Another Colorado question

[+Huntin_with_Indy]

Brand new to geocaching, and to the forums. Please forgive me if this has already been addressed somehwere previously.

After using my Etrex Vista (pre-color version) for several years for hunting, hiking, mountaineering, etc., I was recently introduced to geocaching. What a hoot! Now my wife and kids are out doing it too, and it's more good family time outdoors.

During the last few days however, I've noticed some issues with my trusty old Vista. It keeps shutting off, or the screen will go blank, except for a vertical blue line all the way down it. Can't power it up again until I pull the batteries, and start over.

So I've considered upgrading to a new GPS for hunting, hiking, and now geocaching. I'm considering the Colorado 400t.

I like some of the features, the bigger screen, and it's capabilities, but on more than one occassion, I've read comments or heard about how this unit or that unit is better for hiking, and general travel. Do the Colorados have shortcomings in that area? I don't want to spend that kind of scratch for a unit that doesn't even perform as well as my old Vista when it comes to hunting the backcountry, or halfway up a mountian somewhere when you're fogged in, just for the geocaching advantages. When I really need the unit to get me back to camp 20 miles away on some backcountry hunting trip, geocaching takes a back seat at that moment.

I've heard comments about "ease of use", the screen being hard to read on sunny days, several "bugs" in the software, and that other units are better for all around gps travel in the backcountry...

Anybody have comments and first hand experience? That's a lot of money to put out, only to be disappointed...

 

I typically don't "need" to rely on my gps to get me to and from camp when I'm out hunting, but after dark, or when you have an elk down 9 miles out of camp, it's awful handy. And there are those rare times, when you really need it, and you DON'T want to be let down.

 

Any info from Colorado users would be appreciated. Especially if you've had both a Vista and a Colorado.

 

Thanks.

[+northernpenguin]

Battery life is less than you would expect from a black and white series eTrex (I have a B/W eTrex Legend, and now a Colorado 400t). Satellite reception is miles better. If you hunt, you can get incredibly detailed topo maps, and load them all in at once. I don't hunt, but I'm running a 1:20000 set on my Colorado and I can tell where every creek, hill and ditch is.

 

If you're worried about less performance, bring some extra batteries. It uses AAs.

BTW, my eTrex legend did the blank screen with one line thing and all I had to do was tap the screen to get it back.

[yogazoo]

It sounds like you use your GPS for exactly the same thing I do, hunting, backcountry navigation and a little bit of geocaching.

 

I have been in the same situation, Elk down a dozen miles from a road with night closing in. I've been using a 60CSX for the past 2 hunting seasons with no problems at all. Great battery life, excellent reliability, intuitive interface (especially with tracks and screen specific settings) and a night mode to help preserve your night vision in just such situations (the Colorado does not have night mode).

 

Over the winter I hopped on the "Colorado" train and what a ride it's been. All in all I'm dissapointed with the Colorado in a few areas like intuitive menu features, screen specific settings, and reliability, areas where the 60CSX and vista's excel.

 

There is definately a dichotomy in reviews of the Colorado series. It seems as though, in general, Geocachers love it and navigators/data gatherers take issue. From your post it sounds like you would fall in the latter.

 

There is an excellent comparison of the functionality of the two units on go-cachers wiki. Check it out and decide for yourself! Good luck!

[+storm180]

I have the Colorado 300 and I love it. I already had the Garmin 2008 topo so I didn't need to get the 400T. Just bring extra batteries and you should be good. I use the 2700Mah PowerEx and they work really well in the colorado. So far I have only been out on day caches with it, only out for 4-6 hours and so far I have yet to change the batteries in the field.

[+themeecer]

From periodic scanning of the forums I have found the users who say the colorado isn't good for hiking are ones used to the 60CSX. Using the breadcrumb feature I can backtrack any route I have taken. I can see where mountains, streams, and roads are. I have never run out of battery power while out doing a full day's geocaching. (Then again I remember to turn my unit off when I am not using it and I do carry an extra set of batteries) Yes, there are some bugs but they will eventually be fixed. Since I have to space my technological purchases out over long periods of time I prefer to buy a newer unit that will keep me happy for a few years than one that has already been out for a couple of years and could soon be out of date.

