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Joined: 20/08/2002 11:51:57 Posts: 3859 Location: Essex, UK
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:44 pm Post subject: Garmin announces the new Colorado handheld GPS at CES
The new Garmin Colorado is about the same size as the current GPSMAP 60CSx but has a very different user interface. Gone are the array of buttons and joy pad to be replaces with a wheel and centre button.
The Colorado supports the range of Garmin Digital mapping products and allows for basic turn by turn navigation. Don't expect voice announcements though. Also built in is a temperature sensor and also wireless connections to a heart rate monitor and speed or cadence sensors as used on the Edge cycling systems.
The price of the Colorado base system is $499 with world basemap, or $599 with more detailed mapping (Topo or Marine).
Official Garmin press release wrote:
Garmin’s Colorado™ Series Gives Outdoor Enthusiasts a New Perspective
OLATHE, Kan./January 3, 2008/PR Newswire — Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), today introduced the Colorado series of handheld GPS devices for outdoor, marine and fitness enthusiasts. With the addition of Garmin’s revolutionary Rock ’n Roller™ wheel, you really can operate its many features with just one hand — most with just one thumb. The deviceswere announced in preparation for the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and will be on display at the Garmin booth (#35832 in South 4).
“Whether you’re climbing in the Rockies, fishing an unfamiliar river or geocaching with your family, the Colorado brings your environment to life in unprecedented detail,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “And yet for having so many new features and customizable options, the Colorado is remarkably easy to use with its thumb-driven Rock ’n Roller wheel.”
On land or at sea, you’ll never lose your way with Colorado’s high-sensitivity GPS receiver, shaded-relief and satellite imagery mapping and vibrant color 3-inch screen with high resolution. And the Colorado plays well with others, allowing for wireless exchange of tracks, waypoints and geocaches between units.
No matter your outdoor interests, there's a Colorado for you. The Colorado 400t gives hikers state-of-the-art 3D elevation perspective and preloaded U.S. topographic maps. The Colorado 400i offers anglers shoreline details, depth contours and boat ramps for U.S. inland lakes and navigable rivers. The Colorado 400c is your coastal companion, providing chart coverage for the coastal U.S. and Bahamas. The Colorado 300 features a worldwide basemap with shaded relief.
Colorado users will be the first to experience Wherigo™, the newest GPS-based activity from Groundspeak, the people who made geocaching a worldwide phenomenon. Wherigo (pronounced "where I go") is a toolset for creating and playing location-based multimedia experiences in the real world. Using the Wherigo platform, Wherigo authors can build exciting adventure games, historical tours or other innovative activities. Wherigo players use the Colorado or other GPS device running the Wherigo Player application to visit physical locations, use virtual items, interact with virtual characters and solve real world puzzles. Garmin and Groundspeak will host special events to teach people more about Wherigo and let them experience it for themselves. Also, a limited-edition geocoin has been minted to commemorate the launch of Colorado and Wherigo. Details on the Wherigo experience, events and geocoins can be found at www.garmin.blogs.com and www.wherigo.com. And geocaching just got easier with the Colorado, which quickly downloads online information for every cache, such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description, so that you don’t have tote printouts with you.
Garmin knows its users have many interests, so the Colorado lets you customize five profiles — automotive, marine, recreation, fitness or paperless geocaching — making the most beneficial features for each activity the easiest to access through quick shortcuts. And every outing with the Colorado can be enjoyed later by downloading and sharing the data as one of nearly two million activities on Garmin Connect™ (connect.garmin.com).
Weighing only 7.3 ounces with 15 hours of life from two AA batteries, the Colorado is the perfect companion for any outing with its electronic compass, barometric altimeter and photo viewer. The SD card slot is ideal for loading additional MapSource detail. The Colorado also displays air temperature as well as data from an optional heart-rate monitor and/or speed and cadence sensor.
The Colorado 300 has a suggested retail price of $499. The Colorado 400t, Colorado 400i and Colorado 400c have a suggested retail price of $599
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 2003 Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:23 pm Post subject:
Mike - is the temp sensor for outside (ambient) temperature? I assume it must be but I ask only 'cos my GPSII+ can be set to show temp via a 'hidden' status display - but it relates to the internal temp of the unit (specifically the oscillator) which is needed to do compensation for position fix and always reads a few degrees above ambient.
I'm pretty sure I will be getting a 300 to replace my standard GPS60 handheld. It's my birthday soon! And if no-one buys it me I'll just have to buy one myself. _________________ Phil
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 2003 Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject:
Well...
I got an email from GPS4LESS yesterday saying that it had been dispatched The tracking information given with the confirmation didn't work with their distributor's system (but I often find these are a day or two out!)
So when I get back tonight - it may be there, I paid for next day delivery!
I'm not going to hold my breath _________________ Phil
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 2003 Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:05 am Post subject:
So...
It wan't there whenI got back
I spoke to GPS4LESS this am and they admit the dispatch note was 'an error' It's going to be early Feb - as I was originally told. _________________ Phil
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 2003 Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:34 am Post subject:
So... After all the fun last week- I got home last night to find my Colorado 300 waiting for me!
Only had a short time to play with it so far (my wife decided that going out was more important - and NO I couldn't take it with me )
First impressions - nice but quirky!
So I thought we would try the cold start time. So you turn it on then you look for a screen showing the Lat/Long. But there isn't one! Well not until you change one of the default settings on the dashboard. By which time it has a nice solid lock whilst sat by a window in the house. Odd choice of default settings but I suspect the whole point of this device is that you program routes / waypoints etc and then follow these. Also GARMIN would love you to buy their maps - of course!
