REVIEW: Garmin Colorado 400T
First the negative, so I can finish on positive note. It's a bit pricey in my opinion for what you get (just under 500 on Amazon). I agree with comments on the chrome-like finish (not impressive). I am not going to test the waterproof claim, as I am skeptical after looking at it (maybe light rain). The built in base map seems incomplete at the street level and they are often not very accurate. Of course the "T" (topo?) model's claim to greatness is the built in DEM (elevations) plus 3d view. Yes, it's interesting when you are around a mountain, but not so much zoomed in on a flat area.
Documentation seems weak in areas. For example, I'm wondering if I can somehow use my own maps on the 4gb external SD card I picked up at costco for 35 bucks. 4GB is really overkill for just storing geocaches as the max the unit can handle at once before droping the rest is 2000 caches (in addition to the 1000 waypoints). I found this out the hard way. I'd like to be able to switch to different directories on the fly from the unit rather than switching the gpx files out at the computer or using different SD cards. What am I going to do with that extra 3.9GBs (unless I buy their routable street maps)? While I'm on that, the base map doesn't seem routable if you want to navigate in a car (unless you make your own route from your own waypoints). I wish I could hook up my iPhone manage and download maps and waypoints/geocaches/POIs out in the wild.
It seems to take forever to load at startup (but maybe that's because I am almost maxing out the number of waypoints/geocaches). Another thing, it sometimes takes a long time to aquire a good signal and the other day it had a hard time giving an accurate/constant fix in some trees on a recent geocache hunt. At other times it seem really steady and spot on. I'm undecided on this point.
That all being said it is still a great GPSr (the best I've had so far). It is small, light, and feels good in the hand. I really love it for paperless geocaching. It is really easy to transfer data to the unit and SD card. I really like the integration to the geocaching website for downloading caches and uploading finds. Having a built in digital compass is really great for geocaching. I just feel silly spining around twice to calibrate it when I want to use it.
I haven't tried the new integrated "WhereIGo" adventures but that seems to have potential. I looked into building an adventure for my area but the current builder software seems really complex to do it right. I think I'll wait until they simplify the process a bit more (more GUI to the GUI).
I don't know anyone else with a Colorado yet but I like the idea of being able to transfer items to another unit wirelessly. I'm sure there are tons more this unit can do that I just haven't had time to get into. Would I buy again? Yes, it is really great for a geocacher or hiker (me). Can they improve it? Yes, hopefully with software updates to come (crossing my fingers)...
First the negative, so I can finish on positive note. It's a bit pricey in my opinion for what you get (just under 500 on Amazon). I agree with comments on the chrome-like finish (not impressive). I am not going to test the waterproof claim, as I am skeptical after looking at it (maybe light rain). The built in base map seems incomplete at the street level and they are often not very accurate. Of course the "T" (topo?) model's claim to greatness is the built in DEM (elevations) plus 3d view. Yes, it's interesting when you are around a mountain, but not so much zoomed in on a flat area.
Documentation seems weak in areas. For example, I'm wondering if I can somehow use my own maps on the 4gb external SD card I picked up at costco for 35 bucks. 4GB is really overkill for just storing geocaches as the max the unit can handle at once before droping the rest is 2000 caches (in addition to the 1000 waypoints). I found this out the hard way. I'd like to be able to switch to different directories on the fly from the unit rather than switching the gpx files out at the computer or using different SD cards. What am I going to do with that extra 3.9GBs (unless I buy their routable street maps)? While I'm on that, the base map doesn't seem routable if you want to navigate in a car (unless you make your own route from your own waypoints). I wish I could hook up my iPhone manage and download maps and waypoints/geocaches/POIs out in the wild.
It seems to take forever to load at startup (but maybe that's because I am almost maxing out the number of waypoints/geocaches). Another thing, it sometimes takes a long time to aquire a good signal and the other day it had a hard time giving an accurate/constant fix in some trees on a recent geocache hunt. At other times it seem really steady and spot on. I'm undecided on this point.
That all being said it is still a great GPSr (the best I've had so far). It is small, light, and feels good in the hand. I really love it for paperless geocaching. It is really easy to transfer data to the unit and SD card. I really like the integration to the geocaching website for downloading caches and uploading finds. Having a built in digital compass is really great for geocaching. I just feel silly spining around twice to calibrate it when I want to use it.
I haven't tried the new integrated "WhereIGo" adventures but that seems to have potential. I looked into building an adventure for my area but the current builder software seems really complex to do it right. I think I'll wait until they simplify the process a bit more (more GUI to the GUI).
I don't know anyone else with a Colorado yet but I like the idea of being able to transfer items to another unit wirelessly. I'm sure there are tons more this unit can do that I just haven't had time to get into. Would I buy again? Yes, it is really great for a geocacher or hiker (me). Can they improve it? Yes, hopefully with software updates to come (crossing my fingers)...
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