Wich new GPSr (60CSX, Colorado, Triton)

[+thora06]

Hi @ all,

 

i will buy a new GPSr.

But now i am a little bit confused.

 

ATM we use a Magellan Explorist 100, but the next one should be a Garmin.

So that we can sync the Caches directly with the GPSr.

 

The GPSmap 60 CSX is getting very cheap, but there is also this ne Colorado wich seemes to have some very nice feature. But there are a lot of problems with this Colorad as i could find out.

 

So my question is, what is the best decision?

A 60 CSX or a Colorado?

 

I think the most of these problems are Software problems and will be fixed with one of the next firmware updates.

 

I´ve never had a garmin so i have no idea if garmin is publishing the firmware updates very soon.

 

Is there anybody who can say anything about the Magellan Triton´s?

They seems to be also very good for geocaching.

 

I´ve heard a lot about paperless caching. But i don´t get behind this. Sure it´s a nice feature that you don´t have to print x pages cache description, but in most cases you have to make notes for solving the cache, so you still have to carry a sheet of paper and a pen with you, or is there a programm on the colorado or triton to make notes?

But i think is very uncomfortable to make notes with the gpsr, or isn´t it?

 

Thx & sorry for my poor english.

 

Mysterox

[+g-o-cashers]

 

So my question is, what is the best decision?

A 60 CSX or a Colorado?

 

A comparison of the two units based on the current Colorado firmware.

 

GO$Rs

[+thora06]

thx for this great compair!

Can any one say something about the GPS Chip in the colorado?

 

I know that the Sirf Star III is one of the best but i couldn´t find anything about the colorado gps chip.

 

When i look at this comparison i think that the 60 CSX is still the best choice, even it is much cheaper than the colorado

Edited April 8, 2008 by thora06

[+Red90]

It depends on how much Geocaching use it will get. For Geocaching use, the Colorado is much better.

[+thora06]

the provided features looks realy nice but does it realy works fine?

Paperless caching is a good idea but, what about images, spoilers, special texts etc in the describtion?

Can the colorado display all these things correct?

 

The colorado is more expensive then the 60csx and if i have to check each cache describtion on the colorado, and still have to print some of them, cause the colorado can´t display them correct. Than i think i will not spend this much more money for the colorado.

 

is there a possibility to make notes to a certain waypoint?

e.g. a multi cache where you have to find a lot auf numbers or something like that to solve the calculation at the last stage, can i easily write these notes into the colorado or do i still need a sheet of paper?

[+Miragee]

thx for this great compair!

Can any one say something about the GPS Chip in the colorado?

 

I know that the Sirf Star III is one of the best but i couldn´t find anything about the colorado gps chip.

 

When i look at this comparison i think that the 60 CSX is still the best choice, even it is much cheaper than the colorado

If you like to be on the "cutting edge" of technology, the Colorado is a very nice, but expensive, GPS unit. However, unless you are finding 50 caches a day, I think the 60CSx would be the better, more reasonalbly-priced choice for you. It is an excellent GPS unit. Sending the Waypoints to the GPS unit using Garmin's POI Loader gives you more information than the regular Waypoint description, including the entire hint, unless it is really long. However, you do not get the entire cache description or Past Logs like you do on the Colorado.

 

Having a Notebook handy is still probably a good idea. And, having a printout of spoiler pictures can also be very helpful, depending on the cache.

 

I keep all the cache information on an inexpensive Palm m500 . . . so loading the cache information is a two stage process. Once to the GPS (a Vista HCx) and again to the PDA. With the Colorado, it is done in one, efficient step.

[+g-o-cashers]

Geocaches are "read only" on the Colorado, no way to modify or add geocaches.

 

The paperless feature works very good for the most part. It doesn't give you images but you can see the full description, hints and logs. There is a bug(s) that causes the CO to freeze when reading certain cache data like a description containing html tables. You can avoid it if you use GSAK and other tools to strip this data out. But then again, if you strip out something you need to find the cache you are SOL in the field. I'm sure Garmin will fix this issue in time but I'm not sure you are ever going to get 100% of the cache page information into the CO. Either way the paperless feature and field notes are two the main reasons to buy the CO if you are a geocacher. Being able to leave my Palm at home and having access to the cache information on a "weatherproof" device is nice. Field notes really help speed the process of logging caches, especially if you do a lot.

 

The Colorado geocaching mode is okay for doing strings of traditionals -- it is similar to the 60csx but it isn't worth using if you are doing multis and mystery caches with intermediate points. Geocaches are special in the CO and aren't integrated with waypoints. If you put down a waypoint for an intermediate stage of a multi you aren't going to be using the geocaching mode to find it. Similar with child waypoints, finding them on the Colorado is clunky at best because of how waypoints and geocaches are treated. So it really depends on the type of caching you do. If you find lots of traditionals it works nicely, if you find a lot of multi's and mysteries you'll find the geocaching mode worse than the 60csx.

 

GO$Rs

[+TrailGators]

I would go with the Colorado since it supports the Wherigo caches and it eliminates the need to carry a Palm.

[+Red90]

the provided features looks realy nice but does it realy works fine?

Paperless caching is a good idea but, what about images, spoilers, special texts etc in the describtion?

Can the colorado display all these things correct?

 

is there a possibility to make notes to a certain waypoint?

e.g. a multi cache where you have to find a lot auf numbers or something like that to solve the calculation at the last stage, can i easily write these notes into the colorado or do i still need a sheet of paper?

