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Garmin Colorado - Is it worth it?


julebear

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From what has been speculated/published the Oregon is a touchscreen GPS. Probably based on functionality of the Colorado but not a next generation replacement.

 

As for pricing, I got my CO for $400 at LeBaron because I have an annual membership ($25) that saves you 10% . And they have an excellent returns policy. Very important with a CO.

 

Here is my recommendation:

 

If the CO is going to be your one and only GPS, I don't recommend it. The Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx, IMHO, is the best GPS out there. The CO still has problems even though the latest firmware (2.54 Beta) fixes some of them while introducing new ones. It is not a completely stable platform at this point.

 

Two major concerns: Accuracy (seems to be better with 2.54B) and water resistance. The back cover is prone to leaking, particularly on the earlier models.

 

The upside: Paperless geocaching is great. Wherigo is pretty cool but still needs work.

 

If you do decide to buy a CO, check the serial number. All of the units I have seen start with 16900..... If the unit you are considering starts with that, make sure the right digits are higher than 50000.

 

My 2 cents.

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Its worth it if you can afford it comfortably.

I can afford it comfortably, but I don't want one. IMHO, the 60Cx is the pinnacle of Garmin's GPSr evolution. (Note that you can only identify a pinnacle once you have a slope on both sides...) The 60Cx firmware - the built-in software - is just brilliant, a real work of software development art.

 

They'll have a hard time prying the 60Cx out of my cold dead fingers.

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Its worth it if you can afford it comfortably.

I can afford it comfortably, but I don't want one. IMHO, the 60Cx is the pinnacle of Garmin's GPSr evolution. (Note that you can only identify a pinnacle once you have a slope on both sides...) The 60Cx firmware - the built-in software - is just brilliant, a real work of software development art.

 

They'll have a hard time prying the 60Cx out of my cold dead fingers.

 

I have the 60CSx for search and rescue and I agree that it is an awesome unit.

 

Having said that, the CO was never intended to be the replacement for the 60CSx. It is a niche unit. And with time and some debugging, it will be great too. The display is light years ahead of the 60 and the auto navigation display mode is Nuvi like.

 

And for those who have had a GPS for a few years, neither the eTrex or the 60 were stellar in their infancy.

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For Geocaching, the Colorado is light years ahead of anything out there. It makes the 60csx look like a model T. It makes the whole caching experience much nicer.

 

The Oregon is basically the same thing but with a touchscreen instead of buttons. Personally I see buttons as better for a field unit.

 

GPScity.ca is the cheapest in Canada.

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Two major concerns: Accuracy (seems to be better with 2.54B) and water resistance. The back cover is prone to leaking, particularly on the earlier models.

 

A couple of clarifications.

 

The units do NOT have accuracy problems and people are confusing the issue with incorrect terminology. Accuracy and sensitivity are as good as anything out there. The problem is that something in the GPS firmware is causing a location miscalculation on "some" units in mostly rare and infrequent conditions. It corrects itself always with a unit restart. But I must emaphasize it is very infrequent. This is not just on teh Colorado but all of the etrex HCX models as well.

 

IMO, the leaking (which I've only seen ONE real report...) is caused by not closing the cover fully and seating into the SD card seal. The latch does not force it closed and you must ensure that you seat it properly before latching the cover.

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Two major concerns: Accuracy (seems to be better with 2.54B) and water resistance. The back cover is prone to leaking, particularly on the earlier models.

 

A couple of clarifications.

 

The units do NOT have accuracy problems and people are confusing the issue with incorrect terminology. Accuracy and sensitivity are as good as anything out there. The problem is that something in the GPS firmware is causing a location miscalculation on "some" units in mostly rare and infrequent conditions. It corrects itself always with a unit restart. But I must emaphasize it is very infrequent. This is not just on teh Colorado but all of the etrex HCX models as well.

 

IMO, the leaking (which I've only seen ONE real report...) is caused by not closing the cover fully and seating into the SD card seal. The latch does not force it closed and you must ensure that you seat it properly before latching the cover.

 

Prior to 2.54B my CO would freeze/lock up/be inaccurate/whatever you want to term it, in 9 times out of 10 when I got within 25 meters of a cache in any type of canopy. To the point where I used the 60 to find the cache and the CO to log it. With 2.54B it is much much better but still nowhere near as accurate and reliable as the 60.

