Garmin Colorado 400t GPS

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

The Garmin Colorado is the third Garmin outdoor handheld which I've owned in the last ten years. I use GPSs for geocaching, hiking, boating and auto navigation and I have used the Garmin Colorado all of these activities. Currently I have the default Topo maps which come installed on the unit an I also have the City Navigator North America NT 2009 driving maps and this review was written based on the Software version 2.51b and GPS Software 2.4. I purchased the unit in January when it first came out. The first four months, like with many new tech products, has been bumpy. So far there have been 3 software releases which have made things much better but there is still room for improvement. Overall I'll give the Colorado 3 out of 5 stars but I would recommend holding off on any purchase right now. Read on for more details. First the good stuff. - Paperless geocaching mode. Works very well and eliminates the need to carry paper or a Palm/PPC. - Compact well balanced case and design. The design feels sturdy and fits well in your hand. - Lots of memory and preloaded map data. This handheld has 4GB of internal memory (2.7GB used by Topo2008 maps) and you can expand with an SD card. I use an 8GB San Disk card. - Profiles allow you to save and recall configuration depending on your mode of use (e.g. auto or hiking) or by user if there are multiple users. - Big, high resolution screen as compared to most handhelds - Autorouting. The Colorado was based on a Nuvi platform so I guess it makes sense that it is pretty good at autorouting using the optional City Navigator maps. No speech and no touch screen but it makes a decent unit if you don't have money for both. Mixed bag. - User interface. The Rock'n Roller and soft key entry method works pretty well for most tasks except text entry. Text entry is very time consuming and I avoid it whenever possible. Garmin has improved some aspects of the user interface by making it more simple but in the process they have removed many of the nice shortcuts available on the 60csx series that "expert users" enjoyed. Context sensitive setup options are a prime example. On the 60csx when you entered something like the altimeter page you could easily access the setup and calibration functions, not so on the Colorado. The result is a simpler interface for new users but a much less optimized interface for power users. The not so good. - Screen brightness. As compared to the 60cs(x) the screen is hard to read and you'll need to use the backlighting more frequently. - Battery life. You'll need to use NiMH batteries and you'll need to use good ones, 2500 mAh or more. If you are willing to invest in these batteries and a good charger you'll still only get about 10hrs out of a pair. - GPS accuracy. A lot of debate on this issue but personally I believe the unit isn't as stable and mature as the Sirf receiver in the 60csx. There are times when the unit wonders and has errors in the 400-500' range. Unfortunately recovery is slow and sometimes power cycling is the fastest way to get it back to normal. - Waterproofness. IPX7 rated but many reports of leakage. This may be a design flaw or just a issue with early units, time will tell. - There are many (mostly minor) software features (as of v2.51) that you will find on the 60csx but not the Colorado including waypoint averaging, search from a location on the map, search by waypoint symbol, calendar based recording of events, personalized startup screen, night/day mode, custom waypoint symbols, proximity alarms, viewing multiple tracks on map page and trackback. Some of this will probably be added over time but the list is pretty long so I'm sure some won't. And the big issue: - Hardware issues. I've watched a lot of the forums and news groups associated with the Colorado and many early owners have had to exchange their units two, three and in some cases even four times. The issues vary and are well documented but for this reason alone I would suggest holding off on a purchase for at least a few months until Garmin gets the formula right. I[@]

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

This unit is my first GPS. I was hesitant to buy it due to all of the negative reviews I have read. On the plus side, the unit has an excellent screen display, both indoors and in bright sun. The shaded relief makes the display far superior to other GPS units I compared this with. I can even use the unit inside my home and get good satellite lock. I am no computer whiz, and this device seemed to be fairly intuitive to learn to use. I would recommend that anyone who buys one take it home and before using it, download the patches from Garmin to fix a few of the bugs that were a problem when it was originally released. I have had none of the problems that other buyers seemed to complain about. On the negative side, the battery life is nowhere near the 16 hours listed in the spec sheet. Using alkaline batteries, I am getting about 8-10 hours of continuous power out of mine. Plan on burning through several sets due to the backlight use when learning how to navigate throught the screens at home. The pre-loaded software is great, but I found it to be difficult to create routes on the unit itself. The solution to this is to buy the Topo U.S. 2008 software and create routes on the PC, which will cost you an additional [$] for a map you already have on the unit. This software is okay, but not even close to the National Geographic software in quality and accuracy. Also, I own Nat Geo Weekend explorer maps, and as of yet you cannot upload routes and waypoints to the GPS. I realize the maps are incompatible, but the salesman told me that I should be able to upload routes and waypoints. I spoke to reps from Nat Geo and was told they are working on a solution for this, which should happen by early August 08.This is a problem only with the Colorado Series, and other Garmin units use this software without any problems. So far, I have used this product for hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, and river rafting and it has worked well in the field. As with any computerized device, you have to plan on spending some time learning how to operate it properly.The owner's manual could be a little more user friendly for learning purposes. This GPS has many great features, but don't expect to take it out of the box and use it without some practice.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

