Back-up gps for Colorado owners?

[+jws2go]

It seems a lot of Colorado owners have another gps they use in tandem with Garmin's slightly buggy hand-held flagship. I know that helps me to maintain some degree of patience while waiting for a new fix for the documented problems of this otherwise impressive gpsr. I enjoy my Colorado, but I am very hesitant to go on an outing without one of my tried and true toys. Now, if it was the only unit I had, I wonder if I might become a little antsy about a fix. Do you carry two?

[+RonFisk]

It seems a lot of Colorado owners have another gps they use in tandem with Garmin's slightly buggy hand-held flagship. I know that helps me to maintain some degree of patience while waiting for a new fix for the documented problems of this otherwise impressive gpsr. I enjoy my Colorado, but I am very hesitant to go on an outing without one of my tried and true toys. Now, if it was the only unit I had, I wonder if I might become a little antsy about a fix. Do you carry two?

I rely on my 60CSx in the field. I carry the Colorado mainly for the paperless caching. It works most of the time, but the 60 works all the time. I feel that the Colorado is like a calculator that makes a mistake once in a while. You are never quite sure about it....

[+Crid]

I agree with RonFisk - I don't quite trust the Colorado in wooded areas. Hopefully they'll fix the problem soon with a firmware upgrade.

 

I use a 76CSx (my "old" GPS, which the Colorado was supposed to replace). Had it for about a year and it's always been very good, even in woodland. Pretty much the same guts as a 60CSx, just in a different form factor (buttons above the screen instead of below, no aerial stub, etc). And cheaper - that's what clinched it for me.

Edited June 19, 2008 by Crid

[+Crid]

Duplicate post.

Edited June 19, 2008 by Crid

[+g-o-cashers]

I have a 60csx now and I bring it along when I'm out caching or anyplace that I'm relying heavily on a GPS. Like others I just don't trust my Colorado and I'm disappointed by the most recent batch of reports that seem to suggest the newer serial numbers don't fix this location issues.

 

GO$Rs

[+CacheARRRS]

I have a 60csx now and I bring it along when I'm out caching or anyplace that I'm relying heavily on a GPS. Like others I just don't trust my Colorado and I'm disappointed by the most recent batch of reports that seem to suggest the newer serial numbers don't fix this location issues.

 

GO$Rs

 

Well, I have found 65+ caches with my Colorado, 0 DNF's, it tracks along known route just as good as my buddies 60csx..... so I guess maybe I am the lucky one person who got a working one....

[+storm180]

So far the colorado has not failed me in the field after month of caching. Always has lead me to the cache. However if I do go out alone I always care a spare gps in my pack, which is my Explorist 600. If I am caching with my better half, she carries a 60CSx so I have the best of both worlds.

[freeday]

i was using the Colorado - it has so many bugs

 

meanwhile i am only using the gpsmap60csx - it work great and correct

[+g-o-cashers]

Well, I have found 65+ caches with my Colorado, 0 DNF's, it tracks along known route just as good as my buddies 60csx..... so I guess maybe I am the lucky one person who got a working one....

 

Most of the time I don't have a problem either, I've only had 2 Colorado induced DNF's in about 100 finds but it happens and it is usually triggered by slow movement under heavy cover.

 

I've been running some head to head comparisons with my 60csx and out of 10 tests around the same course I saw two significant Colorado "events" one was more minor (100-150' error) but one was off by over 300'.

 

You can see the comparison of the tracks here. The blue track is the Colorado, red the 60csx and black is a reference made from averaging about 50 60csx and Colorado tracks. The red arrows indicate the position error at well known references along the test course.

 

GO$Rs

Edited June 19, 2008 by g-o-cashers

[+Cacheoholic]

Call me lucky or maybe naive? I haven’t used or carried any of my other GPS’s since the Colorado. I get ill when I look at my 60CSx display anymore. I just returned from vacation and took the 60CSx as a backup but never turned it on or carried it. It sat in the glove box the whole time.

[+Gushoneybun]

Just the Colorado here as well. No issues it gets me to the caches I would guess at around 180 finds with it, and a couple of DNF's that were there. We often carry a PDA but that is so my wife can read past logs on the walk to the caches.

 

 

I still love it

[+jbar]

I have a Colorado 300, like the others I don't completely trust it yet. I always have my 60csx with me. I'm awaiting the final firmware fixes. Right now it's not much better than an expensive PDA.

[gallet]

I trust my Colorado as much as my HCx, it feels solid and well made, and the screen is simply amazing better than any auto gps. I'll take my HCx with me when I go bush because it's compact, light, and has better battery life, but I'm seriously contemplating the extra weight and extra batteries simply because of what the 10m contour lines looks like on the Co display, I have no reliability issues.

