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Post by Forum Admin on Dec 28, 2007 15:34:59 GMT -9
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Luna B
Silver Cacher
Posts: 204
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Post by Luna B on Dec 29, 2007 7:13:40 GMT -9
oh my but that is impressive. I think there is collective drooling going on.....wonder what the cost is?
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Post by Forum Admin on Dec 29, 2007 7:31:02 GMT -9
oh my but that is impressive. I think there is collective drooling going on.....wonder what the cost is? It isn't available yet but I think it will go for $599
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FLYRFN
Silver Cacher
Posts: 180
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Post by FLYRFN on Dec 29, 2007 10:38:25 GMT -9
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Post by Forum Admin on Jan 4, 2008 16:54:36 GMT -9
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Post by oleruns on Jan 4, 2008 17:19:41 GMT -9
I'll run your old one over with my Jeep....it worked for me
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Post by omgcrew on Jan 4, 2008 18:54:38 GMT -9
It worked for me too.
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Post by Forum Admin on Jan 6, 2008 20:21:07 GMT -9
I'll just leave mine on the trunk again and drive off.
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Post by Forum Admin on Jan 7, 2008 14:02:18 GMT -9
Now at REI.com for $599. Don't know if it is in the store.
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Post by Malcore on Jan 7, 2008 14:11:43 GMT -9
I went to REI yesterday to try and check it out but they don't have any yet. I didn't get an ansure as to when they will have it ether.
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Post by Forum Admin on Jan 10, 2008 16:27:37 GMT -9
I went to REI yesterday to try and check it out but they don't have any yet. I didn't get an ansure as to when they will have it ether. Guper Seekie says best case is mid Feb. Worst case is April. It is likely you could get one from REI.com faster.
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Post by oleruns on Jan 10, 2008 21:17:01 GMT -9
What about Accupoint?
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Post by warrenpeace on Jan 15, 2008 14:50:58 GMT -9
Accupoint... nice to hear someone say that word They have done a lot for me and my students (as well as many other teachers) in getting units into classrooms.
My biggest question about the Colorado is... will it work with Macs. That's my world being a teacher.
Even with this new parallels software, there is some USB confusion.
With Wherigo, I'm seeing lots of programs for PCs.
Any Mac users out there?
GSAK won't work on a Mac - and that's a bummer.
Anyway, I'm going to get a Colorado in a month or so after I see more user responses about how it works and all. My biggest use for it will be to figure out if Wherigo cartridges is a direction I want to go in with my students.
I saw a screen picture of all the info it stores from GC.com - pretty slick!
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Post by warrenpeace on Jan 15, 2008 14:55:22 GMT -9
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Post by NorthWes on Jan 17, 2008 11:59:57 GMT -9
Oh - my - goodness! It Rocks! (great pun...)From the review (above link): "Verdict: Indiana Jones Meets MacGyver" "The Colorado is a major upgrade from previous Garmin handhelds, and is significantly easier to use than Garmin's GPSMAP 60csx." "Well built and easier to use than previous models, Colorado raises the bar on what to expect from a handheld GPS." Well... I was gonna pay for one daughter's braces and another daughter's wedding this year, and there's that 3rd car we were thinking of buying... hmmm... heavy sigh - NorthWes makes responsible decision to invest in family first... but if they come out with one called 'Alaska' that combines the geocaching/boating functions with a unit that'll heat the airspace around me to a comfy 45º+ as I cache (all on 2 AA batteries w/16 hrs of life)... look out!
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Post by Forum Admin on Jan 18, 2008 12:42:48 GMT -9
An Rei.com EXCLUSIVE until 2/11/2008!!!!!! Where is Santa when you need him??
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Post by slatrat on Jan 19, 2008 17:16:41 GMT -9
Hey Guys,
As I type, I'm unpacking my brand new Garmin 400t!!!! ;D
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powmia
Silver Cacher
Caches Found/Hidden xxxx/x
Posts: 208
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Post by powmia on Jan 19, 2008 17:58:31 GMT -9
Hey Guys, As I type, I'm unpacking my brand new Garmin 400t!!!! ;D Quite the multi tasker
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Post by oleruns on Jan 19, 2008 20:26:52 GMT -9
Slat Rat, can we come over and play... huh can we??? Lucky dog... no, you rat! Congratulations!
