Rating: 3.5 / 5
Price: $278.63
- High Sensitivity, WAAS-Enabled GPS Receiver
- Features A 2.55-InchH X 1.53-InchW, Transflective Color Tft Display With 240 X 400 Pixel Resolution
- Features Built-In Worldwide Basemap With Shaded Relief
- Wireless Sharing Of User Tracks, Waypoints, Routes & Geocaches Between Units
- 5 User Profiles – Automotive, Marine, Recreation, Fitness Or Geocache
Product Description
Saltwater mariners will love the built-in detailed BlueChart g2 coverage for the coastal U.S. and the Bahamas in the 400c. The chart detail includes shoreline,depth contours, navaids and port plans.Amazon.com Product Description–January 21, 2008
Amazon.com Product Description–January 21, 2008 Whether you’re sailing the high seas or hiking the backcountry,Colorado 400c is your all-in-one adventure guide. Preloaded with BlueChart® g2 coastal charts, Colorado is made with the saltwater mariner in mind. Packed with features, it includes a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD card slot, color display, picture viewer and more. Even exchange tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches wirelessly between similar units. Slim, lightweight and waterproof, Colorado is the perfect companion for all your outdoor pursuits.
Watch an interactive demo.
Share Wirelessly
Share your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with other Colorado users. Now you can send your favorite hike to your buddy to enjoy or the location of a cache to find. Sharing data is easy. Just select “send” to transfer your information to other Colorado units.
Keep Your Fix
With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, Colorado locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The advantage is clear — whether you’re in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on Colorado to help you find your way when you need it the most.
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The Colorado 400c comes with built-in BlueChart g2 coastal charts and a worldwide basemap with imagery — perfect for all your outdoor pursuits. Map detail includes includes shorelines, depth contours, navaids, harbors, marinas, port plans coastal roads for the U.S. and Bahamas. |
| Expand Your Horizons Colorado also accepts SD cards, so you can use Garmin preprogrammed SD cards to add maps that serve any and all of your outdoor activities on land or water. |
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| Streets | Inland Lakes | Terrain | 3D Terrain | |
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| Conveniently plug in optional preloaded SD cards for all your outdoor activities on land or water. Just insert a MapSource card with detailed street maps, and Colorado provides turn-by-turn directions to your destination. Add select topographic maps to take advantage of Colorado’s 3-D map view which gives you a better perspective of your elevation.
The card slot is located inside the waterproof battery compartment, so you don’t have to worry about getting it wet. |
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| Rock on. Find Fun | ||
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Colorado’s innovative Rock ‘n Roller input wheel for easy one-handed operation and intuitive screen interface make it as easy to navigate the device as the outdoors.
Customize Colorado’s interface based on your favorite activity. Even show off photos of your excursions with its picture viewer. |
| Experience Paperless Geocaching |
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Colorado supports Geocaching.com GPX files for downloading geocaches and detail straight to your unit. You’ll have at-a-glance cache descriptions and details to aid in your search. |
| Get Your Bearings | ||
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Colorado has a built-in electronic compass that provides bearing information even while you’re standing still.
Its barometric altimeter tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude. View elevation data before you begin your ascent or descent. You can even use the altimeter to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you keep an eye on changing weather conditions. |
Garmin Colorado 400c Portable GPS System with Preloaded Coastal Waters Maps
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Tags: 400c, chart detail, Coastal, coastal charts, Colorado, depth contours, electronic compass, Garmin, gps location, interactive demo, maps, marine recreation, perfect companion, Portable, Preloaded, sd card slot, system, waas gps, Waters
UPDATE: I USED GARMIN’S FIRMWARE UPDATE UTILITY AND LOST THE SMALL SCALE (small scale=small detail) CHARTS FOR THE CARIBBEAN, WORLD, AND ALL COASTAL AREAS. ALL US CHARTS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS UNIT. ZOOMING IN WILL RESTORE THE CHARTS, BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT ZOOMING OUT WITH THE SCROLL WHEEL TO THUMB OVER TO A NEW LOCATION AND THEN ZOOM IN AGAIN NO LONGER WORKS BECAUSE YOU CAN’T SEE THE LOCATION TO PICK WHEN YOU ZOOM OUT. BASICALLY I LOST MUCH OF THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THIS UNIT BY DOING THE UPDATE. IT IS NOW AWKWARD AND UNUSABLE.