[+Red90]

Really, any of the modern mapping handheld Garmin units or the Delorme PN along with topo maps will work great for your needs and be leaps and bounds above the Vista. There is nothing wrong with the Colorado that prevents it from working as well as anything else.

 

Have a LOOK at them yourselves and decide which YOU want and how much YOU want to spend.

[+The Blorenges]

I have a Vista C with mapsource. Excellent used it for ages and happy with it. Also got a Mio P550 PDA with UK high res topo maps and I load up all the PQ's from GSAK into it. Bought a Colorado 300 for my wife to use as you can load a PQ straight into it and she is often caching without me. So having the cache pages on it is ideal. Really pleased with. Battery life is very good - a whole day on one set of batts (NiMH rechargables). Not as good as my Vista but no complaints.

Only thing I have found - as others have said - is the menus are different and while all the info is there it takes a bit of getting used to finding them and entering data.

 

I'd recommend it.

 

Chris

[+Huntin_with_Indy]

Thanks for the input and the replies.

I'm still maybe a little leary of the Colorado(s) right now, though I think it just might be the ticket in the long run.

I spoke to Garmin today about the issues with my Vista, and also inquired about the Colorado series while I had them on the phone. They said that there was a new software update released recently for the Co., and more on the way/being worked on. I was also advised of a recent update for the software in my Vista, and they sent links, and instructions. Great customer service if nothing else. I DO like that about Garmin.

I'm still a little cautious about jumping onto the Colorado bandwagon though, for obvious reasons this early on.

Then again.... I dumped my first wife for a newer model, and didn't regret it. And hey... this one geocaches with me..

Sometimes change is good....

 

Any other opinions/suggestions??

[freeday]

...They said that there was a new software update released recently for the Co., and more on the way/being worked on. ...

recently? What type of new software update?

 

.... I was also advised of a recent update for the software in my Vista, and they sent links, and instructions. ...

recent update for vista? - but 2.60 seems to have bugs now

[+Huntin_with_Indy]

...They said that there was a new software update released recently for the Co., and more on the way/being worked on. ...

recently? What type of new software update?

 

.... I was also advised of a recent update for the software in my Vista, and they sent links, and instructions. ...

recent update for vista? - but 2.60 seems to have bugs now

 

Not sure.

He just said I needed to update my Vista, and told me there was a "recent" version released, and when I asked about the Colorados, he said there were "recent" updates out for them too.

Since I only updated my Vista once a long time ago, I didn't ask how recent the update was. I figured it had to be more current than the version I'm using. I believe it was 2.6 he refered to though.

[freeday]

OK, it is a Garmin recently

 

now i know what next update comming soon could mean (spoken in garmin words)

[GreatCanadian]

Hello there Indy. I have a set of instructions here that will show you how to fix your Vista. Quite a few have had that problem you describe, and quite a few have fixed it with the instructions.

 

In the meantime, I use my gps for geocaching, autorouting, but my primary use for a gps is HUNTING, FISHING, ATV RIDING, and outdoor adventures of that sort. I have owned various magellan gps's and too many garmins to count, including the 60csx. I have NOT used a colorado. In my opinion the best gps on the market for hunting is the Legend HCX. It's compact, rugged, has a high-sensitivity receiver (better than my 60csx), and very importantly, better battery life. This gps will do more than you will require, and do it very well. I love the size of this gps. It mounts solid to the ATV handlebar as well. If you only need a few maps loaded, the Venture HC is a good choice. Same as the Legend HCX except it doesn't take a card (one less thing to go wrong) and it doesn't autoroute - which is of no use in the woods. If you require an electronic compass, the Vista HCX will satisfy all your needs. Just an opinion from someone who has owned DOZENS AND DOZENS of handheld gps's. I keep going back to the etrex series.