[TeamThom]

I was going to buy a new GPSr today but am now having second thoughts. I started geocaching in May with a Garmin 12 XL that I've had forever. I recently passed 100 finds so I'm not exactly spending every waking minute with the sport. But, given the winter withdrawal I went through, I'm clearly hear to stay. After a month or two of geocaching my wife decided that she would like her own GPSr and purchased a new base eTrex for less than a hundred bucks. There are things I like about the eTrex over the 12 XL, like battery life and switching distance to target from miles to feet when you get close. I prefer the controls of the 12 XL. The wife and I navigate the roads with her StreetPilot c330. Mostly we geocache around town but do head for the mountains now and then. Because of health reasons, the wife and I don't get more than a mile or so from the road.

Clearly I need to go paperless. I've been playing with it some using a PocketPC as the hand held. I've been evaluating GSAK, EasyGPS, GpxView, and CacheMate. When I head out geocaching I look like I'm wearing Batman's utility belt. I'd like to upgrade away from the old 12 XL and reduce the number of things I carry. The 400t sounds the perfect solution but this forum is loaded with Colorado bug reports.

Long winded setup but here is the question. Will I be happy with the 400t or find it frustrating? Should I go with the 60CSx now and upgrade to the 400t in a couple of years?

[the hermit crabs]

You might be interested in this thread from a few days ago:
"Upgrade" from 60CSx to Colorado?

[g-o-cashers]

Here's a Colorado vs. 60csx comparison.

GO$Rs

[Jeff in Pa]

Go with your second answer, I too was set on a Colorado 400T till I started seeing all the negative remarks, Now about those negative remarks I am sure that you too realize that this NEW GPS probably has more new owners than the 60CSX had at its introduction into our hobby, maybe twice as many.. but I am convinced that while I too have the PDA to use that I should wait a year or two before I take that 4 to 500 dollar plunge. No need to get frustrated with glitches when you have the Pocket PC and the 60CSX is so reliable.

[Paul_Aris]

Jeff in Pa, on Mar 21 2008, 07:08 AM, said:

Go with your second answer, I too was set on a Colorado 400T till I started seeing all the negative remarks, Now about those negative remarks I am sure that you too realize that this NEW GPS probably has more new owners than the 60CSX had at its introduction into our hobby, maybe twice as many.. but I am convinced that while I too have the PDA to use that I should wait a year or two before I take that 4 to 500 dollar plunge. No need to get frustrated with glitches when you have the Pocket PC and the 60CSX is so reliable.

So if you spend over half the amount to get the 60 CSX and then next year you get a Colorado for lets say $50-$100 cheaper than today you spent a lot more money than just buying the Colorado now? My last GPS lasted me over 7 years. As a matter of fact it still works great.

I did take the plunge and got the Colorado 400T and have not had any issues with it. I love it.

[Artsifrtsy]

I just upgraded to a Colorado last month. I think that after reading all the posts about bugs and deficiencies I can kind of sort it out.

The firmware update seems to have corrected or improve most of the bugs or concerns. The other things that most people talk about are specific features of their old unit that are not available on the Colorado. The Colorado is a different platform and is light years ahead of my old Explorist. I love going paperless. 3-D view us awesome. Loading caches has never been simpler. I use this unit almost every day exploring and hiking. I wish it had backtrack but other than that I'm very happy.

[Red90]

If you are getting it for Geocaching use, the Colorado is much better than the 60CSX. I've many finds on both units. There are a few bugs still on the Colorado, but they are minor, IMO, rarely affect your caching.

[Zinnware]

g-o-cashers, on Mar 21 2008, 07:08 AM, said:

Here's a Colorado vs. 60csx comparison.

GO$Rs

It would be nice if this list of features could be put into a voting form where GPS users could vote, or indicate the importance of each feature. This could be helpful feedback to GARMIN in ranking fixes or updates to their software for the Colorado, or to help insure that those features that are important are not lost in new models that may along from GPS manufactures. It would also be nice to include features from other non-Garmin models such as the Delorme PN-20 model which has taken the lead in quickly switching between map sets (a feature I use often). Although that feature may not be used by many Garmin users now, I see this becoming more important as satellite images maps sets become avaialble on Garmin models too, and users begin to see the benefit of switching between road, satellite, and topo map sets.

Zinnware

This post has been edited by Zinnware: 21 March 2008 - 07:35 PM

[jotne]

From previous experiment with wish list here on Groundspeak and other forum, it seems that Garmin do not add any new functionality to released GPS. We did have a wish list for the 60CS with more than 50 wishes, only 2 of them was added. Some of them were added in later GPS release, like transparent menus on Colorado. Just read trough firmware update for 60CS and 60CSx, and you only see minor new functions.

