2008

For the people that do a lot of caching, holding lots of information is desirable.

For instance, I hold all of my found caches, plus unfound for the normal areas I travel. This gets up around 3000 caches.

Yes, but with the GPX file support, that's almost a moot point. If you're that into caching, you'll likely be a premium member and will be using GSAK to manage your GPX files. True, we don't yet know for sure how many caches it will hold, but it's probably more a function of memory than of some artificial limit.

For "normal" usage of waypoints (to mark something of interest to you, one point at a time), 1000 is a lot.

A GPS file has 500 caches. GSAK has a steep learning curve and it flat out doesn't do things the way I like. i'd rather load my GPXs straight to the GPS and load it up and skip GSAK. No muss no fuss.

According to what Anders wrote earlier, you can just drop the GPX files onto the Colorado and you're set. No need for GSAK. I think he also said it supports multiple files, so there ya go. 500 at a time is 6 files for the 3000 caches you mentioned.

January 17, 2008

Here is what I was told today. The Garmin Techies had just come out of a Colorado meeting.

1) Memory cards: Max 4GB SD. This is not a micro SD and the Colorado does not currently support SDHC. Future versions may be able to support SDHC.

2) They are aware that the geocache icons are not showing up on the map overlays when caches are loaded via a GPX file. They will be working on a fix and hope to offer a Firmware update within the next few months.

3) They are aware that caches can't currently be marked as found. They will be working on a fix and hope to offer a Firmware update within the next few months.

4) They are already working on other Firmware updates to enhance the Geocache Mode.

5) The techie said that shipping on the 300's has already begun and they still plan on shipping the full range of 400's by the end of the month.

While I had the Techie on the phone, I mentioned that my old ETrex Legend was acting very strange the last time I fired it up. (I think she is jealous because I left her for a newer Vista HCx.) I am almost 4 months outside of my 1 yr warranty. The seal strip ring thingy has all but fallen off, my toggle is loose, one battery connection is loose, and the screen blinks out on me from time to time. He said to send her in and they will see what they can do. I said that I don't really want to spend any money to get her back up to speed since it is only a back-up unit and the techie told me not to worry. I hope that means free???

6.4k · January 17, 2008

Here is what I was told today. The Garmin Techies had just come out of a Colorado meeting.

1) Memory cards: Max 4GB SD. This is not a micro SD and the Colorado does not currently support SDHC. Future versions may be able to support SDHC.

There is no such thing as a 4 GB SD card..... Anything over 2GB is SDHC.

January 17, 2008

Here is what I was told today. The Garmin Techies had just come out of a Colorado meeting.

1) Memory cards: Max 4GB SD. This is not a micro SD and the Colorado does not currently support SDHC. Future versions may be able to support SDHC.

There is no such thing as a 4 GB SD card..... Anything over 2GB is SDHC.

There sure is! And it's "non-HC" - WW

http://www.memorysuppliers.com/tr4gbsdsedin.html

January 17, 2008

Here is what I was told today. The Garmin Techies had just come out of a Colorado meeting.

1) Memory cards: Max 4GB SD. This is not a micro SD and the Colorado does not currently support SDHC. Future versions may be able to support SDHC.

There is no such thing as a 4 GB SD card..... Anything over 2GB is SDHC.

There sure is! And it's "non-HC" - WW

http://www.memorysuppliers.com/tr4gbsdsedin.html

Here is the skinny on the 4GB SD (NON-HC) card:

"The SD Card can be used in a variety of digital products; digital music players, cellular phones, handheld PCs, digital cameras, digital video camcorders, smart phones, car navigation systems and electronic books. Also, these cards are NON-HC (High-Capacity) and will work with most of the devices that the 4GB SDHC do not work with." $39.00

2.3k · January 17, 2008

No, there's no status bar on the screen on the Colorado. That's one reason for providing more map space on the display. If you turn off the soft keys and the data fields, it's all map.

On the other hand, you can show satellite and battery status in any data field, if you like. Or you just make a quick press on the power button and see a status page.

