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Happy Colorado Owners?


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I'm pleased with it. It's nicely designed, accurate, has a beautiful screen, and great potential. It needs a few software updates to bring it into line with the 60-series in terms of some features, but I think it's all stuff that can be accomplished. I've been having fun exploring the features of the new machine. It seems pretty clear that the software started out in the nuvi family, not the hand-held family, so they need to backfill some of the features that we outdoorsmen/women expect in such a device. I think by software v3.2 or so, this will be my favorite piece in my Garmin collection.

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I'm pleased with it. It's nicely designed, accurate, has a beautiful screen, and great potential. It needs a few software updates to bring it into line with the 60-series in terms of some features, but I think it's all stuff that can be accomplished. I've been having fun exploring the features of the new machine. It seems pretty clear that the software started out in the nuvi family, not the hand-held family, so they need to backfill some of the features that we outdoorsmen/women expect in such a device. I think by software v3.2 or so, this will be my favorite piece in my Garmin collection.

 

I agree whole-heartedly.

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Right now it's tough-love with this little unit. I want to love it so bad, and It has great potential, but Garmin really has to get hot on new firmware/software and update the functionality. I have faith that they will. At the same time I'm a little miffed that I was foolish enough to think that Garmin would have their crap together before releasing it. :D

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Right now it's tough-love with this little unit. I want to love it so bad, and It has great potential, but Garmin really has to get hot on new firmware/software and update the functionality. I have faith that they will. At the same time I'm a little miffed that I was foolish enough to think that Garmin would have their crap together before releasing it. :D

 

Are you an owner of the Colorado or a forum reader?

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I concur with the others so far. It is a beautiful hand held and I've already come to love the rocker-roller wheel. It has a great feel and balance in the hand, and being left-handed I can access the menus with either hand equally well. I've been using it to auto-route with City Select v.6 and it is fine compared with my trusty 60Cx.

 

Once the forth coming firmware updates iron out the glitches it will rank right up there with my 60Cx in my stable of Garmin GPSrs. It definitely has some Nuvi DNA in it from the map and menu graphics and the way it interfaces with the PC. It's a different critter than the 60C/Sx series for sure. I have used my 60Cx with work in GIS, back country hiking, and caching and I can say right now I won't be putting it away soon. I do love my 300 and look forward to many improvements.

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As a 60cs owner I see lots of advantages that I missed by not having a 60csx. I love being able to take it on a walk, stick it in my pocket and not have to worry about losing lock! Similarly having lots more memory to load maps and an SD slot was a big improvement. So some of it depends on perspective. If I had a 60csx already I'm not so sure I would be happy.

 

I asked myself what software fixes would really help change my so-so attitude. They are:

 

- Fix the NiMH/battery level issues

- Let me have control of the backlight, ALL the time.

- Fix the Geocache description hang

- Fix the fact that Geocaches don't show up on the map

- Add a basic Geocaching mode

- Improve Geocache handling performance and reduce startup time

- Don't power down after you unplug from the PC

- Provide lighter color schemes and backgrounds

- Waypoint averaging

 

I'd love to see more but this would a long way.

 

GO$Rs

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I have to agree with G-O-Cachers on their perspective. I too came from the 60cs and bypassed the 60csx waiting for the Colorado to come out. To be honest, had I known about the poi fix I may have made the leap to the x a while back. I am glad I waited though as the Colorado does more than x now by having the cache descriptions and logs. I have no doubt that Garmin will release updates that will meet and dare I say exceed at least some of our expectations. I agree with the wish list but would add:

 

A welcome screen similar to the 60 series (nice to have ownership info on the first screen at power up if the GPS is lost)

 

Smaller or adustable pointer size

 

Add all that and go back to muliple unit map unlock codes for City Navigator and I would be more than happy. But, for now I am happy.

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I'm as much pleased with my Colorado GPS as I am unpleased with my Triton 2000.

 

The built-in Topo in the 400t was perfect for me, because I've never owned a Garmin before so didn't have the maps. Having the whole US built-in is really awesome for a handheld. Not having to load maps when I plan a trip is ultra cool.

 

Although there are some definite issues with the geocaching features, I've come to love the custom POI capabilities. Being able to have basically unlimited POIs loaded in the unit is really nice. I can load more than 20,000 caches loaded in the GPS, with up to around 200 characters of the hint loaded. I had no idea this was possible. (It should be noted that this is possible on other Garmins as well, that cost a lot less.)

 

Since I generally don't need the cache page or logs on traditional caches, I may only load multi-caches, letterbox caches and earth caches via the GPX and just load the rest as POIs.