[Jeff in Pa]

So if you spend over half the amount to get the 60 CSX and then next year you get a Colorado for lets say $50-$100 cheaper than today you spent a lot more money than just buying the Colorado now? My last GPS lasted me over 7 years. As a matter of fact it still works great.

Thats a very good answer if the opp is one who buys a GPS and keeps it for 7 years but he obviously is someone similar to me in that he mentioned getting (Should I go with the 60CSx now and upgrade to the 400t in a couple of years?) the upgrade in a couple of years so that is why I chose my answer to wait. IF he wants to buy ONE GPS every 7 years then yes the Colorado would definately be the right choice.

[Paul_Aris]

Jeff in Pa, on Mar 22 2008, 06:26 AM, said:

So if you spend over half the amount to get the 60 CSX and then next year you get a Colorado for lets say $50-$100 cheaper than today you spent a lot more money than just buying the Colorado now? My last GPS lasted me over 7 years. As a matter of fact it still works great.

Thats a very good answer if the opp is one who buys a GPS and keeps it for 7 years but he obviously is someone similar to me in that he mentioned getting (Should I go with the 60CSx now and upgrade to the 400t in a couple of years?) the upgrade in a couple of years so that is why I chose my answer to wait. IF he wants to buy ONE GPS every 7 years then yes the Colorado would definately be the right choice.

Whats crazy is I had my Legend for 7 years and loved it but the small gray scale screen made it a bit dated for me. I've been waiting for a new GPS that would mostly screen area with buttons and non screen area taking up very little space. The colorado fit the bill perfectly. So I got one a few weeks back and then this week I just got a Nuvi 250W. Went 7 years with one now I just got 2 with in 3 weeks. Both have are nice and have their own purpose.

[Red90]

Jeff in Pa, on Mar 22 2008, 08:26 AM, said:

So if you spend over half the amount to get the 60 CSX and then next year you get a Colorado.....

That is not really a correct price comparison. You must compare the 300 to the 60Csx or if you compare the 400t, you need to add the cost of Topo USA.

So a 60Csx is around $330 maybe as low as $300
A 300 is $430 to a minimum of $400.
Or a 400t for $530 less $85 for the maps.

It is not about getting it because you "need" it.... An Etrex H would do just fine.... It is because you want the extra features...

[nicolo]

Red90, on Mar 22 2008, 07:44 AM, said:

Jeff in Pa, on Mar 22 2008, 08:26 AM, said:

So if you spend over half the amount to get the 60 CSX and then next year you get a Colorado.....

That is not really a correct price comparison. You must compare the 300 to the 60Csx or if you compare the 400t, you need to add the cost of Topo USA.

So a 60Csx is around $330 maybe as low as $300
A 300 is $430 to a minimum of $400.
Or a 400t for $530 less $85 for the maps.

It is not about getting it because you "need" it.... An Etrex H would do just fine.... It is because you want the extra features...

Boy didn't WE put on the big brain this morning, you're on all the "updated" threads today man,

This post has been edited by nicolo: 22 March 2008 - 08:04 AM

[TeamThom]

Thanks for all the information. Most of the threads referred to I had read before posting the question. When I went to the local sporting goods store I still hadn't made up my mind. They had both the 400t and 60CSx in the display case and let me play with both. I was leaning towards the 60CSx when the salesman told me that they would give a 100% refund on the 400t if I didn't like it, no questions asked. I asked why and he explained that a high percentage of them come back non-functional. He also told me that the first time I powered it up I needed to be on the Garmin website downloading the latest firmware. I'm in the SLC area, a small market, so I would have thought that one small store should not have seen any problems with the 400t. I walked out with the 60CSx.

The vast majority of the time my wife and I geocache together. I do a little caching alone as her job requires some travel. We use her StreetPilot to get around town, but she takes it with her when she travels. Out of the car she uses a base eTrex and I the old 12 XL. Now I have the 60CSx and in a year or two she will want to upgrade her handheld and I think we will get her the 400t at that time.

[sTeamTraen]

If I was doing mostly paperless traditionals I'd probably go for the Colorado, especially if I already had a good in-car system for getting to the caches. The maps look beautiful and the paperless caching info is awesome, and only crashes the unit occasionally.

However, if you do a lot of multis, the 60c** series is a lot quicker to use for inserting WPs, etc, and it has better route navigation.

I am still reeling from the discovery that my Colorado has no audible way to warn of upcoming turns, no estimate of time for the route, no pop-up choice to navigate on- or off-road (you have to go through setup), needs 5 or 6 actions to delete a WP, etc.