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Colorado 400t or 60CSx


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Ok, I'm looking to purchase another hand held unit. I currently own the GPSV and love it. I'm looking for a hand held for hiking and hunting purposes only. I will not be using this in the vehicle. I currently own the GPSmap 376C for vehicle use.

 

I have been reading a lot about the 400t and it seems there are a lot of issues with it. So, I was wondering if any of you can help me with my decision.

 

Thanks,

 

Ray

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Most of those issues are resolved in the beta firmware released last month. I personally have very little to complain about, and what I do have is trivial.

 

The 400t is awesome, especially for geocaching. Will you 'need' a 400t for hiking and hunting only, probably not. The shading of the maps in topo mode are incredible however and much easier for me to understand at a glance than vector lines.

 

Not even sure you'd need the 60CSx for what you are looking at doing, but either one would be a great choice for you.

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I have the 60cx. I've handled the 400t. There are a lot of great features in the Colorado, but I'm gagging at a $600 suggested retail for the Colorado. You can get a new 60cx for about half that, and do most of what the Colorado has to offer.

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You can get a Colorado for a lot less than $600 :D

 

True, but make sure you purchase from an authorized dealer with a good return policy! Walmart sells the 400t for $480 and you can take it right back to the store if/when you discover you've gotten a defective unit.

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Thanks for all the replies. I REALLY like the 400t. Another question....

 

Where I do a lot of hunting, there are a few dirt roads. These roads appear on my 376c and in my mapsource application. Will these roads appear on the 400t and can I download maps from the mapsource application to the 400t? There's are a lot of times that if I'm in the woods I will walk to the closet road appearing on the GPS instead of back tracking and then call for a ride.

 

Thanks again,

 

RJ

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You can get a Colorado for a lot less than $600 :D

 

True, but make sure you purchase from an authorized dealer with a good return policy! Walmart sells the 400t for $480 and you can take it right back to the store if/when you discover you've gotten a defective unit.

 

not sure if this answers your first question but there is a park nearby. it has some very old overgrown gravel paths that not many use anymore. my 400t shows them when past versions did not. now the one problem i do have with the maps is that some really small towns are not listed. not sure if they are on CN 08 or what. Everyone do a search on there programs and see if they can find this town: http://www.wunderground.com/US/LA/Gheens.html

 

i have yet to see it on any of their maps. i have lots of family there so i know it exists.

 

outside of that, i love my 400t. and i also own a 60csx and i think the pro's on the 400t outweigh the the cons.

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You can get a Colorado for a lot less than $600 :D

 

True, but make sure you purchase from an authorized dealer with a good return policy! Walmart sells the 400t for $480 and you can take it right back to the store if/when you discover you've gotten a defective unit.

 

not sure if this answers your first question but there is a park nearby. it has some very old overgrown gravel paths that not many use anymore. my 400t shows them when past versions did not. now the one problem i do have with the maps is that some really small towns are not listed. not sure if they are on CN 08 or what. Everyone do a search on there programs and see if they can find this town: http://www.wunderground.com/US/LA/Gheens.html

 

i have yet to see it on any of their maps. i have lots of family there so i know it exists.

 

outside of that, i love my 400t. and i also own a 60csx and i think the pro's on the 400t outweigh the the cons.

 

I also see that town using my MapSource ver 6.13.7

 

So, can I download maps from my MapSource application to the 400t?

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sorry. back OT, i do like bothe the 60csx but for what i do, geocaching, i find the 400t sooooo much better. i do hike but wont be going until the end of may.

 

Will you be using the 400t or the 60csx when you hike?

 

400t. will be hiking in the mountains of east tennessee. gotta try the 3d views out.

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400t. will be hiking in the mountains of east tennessee. gotta try the 3d views out.
I debated this same thing for a long, LONG time and finally decided and just received my 60CSx... and guess what? I got 3D topographical maps for our whole region included for FREE!!!! Oh yeah, guess I should mention I live in central Florida and we have no topography to speak of here :D

 

I bounced this issue of 400t or 60CSx for months and months and here was my logic, I have been using a 60C for ages and it's second nature to me and my fingers. I don't even think about it to operate it, and I was pleased to find the tactile feel was better on the 60CSx then my old 60C. With City Navigator it does everything we want to do and I have a Palm Tungsten Tx and a great quick access holster (magnetic cover) that is a breeze to use. We kayak, hike and mountain bike and GPSr is with us thru it all. The 60C has tumbled down hillsides, fallen off the handlebar, swam in the rivers, been thru the mill.