 

As for leaking, walking in a rain, with the CO on a lanyard around my neck, I had water ON the batteries. Garmin's response: How hard was it raining?? Fortunately, Lebaron replaced it without question. But the Garmin support person did acknowledge via email that some (no percentage given) do not seal well. If you can see a gap where the cover meets the unit at the top, be worried.

 

I do agree that for geocaching, it beats the 60 hands down in everything except finding the cache, which arguably is a pretty important issue. Again, 2.54B has improved to the point where I left the 60 home the last time out and seemed to do ok. Had to restart once.

 

As for unit restarts, I would hate to have to ask a helicopter to stand by awaiting coordinates to pick up a lost person, while I restarted my CO because it was off by a couple hundred meters. My worst experience was the CO was off by 258 meters and did not correct any of those meters until I rebooted.

 

I standy by SAR/60CSx Caching/CO

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Sounds like you have/had a bad unit. I've done hundreds of caches with the CO, normally with someone else that was using a 60csx. Never once have I zeroed out any slower or at a different location than the other person. I suspect your problem is leaving the compass on. The 60Csx has better adjustments to turn it off automatically. The compass should never be on when moving. I've lost count of the number of 60csx owner's that I have adjusted their compass settings to get over this issue.

 

I've tested mine for water tightness thoroughly. Never a leak.

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For Geocaching, the Colorado is light years ahead of anything out there. It makes the 60csx look like a model T. It makes the whole caching experience much nicer.

 

The Oregon is basically the same thing but with a touchscreen instead of buttons. Personally I see buttons as better for a field unit.

 

GPScity.ca is the cheapest in Canada.

 

I think that "light years" is a bit of an overstatement. There have been more issues with this handheld GPSr release than others. Just check out this Wiki.

 

I own a 60CSx and I really wanted to buy the latest and greatest from Garmin, but after checking out a Colorado in a store, there were enough things I didn't like that kept me from making the purchase.

 

What I didn't like:

 

The dark screen - it was difficult to see without the backlight.

 

That scroll-wheel...arrgh! Buttons, give me buttons! So, you can enter field notes into a Colorado - I just can't imagine doing this with a scroll-wheel. That is better left to a PDA and CacheMate or something else.

 

The carabiner clip. While many people thought the clip system of the CSx was a bit flimsy, it works well for me. I can clip it to my belt or pack and it hangs solid without swinging around.

 

What I did like:

 

Faster processor (for panning etc.)

 

Higher res screen - very pretty.

 

My comments are based on an in-store experience only and not a real field test, so my issues so far are with the look and interface of the unit. While I thought I'd never want a touch-screen in a handheld GPSr, I would certainly consider it over that scroll-wheel (or rock'n'roller or whatever). If the Colorado had buttons like my 60CSx, I'd probably get it and hope that that future firmware updates would resolve the rest of the issues.

Edited by ElectroQTed
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Sounds like you have/had a bad unit. I've done hundreds of caches with the CO, normally with someone else that was using a 60csx. Never once have I zeroed out any slower or at a different location than the other person. I suspect your problem is leaving the compass on. The 60Csx has better adjustments to turn it off automatically. The compass should never be on when moving. I've lost count of the number of 60csx owner's that I have adjusted their compass settings to get over this issue.

 

I've tested mine for water tightness thoroughly. Never a leak.

 

I have never used the compass. It only exacerbates the problem with the CO. My serial number is 169004345, which I think is a very early unit. As I mentioned above, some friends have better luck with higher serial numbers.

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I think that "light years" is a bit of an overstatement. There have been more issues with this handheld GPSr release than others.

 

There are really no more issue than when the 60csx came out. There are just so many more features, it seems that way. Once you learn to use it, the user interface as very nice and well thought out. The rock and roller design and placement is much nicer than the lower buttons of the 60 series. Everything is easily done with one hand. It takes time to learn the extensive feature set and that scares people at the beginning. It is also very customizable and you can set it up the way that suits you.

 

Currently there are very few "bugs". Most things you read are people wanting features added or changed. With the current firmware, I have not seen a "bug" in normal caching use.

