Sean Malone
03-28-08, 01:40 PM
I just bought my first GPS unit. It is a handheld Garmin Colorado 400c. The Colorado series is Garmin’s newest handheld. Aimed at being powerful yet more user friendly then their other handhelds. I was somewhat surprised when I opened the box and started reading the owners manual how vague it was. A brief summary about each function without any detail. Many assumptions are made such as the ability to choose ‘normal’ GPS mode or the ‘WAAS’ mode. Well, being new to GPS units…WTF is WAAS? Ok, so Google tells me it’s a good thing I guess. I would expect a sophisticated device to have a detailed user guide or at least a ‘quick start’ along with a detailed version.
Ok, so the 400c (‘c’ for ‘coastal’) comes pre-loaded with Garmin’s Bluechart g2 Coastal Chart meant for coastal marine navigation which will be my primary use for this unit. They have a 400i (inland lakes and rivers), 400t (topography) and a 300 (which doesn’t come preloaded). They are all the same except for their preloaded maps.
Familiarizing myself by digging into the menu and options I’m impressed with how configurable it is. I’m a little disappointed that it doesn’t auto-route from a marine perspective but only from the automotive perspective in which I would need routable cartography. So I will need to create my marine routes manually via waypoints.
I read online to make sure your map datum is up to date which I assume it is on such a new unit. The only option for map datum on the 400 is to change to different countries. By default it is on ‘user’. Whatever that means (the manual doesn’t even mention it).
I’m going to pop for the city maps so this unit will become a dual purpose device. They want $139 for it on SD media (I’ve found it for $119 at an online GPS store).
I guess I’m pleased with the unit, I’ll have more of an opinion once I’m on the water with it. A couple of early form factor issues; battery life is estimated at 13 hours. Make that more like 2. I’ve burned through four sets of batteries just scrolling through the menus with the backlight on. I’m going to switch to NiMH to see if they help. Also it crashed multiple times prior to the firmware update. After the update it is more stable but I have had it crash a few times. I’ve read this is common on this unit. Hopefully future firmware updates will improve that. The stats are slightly better then Garmin’s 76csx but with one exception, the 76csx floats, mine sinks. Both are IPX7 waterproof (up to 1m of submersion).
The MapSource software that came with the unit I found to be clumsy and old fashioned. Plus they make you lock/unlock maps and keeps giving me an error when I try.
this unit wasn't cheap either, although it will probably be half of what I paid in a few months. Never fails.
So at this point, I know where I am, I just need to figure out where I’m going. :)
Ok, so the 400c (‘c’ for ‘coastal’) comes pre-loaded with Garmin’s Bluechart g2 Coastal Chart meant for coastal marine navigation which will be my primary use for this unit. They have a 400i (inland lakes and rivers), 400t (topography) and a 300 (which doesn’t come preloaded). They are all the same except for their preloaded maps.
Familiarizing myself by digging into the menu and options I’m impressed with how configurable it is. I’m a little disappointed that it doesn’t auto-route from a marine perspective but only from the automotive perspective in which I would need routable cartography. So I will need to create my marine routes manually via waypoints.
I read online to make sure your map datum is up to date which I assume it is on such a new unit. The only option for map datum on the 400 is to change to different countries. By default it is on ‘user’. Whatever that means (the manual doesn’t even mention it).
I’m going to pop for the city maps so this unit will become a dual purpose device. They want $139 for it on SD media (I’ve found it for $119 at an online GPS store).
I guess I’m pleased with the unit, I’ll have more of an opinion once I’m on the water with it. A couple of early form factor issues; battery life is estimated at 13 hours. Make that more like 2. I’ve burned through four sets of batteries just scrolling through the menus with the backlight on. I’m going to switch to NiMH to see if they help. Also it crashed multiple times prior to the firmware update. After the update it is more stable but I have had it crash a few times. I’ve read this is common on this unit. Hopefully future firmware updates will improve that. The stats are slightly better then Garmin’s 76csx but with one exception, the 76csx floats, mine sinks. Both are IPX7 waterproof (up to 1m of submersion).
The MapSource software that came with the unit I found to be clumsy and old fashioned. Plus they make you lock/unlock maps and keeps giving me an error when I try.
this unit wasn't cheap either, although it will probably be half of what I paid in a few months. Never fails.
So at this point, I know where I am, I just need to figure out where I’m going. :)