Jump to content

Is the garmin colorado 300 a good gps for paperless geocaching?


cheese510

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

Ive been doing some reasearch, and i have found the garmin colorado 300 for $298 so just under $300. It supports paperless geocaching, and seems quite rugged, and one of the most appealing features, is that this particular auction i found on ebay, comes preloaded with a Australian Basemap.

 

Would this be a good gps for a beginner to paperless geocaching?

Im open to alternatives of cheaper gps's that are better or just as good!

 

Thanks!

Link to comment

Whey spend $298 on the 300, for $279 you can get the 400t on Amazon. More memory, 100k Topo maps included, etc.

 

They used to have either the 400i or 400c for about $180 on Amazon, but I guess those days are gone (I couldn't find that deal).

 

I've had a Colorado 400t since March 2008...excellent GPS, love the paperless features and Wherigo. Even though they are discontinued, they still work great! If you get one, upgrade to the 3.0 firmware (the last stable firmware I have full faith in....or, if you want the Birdseye satellite imagery then you need to upgrade further, I think 3.3 is the latest).

Link to comment

With the kinds of specials we have already begun to see (again) in the U.S. on the 450, I think I'd hold off a bit. Granted, Aus doesn't have the equivalent of Black Friday coming up in a couple of weeks, but surely they have sale periods of a similar nature pre-Christmas. We have already seen the seasonal sale begin on the 450 for as little as $270 (current price at Bass Pro) in the U.S. and the $AUS and $US are about at parity at present.

Link to comment

The 400t looked really good to buy from amazon, but since amazon doesnt accept paypal, id much rather buy directly from the supplier and use paypal...but the shipping cost to Australia from the supplier? $125! And amazon wont let me ship it here either. :unsure:

Back to the drawing board i guess..

Link to comment

Manufacturer refurbished units are basically new right? Well i mean, they have warranty, and they are effectively new? Because i found these two on ebay...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GARMIN-COLORADO-400...=item5add5e7618

 

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GARMIN-GPS-Colorado...=item3cb26d123e

 

Having a Colorado 300 for a couple of years, I'm fairly bitter about it actually. A few months after the Colorado came out, the Oregon was introduced. At the time I bought, both the Colorado and Oregon were fairly new, and I was unsure about using a touch screen in winter. However, Oregon took off in sales and the Colorado went into "discontinued" only a year after it was introduced. Bugs with it were never really fixed and firmware updates were few and far inbetween. Even though the Colorado has ANT technology Garmin has no intention of adding Chirp support to it. The two bugs that have always driven me nuts and never fixed on the Colorado (but was fixed on the Oregon) was a hang on startup with large GPX files and occasional drift problems.

 

It's not that the Colorado is a bad machine... I really do like it. The screen is beautiful and the unit is easy to use. It's just that Garmin abandoned us after I had invested a good $400 into a high end unit. My wife and I used to use the Colorado and eTrex in the field, but when it came to replace the eTrex I went with a Delorme PN-60.

Edited by ocm_ott
Link to comment

I loved the Colorado for a number of reasons: a beautiful display, its Wherigo support seemed a bit more stable than Oregons that friends have used, easy paperless features, accurate, and flexible. I got used to the wheel interface, but that is a personal matter. However I had to replace the unit once or twice under warranty when the usb port failed. When the usb fsiled again a third party gave me my money back and I got a 62s. But I still the Colorado's display.

 

I am actually thinking about getting a refurbished unit for certain uses, but would get an added warranty in light of the above.

Edited by mulvaney
Link to comment

Hi all,

 

Ive been doing some reasearch, and i have found the garmin colorado 300 for $298 so just under $300. It supports paperless geocaching, and seems quite rugged, and one of the most appealing features, is that this particular auction i found on ebay, comes preloaded with a Australian Basemap.

 

Would this be a good gps for a beginner to paperless geocaching?

Im open to alternatives of cheaper gps's that are better or just as good!

 

Thanks!

Al the newer models such as the Colorado, Oregon, Dakota, GPSMAP62 & GPSMAP78 series come with a world basemap. It's the detailed maps that will make a difference to you, something that other brands are lacking.
Link to comment

Check out the delorme PN-60

 

Not an option for our Australian OP, no maps, though this is supposed to change in the very near future.

But isn't that suppose to be a basemap only? Are they going to have detailed topo, marine & city maps too?

 

I'm not quite sure what the level of detail is....but Delorme is probably not a good option for Australia until we know.

Link to comment

Check out the delorme PN-60

 

Not an option for our Australian OP, no maps, though this is supposed to change in the very near future.

But isn't that suppose to be a basemap only? Are they going to have detailed topo, marine & city maps too?

 

I'm not quite sure what the level of detail is....but Delorme is probably not a good option for Australia until we know.

unless they plan on rolling out something with better resolution than their 250k Topographic World Base Map my decision has already been made for me.
Link to comment

I have a couple of Colorado 400t GPSr's and have mixed emotions.

 

I absolutely LOVE the accuracy. But can't believe they abandoned any support for the Chirp.

 

If it had a touch screen, that would have been great, but the Oregon just doesn't have the same quality antennae.

 

If you can find a good deal on one, I'd go for it... But only if you got a good deal on it.

 

Like a good deal on one of mine? : )

Link to comment

I have a couple of Colorado 400t GPSr's and have mixed emotions.

 

I absolutely LOVE the accuracy. But can't believe they abandoned any support for the Chirp.

 

If it had a touch screen, that would have been great, but the Oregon just doesn't have the same quality antennae.

 

If you can find a good deal on one, I'd go for it... But only if you got a good deal on it.

 

Like a good deal on one of mine? : )

Whats a good deal? ;)

And what actually is "the chirp"?!?

Link to comment

Chirp is a wireless beacon specifically made for geocaching.

http://www.gpsfix.net/garmin-chirp-review/

 

It uses the same ANT+ protocol as various heart rate monitors and other gadgets that Garmin has been building into several of their models for a few years. Though the Colorado includes the ANT+ receiver, Garmin says they don't plan to upgrade the discontinued models' firmware to specifically support Chirp.

Edited by lee_rimar
Link to comment

DHELD-GEOCACHING-GPS-W-TOPO-MAP-/390261011992?pt=GPS_Devices&hash=item5add5e7618]The two bugs that have always driven me nuts and never fixed on the Colorado (but was fixed on the Oregon) was a hang on startup with large GPX files and occasional drift problems.

 

Actually, no they have not fixed the bug. Even the new 62 series models have the same problem.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...