SIGNIFICANTLY, I LOST MY BACK LIGHT CAPABILITY–WHICH MAKES THE UNIT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE.
ALL OF THIS WORKED FINE BEFORE THE UPDATE. DO NOT EVER RUN ANY UPDATES ON THIS UNIT OR IT WILL RUIN IT.
IF YOU DO NOT UPDATE IT, I STILL STRONGLY ENDORSE THE PURCHASE OF THIS UNIT.
HOWEVER, MY EXPERIENCE WITH GARMIN ON OTHER PRODUCTS IS THEY SAY TOO BAD WHEN SOMETHING BREAKS LIKE THIS. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REPLY FROM GARMIN.
I’m a US Coast Guard licensed Captain and do, among other things, delivery work. I’ve tried several of the other charting GPS units recently to upgrade my 1995 era technology Garmin GPS’s. This is the best bang for the buck.
Pros:
1. It is WAAS capable, for extreme accuracy. More on this below.If you don’t know what WAAS is, look it up. You want it in a GPS.
2. Thumb wheels is fast and easy to use. it really is a one hand device. I didn’t believe that in the write-ups, but it’s true. I particularly like spinning the wheel to zoom in or out. To move around the charts, zoom out to see the spot you want to find, press on the edge of the wheel to move the cursor where you want it and zoom in a bit, refine your cursor, zoom more–all in all a very impressive method of moving around a chart. far better than other methods I’ve seen that were slower and more tedious.
2. Carbiner clip on the back. Great for securing the device to your person or anything else. That will stay on there permanently, except to change batteries.
3. Speaking of batteries–only two AA needed. Half of what I’m used to. however, there is no external power provision. But, given the super fast acquiring of satellites, who needs to leave it on? It acquires satellites so fast, that you will routinely turn it off after checking your position. My old Garmin, was so slow to acquire positions, leaving it on was the only practical option.
4. SD Card Option. So far I have found all the charts I need built into the device. It find it reassuring I can use a common CD Card to supplement the existing charts. CARD SLOT IS IN THE BOTTOM AND VISIBLE AFTER REMOVING BATTERY COVER.
5. external Antenna option. It is there. I don’t think you will need it. This thing works indoors. i can see my track made while moving around inside the house. WAAS is truly amazing.
6. I’ve read you can wirelessly pass waypoints to other similar units–never tried that. With a mini-USB–that might be a better method. Software available for PC but not MAC. I hope my friends who are Captains, get these so we can share waypoints. I often sail in areas with rocks. Now I can mark and update my digital charts with even more information. I love it.
7. USB connector. Works only with more current version of Windows like XP and above and MAC OS X 10.3 and above.
8. Topo maps are cool. At some point I’ll try it on dry land. It has a Compass and Altimeter–which need to be calibrated–useful I suppose for trekkers.
9. Trip computer is fun to play with on longer voyages. It gives you something to do on boring watches.
10. Few buttons= bigger screen. There are two menu buttons, the tilt wheel, the spinner wheel, and the hub button. Screen size is about 3″. Great for a device you can fit in your shirt pocket.
Negatives:
1. UPDATE: EXTERNAL POWER IS VIA MINI-USB. NOT A NEGATIVE–I am correcting an early review error. If you want to keep your track updated–useful if you lose someone overboard on the ocean–you can follow your track back only if you have the track stored–hence you need to leave it on all the time–this means you must have external power. A weakness it there is no large battery and cabling to keep this on 24/7. I am going to build my own and use a PWC battery. USB power connector is not suitable to wet conditions.
2. Display is a bit dark. I find it usable. I don’t need super bright. It works. It is visible in daylight.
3. Do not use rechargeable batteries in this device–check the manufacturer website for details.
4. Lithium Batteries last about one day if used frequently at night. The backlight kills batteries. For daytime only use, I’ve gotten three 12 hour plus sessions out of one battery (no backlight used)
5. I would not use any other type of battery than lithium. Be sure to use the lithium setting to get an idea of battery life. Otherwise it shows good until it fails.