 

I also have a Minolta Z3 we always took along. I just bought a Sony Alpha A-100 and a nice Tamaron lens and took it on the kayak once and scared the cr@p outta me worrying about it. Now it only goes on regular hikes and outtings, never again on the water. The Z3 I don't mind hauling around everywhere. Same goes for the GPSr. I don't mind having a $200 piece of hardware along that maybe goes for an occasional tumble. If that was a $600 piece of hardware I'd worry about it too much (not just damage but getting lifted if not watched) and probably back off the intensity of the ride, hike or paddle (I don't mind living on the edge). The 60CSx will do more then we even need a GPSr to do (we did get by with a eTrex Vista with hard copy GC printouts) and at some time in the future, when they work the bugs out, we might upgrade again.

 

But I got caught in the "bleeding edge" technology buying the 60C (no expansion card!!!) and don't care to have those regrets over my head for a couple years. Congrat's on all those with 400t's but don't expect us 60CSx'ers to be too jealous :D

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400t. will be hiking in the mountains of east tennessee. gotta try the 3d views out.
I debated this same thing for a long, LONG time and finally decided and just received my 60CSx... and guess what? I got 3D topographical maps for our whole region included for FREE!!!! Oh yeah, guess I should mention I live in central Florida and we have no topography to speak of here ;)

 

I bounced this issue of 400t or 60CSx for months and months and here was my logic, I have been using a 60C for ages and it's second nature to me and my fingers. I don't even think about it to operate it, and I was pleased to find the tactile feel was better on the 60CSx then my old 60C. With City Navigator it does everything we want to do and I have a Palm Tungsten Tx and a great quick access holster (magnetic cover) that is a breeze to use. We kayak, hike and mountain bike and GPSr is with us thru it all. The 60C has tumbled down hillsides, fallen off the handlebar, swam in the rivers, been thru the mill.

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I've returned two 400ts for issues with acuracy and "jumping". I will buy one again when I'm confident the bugs have been worked out. Many people have 400Ts that work fine. I just don't know what serial number or batch to look for.

 

In the meantime, i bought another 60scx and find that I still love this one also.

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Man, I'm SO undecided!!! ;)
You can look at it like buying a car, if you buy the 60CSx and put a good screen protector on it (like Invisible Shield) a year down the road you can recoup probably 75%-90% of it's value back. So while you're waiting to make up your mind you'll have a kick butt GPSr to tool around with and if and when you decide on the 400t, you can plop your 60CSx on Ebay and get around half the cost of the 400t back.

 

A friend of mine at work had an old Magellan GPSr and thought it was great, had it fall out of his bike pack and get run over by a truck :D He just now bought a color eTrex with the SD card (tight budget) and he is just blown away by how much better he likes this unit even though he heard both were equally as good. Getting something beats getting nothing, and like I implied in my previous post, if 6 months down the road Garmin pops out a new GPSr that is a hardware improvement from what they are learning from the initially released 400t units, you'll appreciate having had a piece of proven and field tested hardware in your hand that let you get by until all the fixes all were put into place :D

 

And if (more likely "when") Garmin pops out the new and improved Colorado, trying to dump the buggy initally released hardware won't be easy (trust the word of an owner of a MAP60C on this, who watched the 60Cx and then the 60CSx come out a few months after he bought his bleeding edge 60C).

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Man, I'm SO undecided!!! :D

 

And if (more likely "when") Garmin pops out the new and improved Colorado, trying to dump the buggy initally released hardware won't be easy (trust the word of an owner of a MAP60C on this, who watched the 60Cx and then the 60CSx come out a few months after he bought his bleeding edge 60C).

 

You just made my mind up! VERY good point!

 

60CSx it is!

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You just made my mind up! VERY good point! 60CSx it is!
Wasn't trying to make your mind up, was just giving you my humble opinion and my history with Garmin, glad to help.

 

My old MAP0C got the buttons all worn off from waaay to much use and abuse and rather then selling me a new button pad overlay (also waaaay out of warrantee) Garmin actually replaced it with a factory refurbished unit with a 1 year warrantee for $25 (and they paid shipping). So when I bought my 60CSx I bought a new refurbished one from a Garmin dealer (on Ebay) for a lot cheaper then a NIB one. Still has a 1 year warrantee and IMHO just as good as new.

 

... now hit the trails!!! :D

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