 

Now recall that you are misquoting me... I said "For Geocaching, the Colorado is light years ahead of anything out there"..... When used for caching, it is. For "other" uses it is not much different. All of the cache information right there a click away WHILE navigating. When you get home, two seconds and all the logs right there on the computer in order ready to input. No searching for cache pages ever.

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I think that "light years" is a bit of an overstatement. There have been more issues with this handheld GPSr release than others.

Now recall that you are misquoting me... I said "For Geocaching, the Colorado is light years ahead of anything out there"..... When used for caching, it is. For "other" uses it is not much different. All of the cache information right there a click away WHILE navigating. When you get home, two seconds and all the logs right there on the computer in order ready to input. No searching for cache pages ever.

 

You're right. I was looking at the unit as a whole and I haven't really used one extensively for caching. Another thought is that I'd still need my PDA for field logs. If it were as quick to input text on the Colorado as a PDA, I could drop that piece of hardware and that would tip the scales for me. How do you find that entering text with a scroll-wheel works for you? That, combined with bringing up all the cache pages automatically, ready to log sounds pretty cool.

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I'm trying to reduce my preparation time for caching, as well as going paperless. So, do I buy the Colorado to go paperless. Or buy a PDA and stay with my Explorist 500LE?

 

As you can see, people either really like it or are not so happy with it. Since you have a GPS (Explorist), you have the ability to overcome the shortcomings of the current state of the CO.

 

Therefore, my recommendation would be buy a CO if you don't need the non-geocaching funtions of a PDA. As a PDA/cache logger, the CO is great. When you upload your field notes to the website, it is a thing of beauty

 

But if you are going after a micro in the woods, take a GPS with you.

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feb7deff-5915-4fb7-9ec4-34c75fa08c4f.jpg

 

That's two Colorados and a Garmin 60c at one of those "test your GPS" caches. I don't see much difference in the accuracy of the units.

 

Oregon touch screen is NOT a feature to me. But I cache in rain and also in January when I want to keep my gloves on. Wouldn't want to shove that thing in my pocket with the touchscreen active either (my luck I'd manage to select "delete all waypoints" when I'm miles from the car). I've also noticed the presale prices for the equivalent Oregon is about $100 - $200 higher for an Oregon.

 

Entering logs / text on the Oregon will be nicer, I'll bet. Selecting a cache at -15C will be nicer with the Rock'n'Roll. All boils down to user preference.

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Oregon touch screen is NOT a feature to me. But I cache in rain and also in January when I want to keep my gloves on. Wouldn't want to shove that thing in my pocket with the touchscreen active either (my luck I'd manage to select "delete all waypoints" when I'm miles from the car). I've also noticed the presale prices for the equivalent Oregon is about $100 - $200 higher for an Oregon.

 

Entering logs / text on the Oregon will be nicer, I'll bet. Selecting a cache at -15C will be nicer with the Rock'n'Roll. All boils down to user preference.

That pretty much sums it up. The Oregon is really a Colorado with a different user input interface. If you like touch screen then you'll like it. But, I really don't like the idea of touch screen in this application.

 

Geocaching is done in a much harsher environment than your iphone or ipod. You put you hands under rocks, into mud, stuff covering caches etc. etc in the outdoors. Soil, debris, mud, and stone dust, bits off moss etc. etc. come back on your finger. Not only are you putting this on your screen casuing visibility issues, much of that stuff is also abrasive. One thing that touch screens don't like is abrasion. Remember, they are by their nature less rigid and strong because they have to be flexible. So the Oregons are almost sure to get abrasive smudges on their screens. And, break just one screen wire and they can become unusable. Then ever try to use a touch screen in rain or snow. That'll test your patience.

 

Thes observations come from years as an IT manager testing all kinds of touch screens from many manufacturers in lots of environments. Any that got used outdoors regularly or in dirty enviroments ran into all of these problems and they broke or lost functionality regularly in dirty enviroments. Geocaching is a dirty environment.

 

I have never had a problem with accuracy with my Colorados (we have two). I have a couple of spots with absolute known coordinates and both Colorados will find them to within .001 N or W every time I try them at the spots.