 

I think I've been lucky in that I haven't had the battery or time loss issues other people have had.

 

I've tried one Wherigo cartridge and it was pretty cool. I have downloaded 5 more in our area, so am looking forward to playing those (two of them lead you to a puzzle cache final, sweet!)

 

Over all, I'm very happy with my purchase.

 

--Marky

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I really like the map drawing, it is much nicer and more legible than my GPSmap 76CSx (it is like night and day). It also aquires satelite lock faster and in more difficult situation (76CS won't lock where Colorado would). Rock-n-roller is good too. And I like the car mount which is much better than one for 76CSx.

 

My biggest issue with it is lack of street and other labels. It is like having map where someone erased half of the useful information. Other really annoying "feature" is that when you move pointer, it switches from 'track up' to 'north up'.

 

Once they fix these and other problems and add some needed usability improvements, it will be one one hell of a GPS. If I knew all I know now, I would probably buy it anyway :D .

Edited by Tomas4x4
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Right now it's tough-love with this little unit. I want to love it so bad, and It has great potential, but Garmin really has to get hot on new firmware/software and update the functionality. I have faith that they will. At the same time I'm a little miffed that I was foolish enough to think that Garmin would have their crap together before releasing it. :D

 

Are you an owner of the Colorado or a forum reader?

 

Owner for two weeks now.

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Right now it's tough-love with this little unit. I want to love it so bad, and It has great potential, but Garmin really has to get hot on new firmware/software and update the functionality. I have faith that they will. At the same time I'm a little miffed that I was foolish enough to think that Garmin would have their crap together before releasing it. :D

 

Are you an owner of the Colorado or a forum reader?

 

Owner for two weeks now.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I've been reading so much negative on the forum that I was interested in those who were pretty happy so far, despite the improvements that need to be made.

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yogazoo: I find that annoying also. It would be nice to have a choice to keep panning in the format you are in (that is stay in track up for panning or go to North up for panning). I, for one would want to stay in track up, not reorient my self when panning....personal preference I guess and not a deal breaker...but as you say annoying!

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I have had mine for about 3 days not and so far I am happy with it. This is my first handheld unit so I can't compare to any previous models like most of the others on here can. I am pretty sure with me being new the GPS handheld world I am sure that I do not know the full potential of the device however.

Edited by rubicon74
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I've had mine (400t) for a week or so now and I am very pleased. In the past I've used the Garmin Vista (B&W version), Garmin 60cs, Lowrance iFinder HuntC. I love the interface on the Colorado compared to the others, especially the Lowrance.

 

Being able to keep the Colorado on the seat next to me in the car and keep a signal is very nice too. No more having to hold it next to the windshield to get a signal.

 

One thing that Lowrance had over the others is a large screen with a very fast draw rate, but the controls on the Colorado make up for that.

 

Something I wish Garmin had done with the 400t specifically is to separate the DEM shading from the topo maps so I can turn them on and off individually. I like having the shading under custom maps, but I can still see the built-in topo lines which are far less detailed than the custom maps. This makes for a cluttered view that essentially forces me to turn off the built-in topo maps. I would assume the 300 doesn't have this issue.

Edited by jtrump
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Something I wish Garmin had done with the 400t specifically is to separate the DEM shading from the topo maps so I can turn them on and off individually. I like having the shading under custom maps, but I can still see the built-in topo lines which are far less detailed than the custom maps. This makes for a cluttered view that essentially forces me to turn off the built-in topo maps. I would assume the 300 doesn't have this issue.

 

I doesn't but the DEM data in the 300's basemap is much less detailed than the DEM in the 400t's Topo maps.

 

Is there a way to make the custom maps solid instead of opaque?

 

GO$Rs

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Athough there a certain aspects of the Colorado series that I don't really care for I am certain that the outstanding Garmin Tech Support will continue to make improvements as time goes along. This isn't a GPSMap 60C upgrade or else they would have named it "The Super Dooper GPSMap 60CUx" or something.

 

So, and I noticed this trend across this forum, users expect it to operate in the exact same manner as their trusty old GPS and are not taking into consideration that this is a totally different model. Its kind of like trying to compare a low-end basic concept car with a top-of-the-line leather-interior-included proved-reliable car made by the same manufactor. I'm confident that, in time, this concept car will have all the issues worked out, it might take a while, and eventually go on to replace that top-of-the-line model.

 

Just for the record, I've had my fair share of issues with my Colorado (i.e. corrupted basemap, time drift, etc.) but I have every confidence that Garmin will make it right.