6. For trip planning I find this device hard to use. But for on the spot use, which is what I do, it works great.
The bottom line is this. If you are like me and always working on other peoples boats, or if you don’t have a boat and want your own GPS this is the one to get. Hopping from boat to boat, I rarely take the time to learn a new yachts navigational system. First, what good is it without pre-programmed routes and way points? Second, what a pain it is to always be on the steep part of the learning curve. I’d much rather bring along an accurate pocket sized GPS and add waypoints quickly and easily, or view routes I’ve built up, or particular buoys I use often. Racers will appreciate being able to whip this puppy out and call out a range and bearing to a fix navigational aid/mark.
It works great, it is fast, and once you learn how to use it, you will carry it with you whenever you are on the water.
Rating: 5 / 5
Just throw out consideration of any others, the screen redraw is as fast as any commercial unit I have seen (in fact it’s better than the system on the Boston Harbour Ferry I drive). I bought it for my boat bag for the east coast, ended up in Los Angelis for a race around Catalina Island, marked the exact slip in Marina Del Rey I left from and found it on my return. Tide and current charts at your fingertips, played with it on the plane back (watched every marina in the country go by at 540kts) identified all the rivers enroute, bought the street maps for north america (~100 or so dollars) loaded all of north america onto a $10 2gig card and used it in Cali and Boston with out having to touch a thing. This 400c is the same price as the cheaper units after you buy maps for them and just blows everything else away performance wise. Just better than sliced bread. Plus its rugged as heck.
Rating: 5 / 5
very disappointed with the brightness level and size of the screen. What genius though of REDUCING the brightness of this screen versus the previous model just to save battery juice? (that was the explanation the Garmin people gave me when I complained) I found it HARDLY READABLE under most circumstances and practically unreadable in way too many.
The interface is weird as well, the scroll wheel should work but they made access to common functions go through too many steps.
I am re-selling mine on eBay.
Just so you don’t think I am some kind of Garmin hater I have their 5212 chartplotter and that is absolutely GREAT, way above the Raymarine and others, even if the jumping between menus could be simplified, ie who ever thought of putting MOB (Man OverBoard)in a secondary level of menus that would take you three menu selections to get to? When you have the need you won’t have the time to go through three levels of selection!!!
Rating: 2 / 5
I had a Garmin 76CS for three years. I replaced it with this model. I kayak on the ocean. The GPS sits on my spray skirt. This model has some improvements, retains some of the hassles but it is also worse in some important ways.
The worst: the screen is too dark.It’s often unreadable in sunlight. Unreadable! It is absolutely unreadable heading into the sun. This is inexcusable. The 76CS screen was dark, this is much much worse.I wish they’d make a bl;ack and white model–I’d have bought it.
The compass only works if the unit is perfectly flat. My spray skirt has a slope of less than 10 degrees- unless I’m holding the unit in my hand, the compass always reads wrong. This was true on the 76CS it’s just as true on the Colorado. It renders the compass unusable for navigation while moving.
I like the rocknroller toggle selector, but it also needlessly complicates shifting between screens. The 76CS I could press (next screen) or quit and it would toggle between the two screens I use most Map and Trip Computer.
With the Colorado I have to first press Select and then toggle to the other screen symbol then hit select.
In Map mode if I move the little white arrow to say, the coast or the entrance to a harbor, I have to then select another screen to get a distance and direction. The 76CS had that information right at the bottom of the screen.
And just like the 76CS there seems to be no logical, or easy to figure out, method of moving the little white arrow to a destination, and then hitting a button to navigate there. Maybe there’s a way to do this, but as I need to do this once every other month or so I can’t figure it out when I’m on the water. That’s not right. (If there is a way to do this, great, why is it so difficult to remember?)
All in all I regret buying the Colorado GPS. I regret supporting, with my dollars, yet another annoying electronic device that could easily have been so much better. At least it’s not a cell phone…….
Rating: 2 / 5
Planning a vaction to the Abaco Islands of Bahamas and boating in a new area and a novice GPS user, I needed a reliable unit that would provide coastal information. I almost didn’t buy this unit due to all of the poor reviews on the 400 series. While the instructions are limited, it is intuitive and easy to use with the provided Map source. The images were great and it worked flawlessly giving us information on marinas, anchorages, depths, and island information. It made our trip easy and I would highly recommend it for water use.
Rating: 4 / 5