 

It shows everything that is in a Pocket Query. Complex HTML pages are not always displayed correctly as the HTML engine is not 100% at the moment. Images and such can be viewed as well, but you would need to get those using some other method such as Spoilersync, as Groundspeak does not send them.

 

You can not add notes at this time. IMO, due to the limitations of entering text on a non-touch screen device, a notepad is easier.

 

For most caches, it is better than a PDA and GPS. This is because the cache information is only a click away while you are navigating and another click to get back to navigating. It is not a PDA and is not as feature rich, but is pretty close.

[+Red90]

The Colorado geocaching mode is okay for doing strings of traditionals -- it is similar to the 60csx but it isn't worth using if you are doing multis and mystery caches with intermediate points. Geocaches are special in the CO and aren't integrated with waypoints. If you put down a waypoint for an intermediate stage of a multi you aren't going to be using the geocaching mode to find it. Similar with child waypoints, finding them on the Colorado is clunky at best because of how waypoints and geocaches are treated. So it really depends on the type of caching you do. If you find lots of traditionals it works nicely, if you find a lot of multi's and mysteries you'll find the geocaching mode worse than the 60csx.

 

It is more clunky, BUT......

 

A 60Csx can not be better, why you ask. Well, it is nearly impossible to do a mystery cache with a 60Csx alone. You still need to have a cache page printout or a PDA to read and interpret the mystery information.... So a 60Csx and a PDa are required. Despite being clunky in the additional waypoint area, you can still do a complete mystery with ONLY the Colorado. With a 60Csx, you need to pull out theprintout or the PDA, which is just as clunky as going back to the description on the Colorado, perhaps more.

Edited April 8, 2008 by Red90

[+thora06]

Thanks for your quick and very great answer.

 

Is there a possiblity to display the whole on a PDA with Windows Mobile or on a Palm, or do they also give you only a certain part of the description?

 

I think GSAK isn´t able to run on Windows Mobile or Palm OS, is there any programm very similar to the GSAK?

 

I think paperless caching is very nice and give´s us more possibilities to store and organize the found caches.

 

The most of the caches we do are multi or mysteries with several stages.

[+g-o-cashers]

Most people I know use Cachemate on a Palm and download from GSAK. There are other PPC applications as well.

 

GO$Rs

[+Miragee]

Thanks for your quick and very great answer.

 

Is there a possiblity to display the whole on a PDA with Windows Mobile or on a Palm, or do they also give you only a certain part of the description?

 

I think GSAK isn´t able to run on Windows Mobile or Palm OS, is there any programm very similar to the GSAK?

 

I think paperless caching is very nice and give´s us more possibilities to store and organize the found caches.

 

The most of the caches we do are multi or mysteries with several stages.

Depending on which program you use on your PDA, you can get the entire cache description.

 

I use Cachemate on my Palm m515. Other people use Plucker (with Sunrise Desktop on their PC). Cachemate gives me different screens, one with the Description, one with Past Logs, one with the Hint, another with a place to record my experience at the Cache. This is where you could put in the coordinates for a next stage or any other information you need. I use the Grafitti alphabet to write everything.

 

I Export the data for my Palm from GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). I also Send the waypoints to my GPSr from GSAK, and Export the .gpx file for the Custom POIs. It is an invaluable program for me.

 

I have an image viewer on my Palm (Vikao), so I can put images on it if I want to.

[+TrailGators]

Thanks for your quick and very great answer.

 

Is there a possiblity to display the whole on a PDA with Windows Mobile or on a Palm, or do they also give you only a certain part of the description?

 

I think GSAK isn´t able to run on Windows Mobile or Palm OS, is there any programm very similar to the GSAK?

 

I think paperless caching is very nice and give´s us more possibilities to store and organize the found caches.

 

The most of the caches we do are multi or mysteries with several stages.

Cachemate is the one most people use. It is cheap and very effective.

 

If you get a Colorago you can dump the cache page with the logs into the COlorado with one click using the "Send to GPS" feature. Otherwise you can use GSAK to upload a bunch of cache pages.

[+thora06]

Thanks for your reply.

 

As i read in the topic about the new beta firmware for the garmin colorado, i think garmin tries to get the problems fixed.

 

I think i will wait sometimes before i make my dedecision which GPSr i will buy.

There are still some usefull features in the 60 CSX which are not mentioned in the colorado description.

The question is, will these features be added in later firmware updates or are they reserved for future GPSr?

 

At the moment i use a magellan explorist 100 , so whatever i will buy, both GPSr will be a great improvement

Edited April 9, 2008 by thora06

[+XopherN71]

Geocaches are "read only" on the Colorado, no way to modify or add geocaches.

Weren't these issues already fixed?

 

From Garmin:

* Added ability to reposition waypoint to current location

* Added support for language-specific keyboards

* Added support for editing location in all position formats

* Added Spanner support

* Improved drawing of BlueChart tidal areas

* Improved performance when exiting mass storage mode

* Improved paperless goecaching (various)

* Improved Wherigo player (various)

* Corrected potential shutdown when selecting maps with a large variety of maps loaded

* Corrected potential shutdown when profiling a long route

* Corrected avoiding highways

* Corrected display of found geocaches

* Corrected issue preventing name of lakes and rivers from showing when highlighted

* Corrected display of bridge heights

[+jotne]

You can mark a cache as found, but you can not remove or add cache without adding/removing gpx files.

[+XopherN71]

Gotcha, thanks!