I've had my Garmin 400t since April and hadn't ever read the reviews on the website. When the Labor Day sale came out, I looked at GPS's and was shocked to see a low rating for this unit, so decided to add my two cents. I'm pretty critical on electronics generally, having worked in several high tech companies. I simply can't believe all the negative reviews considering my experience. Inaccurate? Not for me! My primary use is geocaching and I've logged almost 550 geocaches since April using this unit. Geocaching requires good accuracy, and this unit has always gotten me very close to the caches. In fact, I have corrected several coordinate errors in other cachers descriptions using waypoints marked with this unit. The electronic interface with [@] to do paperless geocaching generally works fantastic, and greatly increases the enjoyment of that hobby. I also use the 400t for kayaking, primarily for the trip computer feature to track distance paddled, moving average speed, overall trip average, etc. and have never had any problem or reason to doubt its accuracy based on other navigational aids. I bag it up in a ziplock bag (precaution for any capsize) and keep it in the mesh pocket of a kayak deck bag and it has worked like a champ. Many of my geocache finds are hikes in the woods, and I've never experienced the accuracy issues noted by other reviewers. In dense woods, reception gets iffy at times, but that's true with any GPS units, not just this one. I wouldn't use this unit for automotive navigation, but that's not what it's really designed for - other models are superior for that application. I found the unit to be highly intuitive. When I first got it, I just sat down and motored through the menus and pretty much had everything I needed to know to get started. I particularly like how it can be used completely with a single hand - no need to stop and use two hands.Are there things I don't like about it...? Yes, but that's true with just about any piece of electronics. I have had occasional 'freeze-ups' with downloaded geocaching descriptions, but through experimenting, I've found they're always the same geocaches - so I suspect it's an issue with something in the downloaded info, not the GPS per se. Maybe this is one of the issues that the downloaded fixes deal with (I've not bothered to download any, because I haven't had enough issues to worry about it). Also, changing batteries is a bit of a pain until you learn how to do it. And, I worry that the control wheel might eventually get gummed up since with geocaching I am in dusty, wet and otherwise less-than-pristine locations. So far, however, it's survived hard use for almost five months. (A glance at my unit, complete with wear spots on the outer case, scratches on the screen, and a couple of dings and gouges from various drops and whacks against rocks would convince any skeptics that at least in the case of my unit, there is not a reliability issue.) My main regret with the unit is that I paid full price when I bought it in April and - perhaps because of all the negative reviews - I could have gotten one in the current sale for [$]less.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

I am sure lots of reviews about this product are going to seem negative because yes it did have some firmware issues and such when it first came out but I am happy to report that most have actually been fixed and the product is actually very good now (lots of reviews on the geocaching.com forums with specifics on what was fixed).

First off, I use this mostly for Geocaching so the paperless geocaching is awesome. There are lots of features and lots of customization capabilities which makes it accurate. Living in Utah it seems like every alimiter I get is off by thousands of feet which this one was but it offers the ability to place the correct number in there then it goes off of that number which makes it very accurate.

The Rock n' Roller navigation is very handy and makes it easy to navigate around screens and on the map as well.

Honestly, this is my first GPSr which I decided to purchase over the 60CSx so I can't comment on what the 60CSx has that the Colorado doesn't. I decided to take a chance on it even with the initial bugs but they are releasing updates (one even came out on 4/7) so in no time this will be perfect with everything.