Edited by Geocaching-Geckos
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I like mine, also. I upgraded from a eTrex Legend C, and although I miss some of the features that I had with the Legend, I feel that Garmin will provide most of those features when they get all of the issues worked out. As a technogeek, I recognize that the price paid for buying one of the first available units is that you get to patiently wait for the "bugs" to get worked out so that the hardware performs as you were hoping it would out of the box. In six months, I think most to all owners will be pleased with their Colorado (mine is a 300).

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So, and I noticed this trend across this forum, users expect it to operate in the exact same manner as their trusty old GPS and are not taking into consideration that this is a totally different model. Its kind of like trying to compare a low-end basic concept car with a top-of-the-line leather-interior-included proved-reliable car made by the same manufactor. I'm confident that, in time, this concept car will have all the issues worked out, it might take a while, and eventually go on to replace that top-of-the-line model.

I disagree - it was not unreasonable for 60CSx users (for example) to expect the Colorado 400t - clearly, the new flagship of Garmin's handheld line - to match the feature set of the previous flagship. It's not that people expected it to "operate in the exact same manner" - that obviously wasn't going to happen given the drastic changes in the interface (wheel; only 4 buttons). But I kinda assumed I'd still be able to pan around on the map and then find waypoints, POIs and caches from the panned-to location; mark and then average a waypoint; see POI descriptions (!); power the unit via USB; customize the waypoint symbols; and on and on - all things that could be done on the previous flagship model. I understand this unit was built either from the ground up or from another platform (people are saying Nuvi, but I don't see that - even my Nuvi 760 lets me see POI descriptions). I nevertheless think the omission of obvious features that existed on the previous flagship model is shocking. Those omissions, and the serious problems with the new geocaching features, strongly suggest that we were provided with a development (not beta, as the feature set isn't even complete) version of the product.

 

Yes, I own a 400t, and there are things I really like about it. The screen is gorgeous, and I think the new input method, with some tweaks, will be great. I'm optimistic that Garmin will fix things, but also pretty ticked that they clearly had not finished or adequately tested the product before rushing it to market.

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Yes, I own a 400t, and there are things I really like about it. The screen is gorgeous, and I think the new input method, with some tweaks, will be great. I'm optimistic that Garmin will fix things, but also pretty ticked that they clearly had not finished or adequately tested the product before rushing it to market.

Hey, who let you into the Colorado love fest thread? You're ruining my vibe. :D

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Is there a way to make the custom maps solid instead of opaque?

 

GO$Rs

 

I haven't tried yet, but I would assume that this would cover the shading and be the same as just turning it off.

 

I'm not sure it would. With CityNav the shading shows up and the City Nav maps display over the Topo maps.

 

GO$Rs

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I have found 32 caches with my Colorado since I bought it 2 weeks ago. Although there are some things that obviously need fixing, overall I am happy with it. It has certainly renewed my interest in Geocaching (after all, I can't let the $600 go to waste, so I had better go out and find some caches!). Just imagine if this unit had come out in the summer - there would be a lot more geocaches I could access!

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I've had my Colorado 400t for about 2 weeks now and compared to the previous version I had (Garmin Vista) there is no comparison.

 

Sure there are some minor issues (for me anyway they are minor) as this was quite a jump in GPS technology for me. I waited for a long time to upgrade units and had considered the 60 series but went with the Colorado due to what I found to be the ease of use of the unit. The topo map that is preloaded on the unit is very nice in the detail it provides for the area I am in.

 

I must compliment Garmin on the car mount for this unit as it very easy to attach and detach the GPS, unlike the included carabiner.

 

So yes I am very happy with the Colorado even with the few issues I have had so far as I am sure they will be resolved.

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I've had my Colorado 400t for about 2 weeks now and compared to the previous version I had (Garmin Vista) there is no comparison.

 

Sure there are some minor issues (for me anyway they are minor) as this was quite a jump in GPS technology for me. I waited for a long time to upgrade units and had considered the 60 series but went with the Colorado due to what I found to be the ease of use of the unit. The topo map that is preloaded on the unit is very nice in the detail it provides for the area I am in.

 

I must compliment Garmin on the car mount for this unit as it very easy to attach and detach the GPS, unlike the included carabiner.

 

So yes I am very happy with the Colorado even with the few issues I have had so far as I am sure they will be resolved.

There's a car mount now? I guess I need to go back to the accessories page.

