Garmin Colorado 400t Review
Garmin Colorado 400t
Garmin Colorado 400t Product Description:
This rugged, advanced handheld is packed with detailed topographic maps for all your hiking adventures not to mention 3-D map view, a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD card slot, picture viewer and color display. Exchange tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches wirelessly between similar units. Slim, lightweight and waterproof, Colorado is the perfect companion for all your outdoor pursuits.
Take on the trails with Colorado 400t. This rugged, advanced handheld is packed with detailed topographic maps for all your hiking adventures not to mention 3-D map view, a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD™ card slot, picture viewer and color display. Exchange tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches wirelessly between similar units. When the going gets tough, Colorado leads the way.
Explore Backcountry in 3-D
Colorado’s preloaded U.S. topographic maps, 3-D map view and a built-in worldwide basemap with shaded relief give you all the tools for serious climbing or hiking. Map detail includes national, state and local parks and forests, along with terrain contours, elevation information, trails, rivers, lakes and points of interest. Just in case you’re wondering how steep that hill really is, Colorado’s 3-D map view helps you visualize your surroundings — giving you a better perspective of the elevation.
Share Wirelessly
With Colorado 400t you can 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.
Rock on. Find Fun
Intuitive and fun, Colorado features a Rock ‘n Roller input wheel for easy one-handed operation and supports Geocaching.com GPX files for downloading geocaches and detail straight to your unit. Customize Colorado’s interface based on your favorite activity. Even show off photos of your excursions with its picture viewer. Slim, lightweight and waterproof, Colorado is the perfect companion for all your outdoor pursuits.
Keep Your Fix
With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, Colorado 400t 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.
Get Your Bearings
Colorado 400t has a built-in electronic compass that provides bearing information even while you’re standing still, and its barometric altimeter tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude. You can even use the altimeter to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you keep an eye on changing weather conditions.
Plug in and Go
Conveniently plug in optional preloaded SD cards for all your outdoor activities on land or water (see maps tab for compatible maps). Just insert a MapSource card with detailed street maps, and Colorado provides turn-by-turn directions to your destination. Add detailed trail information by purchasing additional TOPO maps for national parks and more. The card slot is located inside the waterproof battery compartment, so you don’t have to worry about getting it wet.
Colorado 400t: For adventure in any direction.
Product Features:
- 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
Technical Details
- Brand Name: Garmin
- Model: 010-00622-45
- Receiver Description: 12 channel
- Connectivity Technology: USB
- Display Size: 3 inches
- Native Resolution: 240×400
- Battery Average Life: 15 Hours
- MP3 player: Y
Well, that’s lots of marketing stuff, but how well does it really work?
Size: 1.4 x 2.4 x 5.5 inches, weight 7.3 oz. This is pretty light for a unit that has a 1.4×2.5 display. Certainly portable for any use except perhaps jogging/running. 4/5
Battery Life: The unit is rated at 15 hours. The unit uses 2xAA batteries, so this will vary with the quality of batteries, but easily extendable with replacement batteries for any situation. 5/5
Maps: The Garmin Colorado 400t comes preloaded with a US Topographical Map. You can download and add maps through its sim card. The maps can (and really should be) backed up to a PC, but not viewed. 4/5
Features/Usage/Price: This is a pretty feature packed little GPS. For hiking and outdoors, it has almost everything a hiking enthusiast could want, including geocaching. Custom points of interest, and unit to unit transfers are nice additions to the Garmin Colorado 400t. The price…. Well, its not cheap, currently selling for around $400. (msrp $599) 4/5
Other comments:
Lots of owners have complained about the accuracy for driving. At approx 40-80’ accuracy, its good for hiking, but not perfect if your on the road. Hopefully Garmin will address the accuracy in future versions. Setup is complicated. Expect to spend a couple hours setting the Garmin Colorado 400t up properly. The screen is pretty good for a hiking GPS, and has a nice clean display; pretty awesome once you’ve spent that 3 hours setting the shortcuts up for your usage.
If your looking for a truly nice hiking/climbing/outdoors GPS, this could be your answer. It has tons of features, works pretty well, and is really slick once set up properly. Overall Rating…. 4/5. Catch it on sale for under $375 and make that 5/5.
Suunto X9i Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watc
Suunto X9i Watch GPS
Suunto X9i Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watch with Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, and GPS
Suunto X9i Watch GPS
Description:
Equipped with GPS capabilities, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer, the Suunto X9i Wrist-top GPS has everything you need for a successful journey and serious work-out. Regardless of whether you’re hiking, climbing, skiing or heading off for a fishing trip, the Suunto X9i will not only take you through even the toughest situations, but it will also help to analyze your performance along the way. The route functions of Suunto X9i, together with its advanced GPS system, allow you to create accurate routes, and they ensure that you always know where you are and how to continue from there.
Our Opinion
Size: 3″x2″ This is a watch, about as compact as it gets in GPS systems. Weight is acceptable for almost all situations. 5/5
Battery Life: Great if not using the GPS. 4-5 hours of constant GPS usage. 3/5
Maps: Not really applicable for a watch GPS, the watch comes with software for the PC which can track your travel. Downloadable maps are available. 3/5
Features and Price:
Noteable features -
- Equipped with GPS capabilities, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer
- “Track back” and “find home” functions help you find your way back home
- Windows-based software helps you analyze your performance
- Features advanced timing functions that record lap and split times of your runs and other activities
- Water resistant to 10 bars, and designed with a user-friendly menu-based user interface
eTrex Venture HC Review
eTrex Venture HC
eTrex Venture HC is an essential for any outdoor excursion. It features a high-sensitivity GPS receiver for peak performance in any environment and includes 24 megabytes (MB) of internal memory, a detailed basemap and crisp color screen.
Ok, thats what eTrex says about this little gadget, now for our eTrex Venture review.
Size: 4.2 x 2.2 x 1.2 weight 5.5 oz
Light weight enough for almost any excursion. A little bulky to stick in a pocket, but no need for a backpack. 4/5
Battery Life: 14 hours (AAx2) Normally I would object to a 14 hour battery life, but since this uses standard AA batteries, bring a spare set on multi-day journeys. 3.5/5
Maps: The bundled maps are very very very basic. Highways, some lakes, a few landmarks. You can download more specific maps, and have a generous 24mb of memory to save them in. Good maps are extra $$$ however. 3/5
Features and Price: Lots of toys.
- Geocaching – although ive heard some complaints about this feature
- Outdoor games
- Hunting/Fishing calendar
- Sun/Moon information
- Price – About $135 from Amazon.com
- Overall features and price 5/5
Other comments on our eTrex Venture HC Review
Satellite pickup is very improved over earlier versions. No more lost signals next to tall buildings or dense trees. Satellites were picked up almost instantly…. And I mean fast, about as good as i have seen in a GPS. Accuracy seems good. Screen is a little tough to read in daylight.
Overall rating: 4/5
Look at our Hiking GPS Review guide for more information in choosing a hiking GPS.