[+george_k]

I have a 60csx now and I bring it along when I'm out caching or anyplace that I'm relying heavily on a GPS. Like others I just don't trust my Colorado and I'm disappointed by the most recent batch of reports that seem to suggest the newer serial numbers don't fix this location issues.

 

GO$Rs

 

Yeah, I'm disappointed at how long it's taking to fix the location problem, too. I'm still anxiously waiting so that I can buy a Colorado as soon as I know I'll have something that gives me a reliable position almost all the time.

 

However, I suspect that it is neither a hardware issue nor a Garmin firmware issue. I believe it is most likely the GPS chipset firmware. Given that Garmin appears to be switching over to the MediaTek chipset in more and more products, hopefully they will forward the various problem reports from the customers over to MediaTek and perhaps apply some pressure on MediaTek to upgrade *their* firmware. That's why more than waiting for a replacement for the 2.51 beta firmware, I am more anxious about an upgrade to the 2.6 MediaTek firmware. When that comes out, and it starts getting confirmed that position is much more reliable, that's when I'll take the plunge and get a Colorado. I can live with the other minor issues left in 2.51, but I think I would be extremely annoyed if I couldn't rely on the position.

 

George

[+Cacheoholic]

By then Garmin will have a newer model out and you’ll be buying obsolete equipment. I bought mine the day the REI monopoly ended and have never experienced a major issue with it. I waited several months to buy my 60CSx during its debut bug conspiracy but I only missed out on enjoying a great unit for those several months. I learned then that Garmin will stand behind their product and had no fear of purchasing a Colorado. The Colorado has a steep learning curve because of its bountiful features. It takes an experienced GPS user several hours and a lot of patience to discover it. I can’t imagine a newbie trying to use one especially with the worthless owner manual that comes with it. I would speculate that this accounts for the majority of Colorado “issues”. Many are afraid to update to the beta firmware and are really missing out. Others are getting frustrated with the learning curve and giving up.

Edited June 20, 2008 by Cacheoholic

[+northernpenguin]

 

You can see the comparison of the tracks here. The blue track is the Colorado, red the 60csx and black is a reference made from averaging about 50 60csx and Colorado tracks. The red arrows indicate the position error at well known references along the test course.

 

GO$Rs

 

Wow that's just nasty. I have noticed my Colorado doesn't really like when I start my <50 metres search business. It'll just assume I haven't moved if I'm moving too slow. Annoying, as I'll have to walk away then 'pounce' into the cache area to get that reading to update (unit will keep reporting the same distance to the cache, even though I've been moving around while searching). Surely this will be fixed in a future firmware update, it's probably some variable like the one that turns the compass on/off at certain speeds.

[+jws2go]

I think Colorado owners have a right to expect a fix to the accuracy problem very soon. After all, if this had been a Magellan . . .

[+JetSkier]

I think Colorado owners have a right to expect a fix to the accuracy problem very soon. After all, if this had been a Magellan . . .

 

If this had been a Magellan, everybody would be telling you to "throw it in the trash". With the amazing customer support that I keep hearing about from Garmin, I'm surprised there are still issues with the Colorado! Maybe the "Maggie bashers" should also become "Colorado bashers" ... it's only fair!

 

JetSkier

[+myotis]

When I first got my 400T I carried my 60CSX with me as a back up. Never needed it. I sold it and never had any desire to go back to the 60CSX. While there certainly are bugs and I think Garmin is taking an inexcusable amount of time to fix stuff (I love the 400T but don't like Garmin), but the 60CSX is not in the same ball park os the CO. Its advantages over the 60CSX far outweigh its problems. My biggest complaint and what I miss on my 60CSX (and several previous Garmins) is the CO does not have exit services. Every time I ask Garmin about it, I get a different answer. To me not having exit services is a huge problem when traveling on the Interstates.

 

I've found over 450 caches with the CO. A couple of times I had location problems. It was irrigating, but I still found the caches. One time I searched the wrong place for about 20 minutes before the GPS then said it was 300 feet from there. A couple of times I have had problems like that but they soon corrected. I am into making custom trail maps and I have not had any problems with the CO. I go over trails I GPSed with my 60CSX and they are right on. I go back over the trails I gpsed with the CO and they are right on.

 

When I cached with my 60CSX, I also carried my PDA and had the cache pages. I miss having pictures, but not enough to load the cache pages on my PDA anymore. When I would go on a caching trip, I used to take my laptop to figure out which cache to go to next. I don't do that anymore as the CO does a better job than the laptop.