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I am a 400t owner, 1 week now, and probably not as Happy as I will be in a few months after many of the issues are fixed. This is my first Garmin product, and I like the form factor, the screen, and for the most part the Rocker Wheel (but text entry could be improved). I don't need to re-hash all the issues, but I do have to state that the North Up while Panning is an issue, not a nice to have, that needs to be fixed. If this is standard for all Garmin's I would be shocked. I can work around the geocaching issues by loading them both as geocahches and waypoints or POI's for now, but the Panning issue is irritating.

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There is a Unit Software upgrade for the Colorado 400t to version 2.3 (I purchased mine today from REI with v2.2 installed.) The software upgrade is not on the Support page. You need to go to the Products page, to to the specific GPS model, and you will see the Updates & Download link. The update is only for the 400t. None yet for the 400c or 400i, but I don't think they are even out yet. Enjoy.

 

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/store/downloads...5&pID=11022

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I don't need to re-hash all the issues, but I do have to state that the North Up while Panning is an issue, not a nice to have, that needs to be fixed. If this is standard for all Garmin's I would be shocked. I can work around the geocaching issues by loading them both as geocahches and waypoints or POI's for now, but the Panning issue is irritating.

 

I agree with you on the North-up switcharoo when panning. It really is an issue. I just cannot get used to this nor do I think it is a "feature" they intended. It's super, super, super annoying and should be taken from nice to have and placed in the must fix. What say ye?

Edited by yogazoo
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I finally had a look at one last night. nicolo was kind enough to let me play.

 

It is a beautiful unit. Sure, there are a few desirable options missing, but is is certainly better than the 60csx..... Really nice screen, good interface, nice form factor.

 

The time to view cache information is fine. The list pops up right away and maybe a few seconds to see the text.

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I finally had a look at one last night. nicolo was kind enough to let me play.

 

It is a beautiful unit. Sure, there are a few desirable options missing, but is is certainly better than the 60csx..... Really nice screen, good interface, nice form factor.

 

The time to view cache information is fine. The list pops up right away and maybe a few seconds to see the text.

 

Great, that's exactly what I wanted to hear since I sold my 60csx on ebay in order to purchase a Colorado!

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I don't need to re-hash all the issues, but I do have to state that the North Up while Panning is an issue, not a nice to have, that needs to be fixed.

I have other Garmin units, which stay at track up when you enter panning mode. It's as confusing as anything can be. When I move around, I want the map as the nature is, i.e. track up. When I just pan around, I want to know my bearings referred to something well known, i.e. north and south. Fortunately, some of them can be set to revert to north up when you zoom out beyond a certain map scale. So the workaround is to enter panning mode, zoom out, then zoom back in again (it doesn't go back to track up then) and do the panning required. Fortunately, this isn't necessary on the Colorado, as they have finally fixed this bug. Now it pans north up all the time.
If this is standard for all Garmin's I would be shocked.
You don't need to be shocked, as some units unfortunately don't pan in north up all the time. But I hope they will, once Garmin have had som time to get this improvement into all of them. Edited by apersson850
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I love my 400t. When I was playing with it yesterday it actually got satellite lock inside my building in an area that I don't even get cell phone reception. Now that is one heck of a receiver! The rock-n-roller control is awesome. Although the screen is dark, with the backlight it is brilliant! The 3-D navigation is awesome for hiking around swamps/hills...basically picking your way across the best terrain.

 

Most of the complaints seem to be fixable by simple firmware updates...and I heard that a new one is on the way, having already been tested. Rumor has it that it will upgrade the number of loadable waypoints from 1000 to 2000 and still increase the load time of the unit to under 20 seconds. It fixes geocache access from the map screen. And I heard that an option is in the works to log all your geocaches for the day day and it will automatically log onto gc.com the next time you hook up to your computer...and go directly to the cache pages for ease of logging. I am patient...I can wait for the upgrades.

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I love my 400t. When I was playing with it yesterday it actually got satellite lock inside my building in an area that I don't even get cell phone reception. Now that is one heck of a receiver! The rock-n-roller control is awesome. Although the screen is dark, with the backlight it is brilliant! The 3-D navigation is awesome for hiking around swamps/hills...basically picking your way across the best terrain.

 

Most of the complaints seem to be fixable by simple firmware updates...and I heard that a new one is on the way, having already been tested. Rumor has it that it will upgrade the number of loadable waypoints from 1000 to 2000 and still increase the load time of the unit to under 20 seconds. It fixes geocache access from the map screen. And I heard that an option is in the works to log all your geocaches for the day day and it will automatically log onto gc.com the next time you hook up to your computer...and go directly to the cache pages for ease of logging. I am patient...I can wait for the upgrades.