I like the 'rock-n-roll' wheel - seems fairly intuitive to use. It's possible to use it single handed in the house but I suspect it will be a two hands job when in full winter walking gear.
After reading this thread last week I just bought a Colorado from GPS4LESS as well. Good price and ordered on Monday turned up Tuesday, cant ask for more.
The Colorado itself I think Im pleased with. Ive got an old Etrex Legend, a 60CX and an Edge 205 and all have felt to have been of the same family but the Colorado is a complete departure and the interface feels much more pda like. For the first hour or so it took some getting used to but seems ok now, no doubt with time it will as easy as the old style Garmins to use.
An new feature that I particularly like is the choice of profiles. The automotive one especially makes using the Colorado as a road satnav a much nicer experience than on the 60cx. The map flicks into a very clear and almost Tomtom style looking ahead mode.
The 3D terrain mode which I must admit was one of the things that excited me most about the Colorado is quite good but does require the Topo maps and to be honest once the WOW factor has worn off is a bit of a gimmick.. still fun though J
The main gripe Ive found so far is the well documented battery meter issue and the fact that the device dims the back light to a level that’s pretty much unreadable as soon as the battery is half empty. No doubt a future firmware update will give back manual control of this soon but until then it’s a pain. The lack of a wrist strap is frustrating too. The carabina fitting on the back feels over sized, is triky to fit and has to be removed each time you change batteries, which due to the back light issue is quite often.
Installing UK Topo maps and getting those to work on the Colorado took a while. Initially the Garmin website would not recognise my device serial number. A couple of calls to the excellent Garmin helpline and it was sorted though.
Id give it 8/10 .. but no doubt it will improve with further firmware releases.
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 2003 Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:31 pm Post subject:
re backlight.
I was happily using it (albeit for only 30 mins last night) without any backlight on and found it quite useable in normal room lighting.
I tried it for 10 mins at home - outside at 7:30am - no probs without backlight. If I'm out walking I try to get off when dark - or use headtorch. If I was using it in the car (which I probably won't) I would have it on external power - which would get over the issue nicely
I think I'm going to like the unit - I will try loading a non-GARMIN supplied map. I have the SMC contour map for my home area. It runs nicely on my nuvi 660. If it does I will try to get the Lake District area running. first real outdoor trial of unit will be a circular walk of the hills around Buttermere, at the end of the month. All the waypoints and routes are ready to go! _________________ Phil
Joined: Apr 02, 2006 Posts: 10 Location: Livingston, West Lothian
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:36 pm Post subject:
moreymach:
How did you manage to get your Colorado registered on the Garmin website. I have tried through myGarmin and through Mapsource to get a second unlock key but my serial no. is not recognised.
How did you manage to get your Colorado registered on the Garmin website. I have tried through myGarmin and through Mapsource to get a second unlock key but my serial no. is not recognised.
Cheers,
Mark.
I had the same problem, I rang Garmin and they did it for me. There seems to be some issue at the moment with the UK Colorado's serial numbers not being recognised. The UK Garmin staff had to get it done via the US office. Bit of a pain but all done evry quickly.
Joined: Apr 02, 2006 Posts: 10 Location: Livingston, West Lothian
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:47 pm Post subject:
Moreymach wrote:
mdsanso wrote:
moreymach:
How did you manage to get your Colorado registered on the Garmin website. I have tried through myGarmin and through Mapsource to get a second unlock key but my serial no. is not recognised.
Cheers,
Mark.
I had the same problem, I rang Garmin and they did it for me. There seems to be some issue at the moment with the UK Colorado's serial numbers not being recognised. The UK Garmin staff had to get it done via the US office. Bit of a pain but all done evry quickly.
Installing UK Topo maps and getting those to work on the Colorado took a while. Initially the Garmin website would not recognise my device serial number. A couple of calls to the excellent Garmin helpline and it was sorted though.
With UK Topo Map V2 do you see the rendered 3D shaded relief like on the 400t?
Installing UK Topo maps and getting those to work on the Colorado took a while. Initially the Garmin website would not recognise my device serial number. A couple of calls to the excellent Garmin helpline and it was sorted though.
With UK Topo Map V2 do you see the rendered 3D shaded relief like on the 400t?
ta.
I think its the same. Isnt the 400 the same as the 300 but with the (US) Topo maps preinstalled ?
Its certainly shaded, much clearer and well prettier than it is on my 60cx even though its the same data. To my mind it does make it easier to visualise the terrain.
I think I'm going to like the unit - I will try loading a non-GARMIN supplied map. I have the SMC contour map for my home area. It runs nicely on my nuvi 660. If it does I will try to get the Lake District area running. first real outdoor trial of unit will be a circular walk of the hills around Buttermere, at the end of the month. All the waypoints and routes are ready to go!
I've been using garmins since the mid-90's and never heard of a Garmin handheld device being able to accept non-mapSource maps. If you indeed you get this working, id be very interested to hear. _________________ Visit my Walking Blog: http://jswalks.blogspot.com/
Visit my Tech Blog: http://jtech2010.blogspot.com/
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The new Garmin Colorado is about the same size as the current GPSMAP 60CSx but has a very different user interface. Gone are the array of buttons and joy pad to be replaces with a wheel and centre button.
The tracking information given with the confirmation didn't work with their distributor's system (but I often find these are a day or two out!)