You can't have an unlimited number of geocaches, but it seems you can have thousands. However, there's a noticeable delay in startup time, when I have 2500+ caches loaded, so it's perhaps wiser to install 500 at a time, or so. As it's so easy to do, just copy a gpx file from your computer to the \Garmin\GPX folder on the device, you can easily update the data in the GPS.

I've never been able to find more than 500 caches in one day anyway.

I'm also of the opinion that there are 4 GB cards of both types, traditional and HC. Below it's only traditional, above only high capacity.

January 17, 2008

YBLee you might ck as GPS City shows the Colorado as a PREORDER...as in not in stock. Same thing at OFFROUTE and its a better price there...I may have to settle for the 300 as that is available soon at OFFROUTE (on or before Jan. 19th) The 400t is (on or before Feb 13). Id like to pick one up before I head to Florida for some warm weather and caching. Looks like either will do better than my old 76S.

GPSCity has dropped its price from $549 to $529 - its on order!

January 17, 2008

Here is what I was told today. The Garmin Techies had just come out of a Colorado meeting.

1) Memory cards: Max 4GB SD. This is not a micro SD and the Colorado does not currently support SDHC. Future versions may be able to support SDHC.

2) They are aware that the geocache icons are not showing up on the map overlays when caches are loaded via a GPX file. They will be working on a fix and hope to offer a Firmware update within the next few months.

3) They are aware that caches can't currently be marked as found. They will be working on a fix and hope to offer a Firmware update within the next few months.

4) They are already working on other Firmware updates to enhance the Geocache Mode.

5) The techie said that shipping on the 300's has already begun and they still plan on shipping the full range of 400's by the end of the month.

While I had the Techie on the phone, I mentioned that my old ETrex Legend was acting very strange the last time I fired it up. (I think she is jealous because I left her for a newer Vista HCx.) I am almost 4 months outside of my 1 yr warranty. The seal strip ring thingy has all but fallen off, my toggle is loose, one battery connection is loose, and the screen blinks out on me from time to time. He said to send her in and they will see what they can do. I said that I don't really want to spend any money to get her back up to speed since it is only a back-up unit and the techie told me not to worry. I hope that means free???

This sounds like great news! My main concerns have been #s 2 and 3 above. My question now is: How is Garmin at updating their products? My only experiences with Magellan have not been so thrilling. Also, I am wondering if it is possible to update firmware so that you could save and access caches on the SD card if you wanted to.

1.9k · January 17, 2008

There is no such thing as a 4 GB SD card..... Anything over 2GB is SDHC.

While you are correct the "official" standard for SD stops at 2GB, their are any number of 4GB "unofficial" SD cards and have been for several years. I believe the flash manufactures doubled the sector size to get 4GB and it works in 90% of devices. Of course, it's the 10% that's an issue if you own a DC, GPS, etc. which doen't work with a 4GB unofficial SD. So we how have SDHC which can go to TerraBytes, we'll have to wait to next year for one of those.

1.9k · January 17, 2008

Anders,

In the excellent GPSmagazine review of the 400t, they had this con:

Cons:
- Rock 'n Roller scroll wheel/joystick a little difficult to scroll with one hand (feels stiff, and you might need to use two hands)

What is your opinion?

Thanks

January 17, 2008

Here is what I was told today. The Garmin Techies had just come out of a Colorado meeting.

1) Memory cards: Max 4GB SD. This is not a micro SD and the Colorado does not currently support SDHC. Future versions may be able to support SDHC.

There is no such thing as a 4 GB SD card..... Anything over 2GB is SDHC.