I recommend getting it and take your time learning all the different functions and making sure you have the device in "auto" mode when driving and "recreation" when hiking because there are a few different settings.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

This unit has a lot of issues [...]not to mention that it dumped all the Topo maps for its memory and they cannot be replaced. Call Garmin Tech Support and they confirmed the maps were gone and the unit was defective.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

Do not buy this GPS !
* The Colorado and Oregon series DO NOT HAVE A DAYLIGHT READABLE SCREEN. The screen appears nearly black in anything except indoor florescent light or a dark room, even at max brightness. You cannot see the screen of this product in daylight !!!
*Battery life is sad. Two AA Duracell's last about 5 hrs. High power NiMH 2650 mAH rechargables last about 9 hrs. Nearly 100% worse battery life than previous models, even with the software patch that doesn't really help.
* Garmin forgot to put in a Waypoint information page, so there's no way to see a full information/status screen for ANY waypoint.
* Routing tools are abysmal. I timed myself making a 10-waypoint route on my old tried-and-true Garmin MAP76S, and doing the same route on the new Colorado took over three times as long due to poor routing tools. A giant step backwards for Garmin.
* The much-touted 3D functionality is so slow and so blurry it is absolutely unusable.
* The Colorado and Oregon's nearly nonexistent Track management tools are buggy, and Garmin literally forgot to put in a Track Manager. There is NO way to edit tracks due to bugs and deficits in the software, nor to even see a list of track segments to select from to save. Forget saving usable tracks if you buy this unit.
* User Manuals are at the level of "IDIOT". If you have an IQ above 80, the user manual will not be able to answer your questions.
* The Oregon Touch-screen model is even worse than the Colorado in all the above. These two product lines are a giant step backwards for Garmin.
* Customer Support at Garmin has over a 30 minute hold time due to poor user manuals, buggy software, and missing functionality in the Colorado & Oregon units. If you want to wait 30+ minutes to get even the simplest questions answered, try calling Garmin customer support (800) 800-1020 ... and see for yourself. Do it BEFORE you buy.
* Recommendation: buy an older model. A Garmin GPSMAP 76S is one-third the price, and is unfortunately the last good GPS garmin has made with a high-resolution screen big enough to read. The 76S does not have a high sensitivity antenna or a color screen, but even with those drawbacks, it is light-years ahead of newer, poorly designed units like the Colorado and Oregon.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

I was very disappointed with the Colorado 400t.

I had it home for 3 weeks before I took it hiking. The interface is intuitive but navigating to the desired menu is not and requires practice and familiarity.

My major complaint was that it was inaccurate. I stood on the lake shore of Lake Viviane and the GPS told me that I was over 1000 feet lower in elevation then actual and a mile from the nearest lake. It said it had a fix from 5 or 6 satellites (Ididn't count) and said it had me fixed to within 15 feet of actual location, which of course couldn't possibly have been true. I also tested it at the lake shore of Lake Nada. Elevation seemed correct, but once again, it said I was more then a mile from the nearest lake. I didn't check to see what its self proclaimed accuracy was.

What is really scary about this unit is that the rest of the time it seemed to be accurate and believable. There was no way for me to tell when it was lying. An unreliable GPS in wilderness areas is not useful and can be dangerous if you must rely upon it.

At Lake Nada I also noticed that it had a nasty, nasty scratch across its face, doubtless caused by a rock that I had come in contact with while hiking. My $110 digital camera has survived my hikes up to this point with less damage while being treated much the same. Battery life seemed a bit short at 6 hours-ish, but I was only using reguar alkalines.

Major Kudos to REI, because they took it back with no hassles, big fat scratch and all. My overall conclusion: This GPS would have had me lost had I relied upon it. It is weak in the area of ruggedness. I do not recommend this unit.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

There are a lot of knocks on REI and Garmin for releasing this without enough testing. I bought it 2 months ago, went to the garmin site for the firmware updates...and it is seamless. The only advice I have is to buy teh 300 and buy the map software seperate so that you can plan routes on your computer rather than on the device.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

Battery life is not what was promised. I had trouble when the battery went below two bars. The backlight would not work and I could not read the screen. You can not transfer coordinates to you PC mapping program. In fact, it does not come with PC maps. They are only on the device. Position is way off when you zoom in by several hundred yards. Bugs, bugs, bugs. Support polite and professional, but could not fix and had not really even used this unit themselves. Will not work with standard USB power for car - need Garmin [$] cable.

Comments about Garmin Colorado 400t GPS:

Base map of streets wildly inacurate. Short run time and backlight trouble when running on NiMH batteries. Topo software not included for computer. No turn by turn directions or tide tables as stated in specs. Lock ups & power offs. Poor value. Graphically pleasing, yet awkward menu system. Has potential, but needs a lot of work.