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Post by Malcore on Jan 19, 2008 21:51:22 GMT -9
Oh!! Lucky Lucky. Your making us all drool.
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Post by slatrat on Jan 20, 2008 14:15:50 GMT -9
Well - don't drool too much. I loaded a test geocache (westchester lagoon overlook) on the unit. The description, logs, hints, etc. made it. But for some reason, Garmin in their infinite wisdom stripped, the coordinates from the listing. What were they thinking? Do they actually geocache? There is some commentary on the forums about this omission and a few other issues. I'm going to try to push a pile of caches over from gsak via mapsource. I'll see how those displays work. If the coordinates get stripped from those listings, I'll probably return the unit. grrr... On the upside - the display is stunning and the maps are very cool.
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Post by slatrat on Jan 20, 2008 15:48:26 GMT -9
o.k. - I've just spent an hour trying just about every trick in the book to get the cache listings to display the coordinates in an effective manner.
Here's what I wanted - it seems simple enough: - On the navigation screen: Current coordinates, cache coordinates, map, distance to cache (the last one is not critical). - An easy way to toggle back and forth between the navigation screen I described above and the full cache description.
Here's what found: - Garmin's default geocache listing does not display the cache coordinates. It displays the title, difficulty, terrain, and number of trackables. Not the coordinates. - In addition to above summary information, a map is displayed showing your location in reference to the cache location. Two data fields are displayed: distance from cache and time to cache. - You cannot configure the above two displays. - You do have an option to display the full cache listing - description and logged comments. That is an entirely different screen - and the cache coordinates are not displayed.
After perusing several forums, I developed a custom export out of gsak that included the lat long as part of the name. Unfortunately, the "name" being exported out of gsak doesn't seem to be the "name" that the garmin is using in their summary display.
However, the description did use my custom formula - it was built into the name. But that was on the full screen where no current navigation information is displayed.
I also discovered significant performance issues: - If even 100 caches are stored on the unit, the performance just dies. One can't quickly toggle back and forth between the cache listing and the basically useless navigation screen. The until will take 5-15 seconds to move back and forth or it hangs completely and you have to pop the batteries out.
- I finally created a a file of just ten geocaches. Even then performance was dicey.
Conclusion: I desperately wanted a gps that could be used for paperless caching and performed reasonably well. The Colorado is not it. I'm pretty forgiving on the technology front - I'm willing to put up with a lot. But this unit just doesn't do what I had hoped it would do. I really wonder if Garmin had geocachers involved at the get go. Because of the whereigo game, I had assumed geocaching.com and garmin were working closely together. But now, I wonder.
As I stated above, all I wanted was a map, and current and cache lat long info on one screen and an easy way to toggle to the description info.
I think Garmin not only missed the boat on the design, but they're also missing the boat by not opening up their unit to 3rd party developers. Garmin should publish an SDK. My issues would have been addressed within 24 hours. sigh...
I really like Garmin gear, so it's going to be doubly painful when I return my Colorado to REI.