There sure is! And it's "non-HC" - WW

http://www.memorysuppliers.com/tr4gbsdsedin.html

Here is the skinny on the 4GB SD (NON-HC) card:

"The SD Card can be used in a variety of digital products; digital music players, cellular phones, handheld PCs, digital cameras, digital video camcorders, smart phones, car navigation systems and electronic books. Also, these cards are NON-HC (High-Capacity) and will work with most of the devices that the 4GB SDHC do not work with." $39.00

I read some reviews on the above 4GB SD card and they were not very kind. The 4GB 150X QmemorySD Card with a 22mb/sec transfer rate for $29.99 at www.flash-memory-store.com or the Transcend 4BG 150X Ultra High Speed Secure Digital SD Card with a 22.5mb/sec transfer rate for $58.99 at www.memory_suppliers.com seem to be better buys. I read reviews that said they used these cards in their GPSr but I didn't see which units they were used in.

3.6k · January 17, 2008

Is the shaded relief a function of the Colorado or of Topo USA 2008? In other words, would Topo USA 2008 show the same shading in your 60CSx, Nuvi, etc. ?

MtnHermit, the shading is a feature included in Topo 2008, but the 60CSx displays it without shading. Shading can be seen on the computer screen, but don't know about the Nuvi.

I use the older Topos, and a friend uses the newer ones. For where we cache, we haven't seen a huge difference on our GPSs.

I'm curious about adding maps to the Colorado. We boat a lot, so the inland waterways 400 would be nice for that, but I use the topos for caching and wonder if the topo maps could be loaded to the SD card, much like how you load topos to the 60CSx. Then, we'd switch between the two map sets, depending on what we're doing.

Edited January 17, 2008 by Skippermark

2.3k · January 17, 2008

Anders,

In the excellent GPSmagazine review of the 400t, they had this con:

Cons:
- Rock 'n Roller scroll wheel/joystick a little difficult to scroll with one hand (feels stiff, and you might need to use two hands)

What is your opinion?

Read further down among the comments. There you'll find that I'm not of that opinion. But it could be that their Colorado unit suffered from the same wheel problem as most of the pilot run units did. The beta testers, me included, all fixed their wheels themselves, as the wheels got stuck, more or less.

I haven't mentioned this issue, as it has been corrected already for the first real production runs, so it will not concern anyone buying a Colorado in the shops. Finding such problems is what beta tests are for.

A Colorado 400 model will allow you to add additional maps on the SD card, or in what's left of the internal memory, if that's sufficient for you.

January 17, 2008

Question, If I buy the City Navigator for the Colorado and install it, will the shading that is on the Base map still be there if the City Navigator is on?

Edited January 17, 2008 by Turtle3863

January 18, 2008

I don,t understand why Garmin would make a unit that would work with a sd card that is very unstable , In todays world with maps of 4 gig plus that they sell you would think sdhc would be wise . Is it possible to update the software to accept sdhc cards? I plan on buying a 400t, even though I have topo 2008 because of the internal storage, and load city nav and inland lakes on a card, don,t know if it will all fit yet .

Edited January 18, 2008 by deepctrouble

2.3k · January 18, 2008

City Navigator is a flat map. If you view CN on the screen, it covers the basemap. When you zoom out far enough, it will give up CN and revert to the basemap. Only then can you see the shading, but then the scale is such that it doesn't add very much. At least you can see if you are high or low. More brown = higher up, more green = lower down.

January 18, 2008

It appears that the City Navigator NT1 maps will have DEM info embedded in them so if you want 3d street maps you'll want to wait until those maps become available.

2.1k · January 18, 2008

I've preordered a Colorado 300 from REI. I talked to a representative from their warehouse and they confirmed that the 300 model will not arrive at their warehouse until February 9th or 10th :lol: . At that point they will recieve 200 units to satisfy the first come first serve preorders. After that who knows!

I've previously heard that the first shipments should have been available this week (January 16th). If this is true and they have been delayed by almost a month it would stand to reason that the 400's, due out later, will be delayed by the same amount (March?). If anyone knows of a supplier for the 300's that has them in stock PLEASE let me know! I'll cancel my order from REI and buy from them. One could say that I'm a little OCD over these new units.

Anyone else heard when and/or where the first ones available to the public will be? Anyone received theirs yet?

Garmin Colorado

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