 

Could you elaborate a little on the screen being dark? That's the only thing that's holding me from choosing a Colorado over a 60csx. I haven't been able to put them side by side in sunlight (I live in Seattle :blink: ) but I have heard the 60csx does have a better screen as it relates to being able to see it in direct sunlight without having to use the backlight and as a consequence drain the battery....

Edited by tgfoyl1472
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I have both the 60Cx and the Colorado 300. As far as screen brightness, the 300 is awesome outdoors in bright sunlight, but in overcast, cloudy, or under forest canopy conditions, you need to use backlighting, at lest with the current firmware. I have no idea if this can be improved upon with updates. With my trusty 60Cx next to my 300 hiking under canopy yesterday my 60Cx was perfectly readable (no backlighting) while my 300 could barely be viewed w/o lighting on the map screen. Both units have the same Topo 2008 loaded and all other conditions were equal. Carry lots of AA's if out in poor lighting conditions because you will be using backlighting.

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t I do have to state that the North Up while Panning is an issue, not a nice to have, that needs to be fixed.

I have other Garmin units, which stay at track up when you enter panning mode. It's as confusing as anything can be. When I move around, I want the map as the nature is, i.e. track up.

 

Several of their units do this. I, too, find it annoying. I don't have a Colorado, but I'd be very happy to have an option to make the 27xx and Nuvi not do this. I can't recall if Streetpilot C and Zumo do it, but as this is a feature I've sort of mentally binned with that class of product, I'll bet they do, too.

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Just got my 400t on Wed. I'm very happy with it so far. I was using a PDA with a bluetooth GPS previously so this is a huge improvement for me. Today I got 7 hrs on one set of 2500 mAh rechargeables before the back light dimmed (with battery type set to NiMH, back light on full the whole time, compass on, WAAS off). There are definitely some annoyances but the positives greatly outweigh the negatives for me so far. It probably helps that I've never seen a 60Cx so I'm only comparing with my PDA (which is REALLY bad in daylight).

 

Greg

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Yet another happy 400t owner, here. I almost wrote 'satisfied' - but, as noted (and discussed at great length, in various threads) there's still a lot of fixes to be made.

 

None the less - coming from a LONG line of Garmin GPS receivers, and caching with first a Vista, then a 60CS, and prior to the Colarado, a 60CSx. I'm emphatic about my paperless caching - and while the unit still needs a fair amount of work in this area, I've already used it extensively, out in the recent rains, while my Palm Tungsten C stays nice and dry in my pack.

 

Yes - definitely a Happy 400t owner. And, when I think back to some of the bugs that would crash the 60-series units when they were new to market - past history makes me confident that Garmin will follow through, and make rapid improvements on the 'must fix' list (geocaches not showing on map, no way to mark as found, etc), and some of the nice to have requests - and they'll probably surprise us with a feature or two we might not have considered.

 

Now then - when IS that new firmware going to be delivered, that Marky and others experienced on the demo units at the recent Saratoga Meet and Greet??

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Right now it's tough-love with this little unit. I want to love it so bad, and It has great potential, but Garmin really has to get hot on new firmware/software and update the functionality. I have faith that they will. At the same time I'm a little miffed that I was foolish enough to think that Garmin would have their crap together before releasing it. :bad:

 

You guys really have unrealistic expectations from this company. Granted, I have purchased 7 various GPS products in the last 4 years, but I also know some of the people in the company and some of the struggles they have had. They are far from perfect. Boy's, its time you take the ugly girl home for the night or you go home alone.

 

And as far as being a happy customer: I own a 400t and love it. Its not the promised caching tool yet, but it will get there in time. If not, and I've said this so many times, I'll take it back and get 100% of the purchase price back.

 

Pleased, but not yet content.

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UK owner of 300 for just over a week or so.

 

First mapping GPSr but long time user of Garmin handhelds (GPSII+ and GPS60). I really like the unit. I read all the 'problems' before getting one and, IMHO, most of the issues are caused by people being used to a particular way of using a previous device.

 

I just love the way I can "throw" GPX files of routes, caches etc onto it. I do most of my route planning on PC s/w (MemoryMap, Anquet and OziExplorer) I have also created a couple of custom maps for use on walks I am planning - the UK Topo maps just don't do it for me in the UK - insufficient detail compared to the paper maps I am used to. I have 400 local caches on mine and really like the interface when hunting for a cache. I actually like the fact I don't have other caches shown in this mode - I'm only doing one at a time after all :laughing:

 

I don't have any problems with the backlight. The screen is very readable in most daylight conditions and a simple touch of the power button will give me 15 secs of backlight.

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