Any advantage of Colorado over Oregon?

[+pppingme]

Is there ANY advantage of a Colorado over an Oregon? Why would someone buy a Colorado over the Oregon?

 

I'm trying to understand why the pricing is exactly the same when the Oregon seems miles above the Colorado.

 

I'm leaning toward an Oregon but trying to figure out if I'm missing something. I've looked over Garmin's website and read up as much as I can and nothing is sticking out to me.

[+Hrethgir]

The Colorado has a clearer screen in direct sunlight because it doesn't have the touchscreen membrane. Besides that, though, they are pretty much identical. I don't see the Oregon as being "miles" above the Colorado, either.

Edited March 15, 2009 by HondaH8er

[MtnHermit]

Is there ANY advantage of a Colorado over an Oregon? Why would someone buy a Colorado over the Oregon?

- External antenna port

- Quad Helix antenna

- better sunlight visabilty

 

I expect the Colorado to be phased out as inventory is depleted, but no official word from Garmin. If they're the same price, you're probably safer getting an Oregon.

[+pppingme]

I don't see the Oregon as being "miles" above the Colorado, either.

It appears that Garmin took note of all the problems with the Colorado and fixed them with the Oregon. It seems like from reading forums, people constantly complain about bugs, crashes, etc on the Colorado but most Oregon complaints seem to focus on not knowing how to use the units.

 

To me a smooth running unit is miles above a buggy unit that crashes or gives significant problems all the time.

[+Tequila]

The time between introduction of the two units was not very long. There is no way Garmin had time to redesign/fix the Oregon based on issues identified in the Colorado.

 

More likely is the two units were developed in parallel by two separate teams. That would explain why some key features (Track Manager) are in the Oregon but omitted in the Colorado.

 

Most threads indicate the CO has been deeply discounted and I agree that it has probably been unofficially EOL'd by Garmin.

 

If you find them both for the same price, buy the OR. Why risk having many of the problems experienced by numerous CO owner's?

[+Paul_Aris]

I don't see the Oregon as being "miles" above the Colorado, either.

It appears that Garmin took note of all the problems with the Colorado and fixed them with the Oregon. It seems like from reading forums, people constantly complain about bugs, crashes, etc on the Colorado but most Oregon complaints seem to focus on not knowing how to use the units.

 

To me a smooth running unit is miles above a buggy unit that crashes or gives significant problems all the time.

 

My Colorado does not really have any bugs that I have noticed. I have had mine since last february and have installed every update as they come out. Mine has been a solid unit. I use it for off trail snowmobiling, hunting, geocaching, hicking, Jeeping and in the vehicle navigation.

[+briansnat]

Many retailers have been selling the Colorado for quite a bit less than the Oregon.

 

Anyway, at an event last fall the only unit in the line that the Garmin rep didn't have with him was the Colorado. That suggests to me that perhaps it's not being pushed anymore and might be on the short list for discontinuation.

[skunksoup]

I would just like to know some of the bugs the CO still has so I can look for them. I have been using mine for the last few days and have really been surprised by how well it works after all the bad stuff I read about it. I know I have only had it for a short time and by no means am a GPS expert but I was very timid about purchasing this unit and really only did it because it was so cheap. I have been having trouble with putting maps on it and wish it was the one with all the maps but that was not an option. Today we used it and the accuracy was great. I Had to call Garmin on Thursday and was told by the CS rep that the CO was probably one of the most accurate handhelds they have. Now I don't know if that is true and I do understand he could of just been telling me that to make me happy? It would be nice if the instruction manual had a little more detail in it but Im sure the more I mess with it the more I will figure out. Also I do understand that when the CO came out it had alot of issues and made alot of people doubt it and give it a bad rap but is it still really that bad of a unit?

Edited March 15, 2009 by skunksoup

[+pklong911]

I LOVE my Oregon, had it about 3 weeks now, gone caching with it and it works great. A plus is my 8 year old can work it a lot easier then the etrex vista we were borrowing. My vote, Oregon!

[+g-o-cashers]

As far as I can tell the prices on the Colorado are still lower than the Oregon (even if you include the $50 rebate) right now:

 

OR 300: $350

CO 300: $300 (note the 400i, 400c are about the same price!)

 

OR 400t: $440

CO 400t: $380

 

There's nothing wrong with the Colorado, I actually like the GPS receiver a little better, but I think the $50-$60 that the market has arrived at reflects some preference for the Oregon's touch screen. The Oregon also has a few relatively minor software features that the Colorado doesn't and better performance in boot, connect and acquisition times. I don't think you'll find the Colorado any more or less buggy than the Oregon at this point.