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400t - Yes or No


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I have been scrolling through the threads for the last week or so trying to see what GPS to purchase. These have all been helpful but at times conflicting; in the end how many of you recommend this unit and how many think it is too risky with the bugs? Are the bugs infrequent enough to not off set the great features or should I steer clear.

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I have been scrolling through the threads for the last week or so trying to see what GPS to purchase. These have all been helpful but at times conflicting; in the end how many of you recommend this unit and how many think it is too risky with the bugs? Are the bugs infrequent enough to not off set the great features or should I steer clear.

 

I've had the 300 for 2 months now. I've used it on 25 caches so far. The more I use it the more I like the paperless caching. I opted for the 300 because I like to use the maps on the computer. It's worked out fine so far, I load the whole East Coast. I have only cached in New England so far. most issues have been resolved with the latest firmware. The unit loads quickly and locks on. I get about 10hrs with 2600 mah nimh rechargeables. I have not had any isses with clock, lockups, or shut downs. I've updated the firmware 2 times. No issues with the updates. There are still a few quirks compared to my 60csx but its mostly operator expectations. The software on the 300 is so different from the 60csx, but it grows on you after a while. So far the unit has more than met my expectations.

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400t is incredible in my opinion... for Geocaching, nothing beats it right now. I've also loaded City Navigator, now it's an awesome street navigation system as well.

 

And then....

I ordered Inland Lakes, so now it's an awesome tool on the water :)

 

Yep, I like it :)

 

Latest firmware seemed to have fixed almost everything people had issues with, and it's only a Beta release. Personally, I think most of the complaints aren't about the Colorado itself, but what some people expect it to be (most of which it isn't even advertised as).

 

Been awesome for me and ever since I've been using it all my hides have gotten comments like 'coordinates were spot on.

 

PS

I also own a 60CSx, great GPS! However after using the Colorado and it's paperless caching, it's night and day for me.

 

Go for it!

Edited by XopherN71
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If you have a GPS and it has been working for you, hold off for a while. No harm. Still missing too much functionality that you pay for but yet to be delivered. Note the most recent issues with sporadic accuracy issues. And before anyone asks, yes, I did have one and "do" believe it is the future but it isn't there yet! My 60CSx still gets the job done.

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To many bugs. Wait 3 months and look at it again.

 

Do you own one? Have you used one?

 

Yes and Yes.

 

I've had my 400T for over 2 months now and love it. I previously had the 60CSx and have found the 400T to be much better for caching and navigation. I've recently installed the new beta and find it even faster. Yes, their are reported problems with the screen brightness but that is not really a big issue for me. Go for the 400T and you won't regret it.

 

Steve :)

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Mine had been a solid performer since I got it in early March. I like it for hiking, geocaching and just plain naviagation.

 

I did 4 geocaches the other day and it worked flawlessly. Paperless feature is awesome and the accuracy seemed a touch better than my etrex legend.

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Personally, I think most of the complaints aren't about the Colorado itself, but what some people expect it to be (most of which it isn't even advertised as).

 

^ I don't think anyone could have said it better.

 

I am a former 60CSx owner myself and used it for road navigation, geocaching as well as hiking/snowshoeing. I think I put it through its paces quite well in all aspects. Now I just got my new Colorado 400t last week so I haven't put it through its paces quite like the 60CSx yet, but so far I am able to put the entire US City Navigator maps along with the entire central US 24k:1 national forest maps with a TON of room left on my 4Gb SD card. Not to mention I already have the entire US Topo 2008 built in w/ 1Gb free of built-in-memory. The GUI its like upgrading to Mac OSX when you compare it to the 60CSx which now feels like Palm OS/Windows 95. The rock and roller wheel is far easier to use vs. the lower buttons on the 60CSx, especially with my larger hands. PROFILES?! omg, how did I ever use a gps without this? no more changing 4-10 settings when switching from road navigation to hiking/geocaching, 2 clicks and your done! paperless geocaching... now I don't need to carry around a palm w/ cachemate, this is a HUGE pro for me. The *only* con I really have, is it not saving my backlight preferences when turning it off/on... but I'm sure this will be fixed soon (my unit shipped with 2.40 and haven't upgraded to the beta firmware yet)

 

I would HIGHLY recommend the 400t if you have the means.

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If you have a good GPS like the 60CSx or one you are happy with and can wait a few months, I'd wait. If it is your first GPS or you really want to upgrade, buy the Colorado, it will be the GPS to have when the software is complete and you wouldn't have spent the money twice.

