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Colorado 400t... it's going back


moonpup

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Well I'm sorry to say, but the Colorado is going back in exchange for a Vista HCx even if it costs me a restocking fee. My reasons for doing this are as follows.

 

1) No matter what I do I cannot get geocaches to show up on the gps, even if I search for them as waypoints. A call to Garmin tech support today could not fix it either.

 

2) The battery life is down right horrible with either alkalines or lithiums. I've heard rechargeables are much improved but have not tried them as I don't own any. Also, the battery meter is just downright flaky. First it powers off due to low battery, then you turn it back on and it shows 3 bars and continues to run for another hour or so. I never got more than 5-6 hours out of a set of batteries

 

3) I gave my gps the dunk test today and found my battery compartment filled with water after the fact. Even though the gps continued to function after it's 5 minute dunk, this failure over the long term cannot be good if you spend a lot of time around water or in the rain. I will admit the memory card slot was dry though.

 

4) Repeated lock ups and freezes that require pulling the battery.

 

I thought I could work through these early issues, but this is just unacceptable as a released product. Garmin has released this unit too early and it needs a lot more work. I'm glad some of you have more patience than I and also seem to have better functioning units. Maybe I just have bad luck :laughing: but I'm looking forward to a more stable and functioning unit. Good luck to those who keep theirs and to those who are considering buying one.

Edited by moonpup
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Well I'm sorry to say, but the Colorado is going back in exchange for a Vista HCx even if it costs me a restocking fee. My reasons for doing this are as follows.

 

1) No matter what I do I cannot get geocaches to show up on the gps, even if I search for them as waypoints. A call to Garmin tech support today could not fix it either.

 

2) The battery life is down right horrible with either alkalines or lithiums. I've heard rechargeables are much improved but have not tried them as I don't own any. Also, the battery meter is just downright flaky. First it powers off due to low battery, then you turn it back on and it shows 3 bars and continues to run for another hour or so. I never got more than 5-6 hours out of a set of batteries

 

3) I gave my gps the dunk test today and found my battery compartment filled with water after the fact. Even though the gps continued to function after it's 5 minute dunk, this failure over the long term cannot be good if you spend a lot of time around water or in the rain. I will admit the memory card slot was dry though.

 

4) Repeated lock ups and freezes that require pulling the battery.

 

I thought I could work through these early issues, but this is just unacceptable as a released product. Garmin has released this unit too early and it needs a lot more work. I'm glad some of you have more patience than I and also seem to have better functioning units. Maybe I just have bad luck :laughing: but I'm looking forward to a more stable and functioning unit. Good luck to those who keep theirs and to those who are considering buying one.

 

sounds exactly like my first colorado (300). The Garmin guy talked me into a replacement unit......4 days in, so far so good.....I'm still nervous though.

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Well I'm sorry to say, but the Colorado is going back in exchange for a Vista HCx even if it costs me a restocking fee. My reasons for doing this are as follows.

 

1) No matter what I do I cannot get geocaches to show up on the gps, even if I search for them as waypoints. A call to Garmin tech support today could not fix it either.

 

2) The battery life is down right horrible with either alkalines or lithiums. I've heard rechargeables are much improved but have not tried them as I don't own any. Also, the battery meter is just downright flaky. First it powers off due to low battery, then you turn it back on and it shows 3 bars and continues to run for another hour or so. I never got more than 5-6 hours out of a set of batteries

 

3) I gave my gps the dunk test today and found my battery compartment filled with water after the fact. Even though the gps continued to function after it's 5 minute dunk, this failure over the long term cannot be good if you spend a lot of time around water or in the rain. I will admit the memory card slot was dry though.

 

4) Repeated lock ups and freezes that require pulling the battery.

 

I thought I could work through these early issues, but this is just unacceptable as a released product. Garmin has released this unit too early and it needs a lot more work. I'm glad some of you have more patience than I and also seem to have better functioning units. Maybe I just have bad luck :laughing: but I'm looking forward to a more stable and functioning unit. Good luck to those who keep theirs and to those who are considering buying one.

I'm assuming all the firmware updates were downloaded?

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To answer the above questions, yes it has the latest firmware and I thought about an exchange but it's still too early fro this unit. I'm going to wait it out and live on a Vista HCx for now. My biggest concern is with the water resistance of this unit. With all the Garmin units I've had, not one ever had water inside after it took a dunk. This thing filled right up like there was no seal at all. Long term, this can't be good for the battery contacts. I'm sure Garmin will straighten things out over time.

 

Thanks for the recommendations though.

Edited by moonpup
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To answer the above questions, yes it has the latest firmware and I thought about an exchange but it's still too early fro this unit. I'm going to wait it out and live on a Vista HCx for now. My biggest concern is with the water resistance of this unit. With all the Garmin units I've had, not one ever had water inside after it took a dunk. This thing filled right up like there was no seal at all. Long term, this can't be good for the battery contacts. I'm sure Garmin will straighten things out over time.

 

Thanks for the recommendations though.

 

I don't get the Geocache thing. I have only downloaded a couple and the both show up. I even marked one as found and it changed color on the map. Are you using the Send to GPS button which uses communicator from the geocache page? Also, Battery life is excellent in mine using NIMH rechargeables. So far I could not be happier with mine.

 

As far as the dunk test I have not done it. My etrex legend I don't think I would want to dunk and I sued it for seven years around water, in the rain and in the snow mounted to my snowmobile dash. I have not had any issues with it.

 

Good luck with your new unit.

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Hi Paul,

 

Good to hear from you! I glad your unit is working well, and I guess I got the lemon :laughing: Anyway, it's no big deal, I'll just wait it out for now and go back to the eTrex line which I have always been happy with. Maybe with the costs savings I'll pick up a Nuvi for the car too.

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Hi Paul,

 

Good to hear from you! I glad your unit is working well, and I guess I got the lemon :laughing: Anyway, it's no big deal, I'll just wait it out for now and go back to the eTrex line which I have always been happy with. Maybe with the costs savings I'll pick up a Nuvi for the car too.

 

Good idea. I always liked my etrex. I considered a more powerful color one but had to have the lastest. Anyway, I may be getting a Nuvi 200W in a week or so. My wife is thinking of getting me one with some reward points she has saved up.

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