Garmin Colorado 400t Handheld GPS Unit with U.S. Topographic Preloaded Maps
by Garmin
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List Price: Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Colorado 400t Handheld GPS Unit with U.S. Topographic Preloaded Maps
Customer Review: No idea why some bad reviews
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my 2nd GPS after using a magellan 500le from costco that I returned due to a very difficult file system that was not user friendly. After reading several reviews on the colorado I was very concerned but decided to try it since it seemed the firmware updates fixed many glitches. As soon as I received it, I did the updates and have not had one problem with it. The display that many say is impossible to read is as bright as my computer monitor. I believe these people who cant see the display did not have enough intelligence to read the first page of the quickstart guide which tells you how to turn the backlight intensity up and down. Even with the backlight on, it wont work unless you turn up the intesity. I have never had the unit crash, the file system is super easy to use with the roller, and the unit has been very accurate so far. Battery life is ok and better than the Magellan. I now use rechargable NiMH batteries and left the unit on with backlight on 100% to check the life and the unit worked for 7 hours straight with the backlight on nonstop before draining the batteries. If using the unit with the light on and off I'm sure it would last most of the day. The only beef I have is that the 400t with topo map which shows the city streets will not give you turn by turn directions unless you purchase the city navigatior map also which at this price point should be included. Other than that I am very happy with my colorado after about 3 weeks of use. You will have no regrets as long as you do the firmware update.Customer Review: Eclipse chasing - having trouble
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased the Colorado 400t to chase eclipses. I need to get to very specific places on earth and cannot be off target.
My primary trouble with this: I ran into problems loading in custom POI's. I have had the unit for a week now and I am trying to prepare it for my upcoming trip to Mongolia. I want to load in the eclipse track coordinates which I have saved in a .csv file. I used the Garmin software available on the Garmin site for loading in custom POI's. The first time I used it it worked great - for the first 30 coordinates or so. I think it ran out of space. I then used the same Garmin software to "delete all custom POI's", created a new .csv file with only the 14 coordinates that I needed, and tried to upload again. This is where the problem came in - although it tells me that the load was successful. when I go to the custom POI area on the unit there are "no matches found". I think something may have messed up the unit when I used their delete option. I am going to call Garmin directly later today because I have found no other reference to this problem online.
my second problem with this - the international maps are awful if you plan on going someplace unusual. I do not expect to get street names but something more than a blank peach colored field would be nice.
My third problem - no satelites can be found in my city! This is very strange as I am standing under an open sky. This makes me a little apprehensive - what if this happens to me in western mongolia?
Customer Review: Getting lost...no more
Summary: 4 Stars
Finally a device that really works in the deep woods. If you like to go mountain biking, hiking or do any type of outdoor exploration, in areas that you're not familiar with, this Garmin unit is a must-have. There's nothing worse than going out in the woods for a nice hike, and then discovering you have no clue where you are. The Garmin 400t will let you know where you are and better yet how to get back to where you started from.
My major gripe with this unit (which is why the 4-star rating instead of 5-stars) is that after buying it and also buying the DVD for City Navigation I was hoping to use this unit for road biking as well. I assumed that the unit was compatible with Garmins Training Center Software because the unit is compatible with both Garmins heart rate monitor and cadence device. Why would Garmin make the 400t compatible with their heart rate monitor and cadence device and not make the unit compatible with their Training Center Software so that rides can be uploaded to the Web. Knowing that the unit was compatible with Garmins heart rate monitor and cadence device it was only logically to think that Garman would have made the unit compatible with the Garmin Training Center Software so that rides could be loaded into the training center software. Unfortunately, Garman decided not to make this unit compatible with their Training Center Software. I think this is a big drawback for anyone that wants to use it for road biking.
Customer Review: So disapoointed
Summary: 2 Stars
I was really eager to get the Colorado 400t - principally for GeoCaching with my family (often in the streets and parks around our home). I liked the fact it came with preloaded maps and that we would be able to geocache paperlessly. But I'm returning it - principally because the topo map - at least around our home - and at least for the streets - is 500 ft off - basically a whole block in our neighborhood. Even if the caches themselves show up correctly (and they seem to within 8-10 feet at least) the inability to follow the right streets makes use near impossible.
I was also disappointed that although I owned the Garmin street maps on my Nuvi device that my license only extends to one device - I was unable to use them on the Colorado. I also experienced the freezing issue others describe (switching to the altimeter view from the map) but that appears to have been fixed by a firmware upgrade I did.
It would also be great if this unit could charge via the USB interface (like the nuvi) instead of using batteries. Battery life with ordinary AAs is pretty weak. Garmin support was unhelpful (oh yeah, the streets are often off on the 100k topo)
On the plus side the display is quite large and quite clear with the back light dialed up. The paperless geocaching feature is really nice - so much better than printouts. The wheel interface isn't bad. But overall, disappointing. I'm going to try the Delorme PN-40.
Customer Review: Field Test of the Garmin Colorado 400t
Summary: 4 Stars
The new Garmin Colorado 400t, one of a series of four Colorado models, was introduced in early 2008 as a next-generation handheld GPS. The Colorado lives up to that promise with an innovative new control wheel, easy-to-use menu system, big, sharp color screen, 3D map viewing, and more.
There's a lot to cover, starting with the "Rock 'n Roller" input wheel and companion menu system. With the Colorado, for the first time ever, I was able to pick up an advanced handheld GPS and work my way through virtually all of its features just by intuitive selection and a little bit of experimentation, with no manual needed. That's a big plus, and a step forward in GPS design. What's more, the Rock 'n Roller wheel is so easy to use and compact, you can operate the unit one-handed (or rather, one-thumbed).
The wheel part of the Rock 'n Roller rotates clockwise and counterclockwise, and can be used to move through menu lists on the screen, or to zoom in or out on a map. The wheel also responds to up, down, right and left presses to pan a map, for example. The "enter" button is positioned in the middle of the Rock 'n Roller to make menu selections, etc. Overall, the wheel is an ingenious and complete navigation tool (there are only two more buttons on the unit) that has been compared to an iPod control.
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