I guess my issue is, this device was sold before it was even close to being ready for mass-market. It's kinda-like buying a new car and on the way home, the electric windows don't work but are fixed with the next visit to the dealer. Then you have a radio that is supposed to play MP3 CD's but that doesn't work yet but you hear on the web that a future software update will fix that. For the geeks and early adopters, just because you have to have it as soon as it hits the street doesn't mean it shouldn't be "complete" or at least 98%. The Colorado wasn't even close although with 2.51 it is getting there! I my opinion, Garmin brought this GPS to market before it was done or even close BUT I say again as a long time GPS and Garmin GPS user, it will be the GPS to own when finally completed.

Opinions welcome!

Edited by YBLee
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Thank you to everyone that gave me feedback in this thread as well as the good info on the other threads. I just placed my order on Amazon and will have it hear on Friday. I did not order the City Nav NT as the discriptor did not list the Colorado as one of the units it works on. Was this an oversight or due to the Colorado being too new. If it does work, can it fit on the Colorado's internal memory or will I have to put it on a SD? Thanks for any feedback.

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Thanks for the quick answers guys, I appreciate all the info. I am excited to start playing with this, but dreading the learning curve as I have never had a GPS before. On the screen shots above I saw pictures of the geocaches, I thought one of the glitches with the colorado was that it didn't show the icons of the caches? Was this fixed?

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I just got the 300 and like it a lot, except for road navi. Its lacking a ton of features that the Legend HCX has.

 

Simple things like:

Lack of night colour mode

Will not tell you what street your on, unless it has a route.

 

Its a brand new product and we are nothing more than beta testers for Garmin. There seems to be a ton of oversight with this unit. With that said I still love it! Hurry Garmin and get up to speed with the firmware updates. 2.51 is cutting it still.

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The Colorado doesn't show the geocache icon on the list summary views. Once you select a cache or view it on the map you'll see the icon.

 

GO$Rs

 

Thanks for the clarification. My first experience of geocaching was with Yadin a couple weeks ago and it was easy to see all the treasure chests on his map page. I was disapointed (and worried) when I had read these don't show up on the 400t.

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The only negative that's hardware related and therefore can't be fixed by firmware updates is that the screen is not as bright as the 60 series. I would say that the 300/400 series is only about half as bright as the 60 series.

 

Not mine. It is as bright. Some of the screens have poor colour choices which makes it "seem" the screen is not as bright. For instance, the DEM shading on the map makes it harder to see. Turn it off to see what I mean. And the backlight is brighter on the Colorado.

Edited by Red90
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I have topo 2008 for my 60csx I like the ability to easily edit and manage my tracks and waypoints. My question is, Can I use this with the 400t and its preloaded 24k maps or should I get the 300 and load my own maps from the topo 2008. Thanks for any advice

 

the 400t comes preloaded with TOPO 2008, which are NOT 24k maps...

Edited by Aberrix
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Thanks, My mistake. I have just 2 more questions.

1. How much memory is available on the 300? I have read many posts all different on the amount, Garmin site says 384mb.

2. Can I use topo 2008 dvd with more than 1 GPSr. I did not have to register this when I installed it so I was not sure if it is tied to 1 unit.

 

Thanks

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The only negative that's hardware related and therefore can't be fixed by firmware updates is that the screen is not as bright as the 60 series. I would say that the 300/400 series is only about half as bright as the 60 series.

 

Not mine. It is as bright. Some of the screens have poor colour choices which makes it "seem" the screen is not as bright. For instance, the DEM shading on the map makes it harder to see. Turn it off to see what I mean. And the backlight is brighter on the Colorado.

 

Humm, you may be correct. I just find it harder to read it outdoors now vs. the old 60 series. If you say it's because of the shading and NOT the brightness of the screen I'll take your word for it.

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400t (mine) has 4Gb of built-in memory, with 1Gb being free

 

300 has something like 512mb of built-in memory, with 384mb being free

I was on the phone with Garmin Thursday and they told that the memory was the same between the 300 and the 400. The only thing that sets them apart is the topo.

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Unless something has changed very recently they were wrong. If you plug a 400t into you computer you'll see a drive that is a little less than 4GB. With the 300 you'll see a drive that is slightly less than 512MB.

 

GO$Rs

I know that was bothering me also so I called again, same thing. What would be wrong with loading everything on a SD card?

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I believe that you can load everything on thge SD card, but it may cause a longer start up time.

 

As for preloading maps from the GPS to the PC, you cannot load the built in basemap from the CO 300 to your PC, but if you have a mapsource CD such as TOPO or City Navigator, you CAN load that on to your PC.

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