 

JD

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Prior to 2.54B my CO would freeze/lock up/be inaccurate/whatever you want to term it, in 9 times out of 10 when I got within 25 meters of a cache in any type of canopy. To the point where I used the 60 to find the cache and the CO to log it. With 2.54B it is much much better but still nowhere near as accurate and reliable as the 60.

 

As for leaking, walking in a rain, with the CO on a lanyard around my neck, I had water ON the batteries. Garmin's response: How hard was it raining?? Fortunately, Lebaron replaced it without question. But the Garmin support person did acknowledge via email that some (no percentage given) do not seal well. If you can see a gap where the cover meets the unit at the top, be worried.

 

I don't doubt what you're saying but I wonder what the issue is. I have never had a problem with accuracy since installing 2.51 and now 2.54 on my two Colorados. One of the things I have discovered is to ensure that you calibrate the compass, even if you are using it turned off. Sometimes you have to recalibrate after it has been near a magnetic source. It is sensitive to the magnetic fields of electrical cables.

 

The Colorado does seem to depend on the electronic compass more than previous generations of GPS. I have a couple spots, as I have said in another post, that I know the coords to absolute accuracy, and the Colorados hit it within .001 every time with WAAS turned on.

 

I have had mine out in a driving rain storm without leakage. I can truly say that I have never been as wet as I was about two weeks ago and the Colorado stood up to it perfectly. Both of mine show a small gap at the top but of course the seals are well inside the cover.

 

Again, a bit of a trick I've discovered is the pressure required to close the latch. It should be very minimal. If its giving more than minimal resistance, my testing shows that the Colorado isn't properly seated on the battery compartment and SD seals. I would agree that the design could be better and give better feedback of whether it is sealed. Looks like the Oregon use the same seal design.

 

I would agree that in a search and rescue setting, I would say that the 60 or even perhaps better the 76 series would be better choices.

 

JD

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Prior to 2.54B my CO would freeze/lock up/be inaccurate/whatever you want to term it, in 9 times out of 10 when I got within 25 meters of a cache in any type of canopy. To the point where I used the 60 to find the cache and the CO to log it. With 2.54B it is much much better but still nowhere near as accurate and reliable as the 60.

 

Just a quick note that 2.6 (not beta) firmware appeared today on webupdater. They say they've fixed the Wherigo Save/Restore problem 2.54B suffered.

 

Garmin Colorado 2.6 Firmware

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Until they add a cell-phone style camera with the option to geo-tag coordinates, and maybe the option to have an ear bud for Wherigo audio... Meh, my 60CX will remain at my side.

 

And yeah, I know Magellan has one unit with a camera. That only tells me that Garmin should too, but just like the SD card, they lagged on this. To be honest, the lack of a hot-swap SD card, camera and mini audio jack... just like car companies, Garmin is too slow to be inventive.

 

IMHO, neither company has dazzled me at all.

 

<_< BQ

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Until they add a cell-phone style camera with the option to geo-tag coordinates, and maybe the option to have an ear bud for Wherigo audio... Meh, my 60CX will remain at my side.

 

And yeah, I know Magellan has one unit with a camera. That only tells me that Garmin should too, but just like the SD card, they lagged on this. To be honest, the lack of a hot-swap SD card, camera and mini audio jack... just like car companies, Garmin is too slow to be inventive.

 

IMHO, neither company has dazzled me at all.

 

:rolleyes: BQ

 

Those would be great features. And maybe they are in development. The CO does have a View Image feature.

 

But, first, they should get the GPS functionality of the CO perfected. The latest firmware still has the location drift problem. Things are getting better though. Cup is not 3/4 full instead of 1/2 empty. :rolleyes:

 

I agree that the 60Cx/CSx is still the best unit out there for finding things.

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But, first, they should get the GPS functionality of the CO perfected. The latest firmware still has the location drift problem. Things are getting better though. Cup is not 3/4 full instead of 1/2 empty. :rolleyes:

 

Actually, the drift, if you have a unit that does that (not all do), isn't caused by CO firmware. That's actually the chipset software and is affecting the Etrex HC units as well. They have the same GPS chipset. Again, it does not appear to be all Etrex HCx units that have the issue. The chipset software is coincidentally 2.60 as well and they need to come up with 2.70 for all Garmin units to make that work.

 

JD

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