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Post by Forum Admin on Jan 20, 2008 18:20:31 GMT -9
o.k. - I've just spent an hour trying just about every trick in the book to get the cache listings to display the coordinates in an effective manner. Here's what I wanted - it seems simple enough: - On the navigation screen: Current coordinates, cache coordinates, map, distance to cache (the last one is not critical). - An easy way to toggle back and forth between the navigation screen I described above and the full cache description. Here's what found: - Garmin's default geocache listing does not display the cache coordinates. It displays the title, difficulty, terrain, and number of trackables. Not the coordinates. - In addition to above summary information, a map is displayed showing your location in reference to the cache location. Two data fields are displayed: distance from cache and time to cache. - You cannot configure the above two displays. - You do have an option to display the full cache listing - description and logged comments. That is an entirely different screen - and the cache coordinates are not displayed. After perusing several forums, I developed a custom export out of gsak that included the lat long as part of the name. Unfortunately, the "name" being exported out of gsak doesn't seem to be the "name" that the garmin is using in their summary display. However, the description did use my custom formula - it was built into the name. But that was on the full screen where no current navigation information is displayed. I also discovered significant performance issues: - If even 100 caches are stored on the unit, the performance just dies. One can't quickly toggle back and forth between the cache listing and the basically useless navigation screen. The until will take 5-15 seconds to move back and forth or it hangs completely and you have to pop the batteries out. - I finally created a a file of just ten geocaches. Even then performance was dicey. Conclusion: I desperately wanted a gps that could be used for paperless caching and performed reasonably well. The Colorado is not it. I'm pretty forgiving on the technology front - I'm willing to put up with a lot. But this unit just doesn't do what I had hoped it would do. I really wonder if Garmin had geocachers involved at the get go. Because of the whereigo game, I had assumed geocaching.com and garmin were working closely together. But now, I wonder. As I stated above, all I wanted was a map, and current and cache lat long info on one screen and an easy way to toggle to the description info. I think Garmin not only missed the boat on the design, but they're also missing the boat by not opening up their unit to 3rd party developers. Garmin should publish an SDK. My issues would have been addressed within 24 hours. sigh... I really like Garmin gear, so it's going to be doubly painful when I return my Colorado to REI. ARGGGH! Sorry you had to go through all that but at least you saved all of us from spending all that money just to be disappointed! I personally am very disappointed!!!
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Post by oleruns on Jan 20, 2008 18:46:27 GMT -9
Wow, thanks. I was going to sell my other GPS gear and a laptop on Ebay to take the hit on the 400. Maybe I'll still sell them and buy a weather station like Scobey ;D
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Post by slatrat on Jan 20, 2008 19:02:15 GMT -9
I feel guilty - maybe someone else should try one. Maybe I'm being too harsh. I will say the display is really fabulous. But I still don't understand why Garmin does not seem to get geocaching. It's not that hard. sigh...
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Post by oleruns on Jan 20, 2008 21:31:19 GMT -9
I can see every Garmin has issues and needs firmware updates after a short time. At this time there isn't any updates so I have to think that most of the issues have to be software. I guess I would wait until you can talk to Garmin to tell them their product sucks bilge water unless there is an update soon.
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Post by Malcore on Jan 20, 2008 22:54:42 GMT -9
I decided to check out the forums about this one and it looks like they have lots of major issues with it. Most of what they say is wrong probibly can be fixed with software updates but some doesn't sound like they can be fixed with out hardware upgrades. Luckly on the software part it looks like the system has lots of memory and looks like a fairly open archatecture so changing it should be an easy thing. The first thing I noticed that would be realy bad it theres no geocaching mode, you can't mark your finds as found and then go to the next closest cache. Along with that none of the other geocaching stuff is there. Only thing it looks like you can do is load up the caches and go to them. Hopefuly they will be fixing all this soon. Im thinking that, in there rush to get this out by the 2008 CES show they didn't have the software completed and figured they would get the gps in peoples hands and update it as its finished. Atleast I hope so. Im sure they will be getting a major ear full from all the owners about the problems and also from REI about all the returns that they will be getting. I will be watching the forums closely to see if all the issues get fixed before I even think of buying one. Also thanks slatrat for being our local bata tester and giving us the skinny on whats what with this unit.
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powmia
Silver Cacher
Caches Found/Hidden xxxx/x
Posts: 208
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Post by powmia on Jan 21, 2008 11:54:24 GMT -9
Be careful what you wish for..........................you just might get it.
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Post by slatrat on Jan 25, 2008 16:19:56 GMT -9
I am continuing to follow the forums - I keep hoping against hope that perhaps a miracle will occur and the Colorado will morph into the perfect (or even somewhat reasonable) geocaching GPS. The best forum discussion seems to be this one: forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=183511The FAQ and the list of problems is quite good. Definitely worth following. But - the upshot does appear to be that it will be a long time before the Colorado is the gps of our dreams.
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