New Garmin Colorado Handheld GPS

[Nicko]

Garmin have announced the new Colorado range the Colorado 300 and 400 systems to replace the 76 and 60 series. Availability around March 2008. No word of it being touchscreen, but one can only hope!

The Colorado 400 is priced around the USD$599, not sure what the Colorado 300 will be but suspect will be USD$100 cheaper. Will update as I find out more info.

Garmin Colorado 400 Bluechart GPS Unit features:
SiRF III engine (probably will become the LT version)
Pre-loaded with detailed Coastal U.S. marine charts including Great Lakes, Hawaii and Alaska
Unique ''Rock 'N' Roller'' input device
65K Color TFT display
240 x 400 pixels
16 hours on AA batteries
Accepts SD cards for optional downloaded maps
2-axis electronic compass
Altimeter
Temperature sensor
Waterproof
ANT™ Communications to wirelessly exchange routes, tracks, waypoints, and geocaches between two units
Paperless Geocaching supports display of detailed geocache information

[Nicko]

The following prices in USD are RRP and the AUD RRP prices are only a guide based on current similarly priced units. To note the US RRP for the GPSMap 276C is the same as the Colorado 400 series.

Colorado 300 US$533.32 / AU$1,099
Colorado 400 US$639.99 / AU$1,299

I predict the Colorado 300 will have a market price of AU$999 and the Colorado 400 series will be market priced at AU$1,099.

The 400 series come with either preloaded BlueChart G2, Topo or coastal/Inlet maps, thus it may appear to be better to buy a 400c if you want to buy a Colorado for Boating. The Colorado 400i is for coastal/inlet fishermen and the 400t is the 4WD enthusiasts machine with Topo preloaded, I wonder if we will see either the 400i or the 400t in Australia as there are no such maps available for Australia from Garmin.

The obvious difference between the 300 and 400 is that the 300 does not come with high detail preloaded maps but with a worldwide basemap, which means Garmin have eliminated the old way of producing GPS that have territories (Pacific, Americas, Europe).

The Colorado 300 and 400 come with 384MB on-baord memory plus an SD slot.

For further product comparison click here (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/compare.do?cID=145&compare=compare&compareProduct=11019&compareProduct=11022)

This may appear to be expensive, it clearly is to compete against the Magellan eXplorist XL but to do so the Colorado 300 may have to drop it's price to compete.

Currently the Magellan eXplorist XL is retailing for $830. How long the Magellan eXplorist XL remains to be at this low price is yet to be observed when the new Triton series becomes available in the middle/end of Jan 2008.

But when you compare the price of a Triton 2000 to that of the 400c then the Triton wins slightly. The most expensive Triton, the Triton 2000 is US$40 cheaper than the counterpart Colorado 400 series, so nothing in it. But in Australia Triton is going to be notably cheaper.

I am still hearing from Next Destination that the hold up is customs, which is interesting because a lady phoned me and told me she was told they hadn't unpacked the boxes yet (back in mid December). Personally I think the delay was due to a serious bug that one of our Moderators, Explorer, has come across with the unit he had. The other thing to note is that stock levels in USA of the XL is very low. I am wondering if Next Destination is trying to sell off XL stock before they hit the Aussie market with the Triton series. With the pricing of the Triton 2000 AU$1,098

Magellan have clearly changed tact, instead of directly competing against Garmin or Lowrance in the handheld market they have produced a product more in line with multiple uses; like a Swiss Army Knife the Triton series could be called the Swiss Army GPS..... that is if it was a Swiss company :) The apparent advantage the Triton has over current Garmin and the Colorado is the ability to install Raster maps. Could this mean a huge choice of cheap digital maps available from Hema being installed onto the Triton? I hope so because paying exorbitant prices for a Hema map in Magellan format needs to be addressed or circumvented!

[Mr Router]

Nicko is GPS Australia going to stock these as it is not mentioned elsewhere as a possible supplier.
And at roughly 89 cents in the dollar will they be that expensive ?

[Nicko]

The AU price was based on the US RRP of the GPSMap 276C in USA. In USA the GPSMap 276C is the same price as the Colorado 300 thus assume the Colorado 300 through the official AU disto will be the same price as the 276C through the same said disto. Companies such as GPSoz.com.au are selling the 276C at AU$1,099 inc GST.

So, if you want to buy a worldwide map based Colorado 300 from the official AU Garmin disto for $1,099AU then go ahead, but why would you when the exact same model with the exact same basemap will be had for $250 less from a retailer in USA?

And yes we will be supplying them when they become available in and around March 2008. Also, shonkyMaps, Tracks4Australia, Contours Australia, OzTopo etc etc will work on the new colorados.
Another point, don't be surprised if you start seeing Hema maps available in Garmin format sometime this year!

As another point do expect a Magellan and Garmin killer sometime in May this year too!

[Michael]

Garmin have announced the new Colorado range the Colorado 300 and 400 systems to replace the 76 and 60 series. Availability around March 2008. No word of it being touchscreen, but one can only hope!
Not sure that I would want a touchscreen for the sort of knockabout bushwalking, skiing, sailing & canoeing I use my 60 for currently.
What if the screen is regularly bumped/knocked? Could this feature be turned off?
Still dreaming about a 60Cx, how long are they likely to be available if the Colorado is going to replace them?
Is the price likely to drop on the 60Cx to clear old stock when the Colorado arrives?

regards Michael

[Nicko]

Valid point about the touch screen lock, I know the Magellan Triton does, so it would be the case for the Garmin Colorado as well if it did have touch screen capability. Regarding 60 series price drop, It is a fine balance between reducing stock at normal prices and selling off stock at special prices and getting the new model in on time.

This is something Magellan has just found out when they took the eXplorist series out of production 1 month too early in the USA and 2 months too early in AU. The void in supplying a product over this time is no doubt causing Doug Lloyd (owner of Next Destination) some serious headaches.

Although Magellan didn't drop the price on the eXplorist series I have not noticed Garmin taking any other option but to retain the price of their products even when the new one is on the verge of supply.

Excluding this is the Forerunner series but from personal experience I think the two reasons for the massive drop in prices of the Forerunner 101/201/301 were to bring in a replacement earlier than expected and that the first Forerunners were in fact unreliable (the high failure rate no doubt caused the former). The failure rate for me of the 101/201/301 was probably 25%; way too high for Garmin that only has an eTrex failure rate of around 1%. So, I consider it unlikely the 60 series to drop in price. Just recently most of the Garmin range had a 2% price drop but I don't think that will be reflected through the Australian market. Where is the ACCC when you need them! :curse

[Nicko]

The Colorado 300 and Colorado 300C are due for release in USA 28/01/08

[Nicko]

There are delays, again

[DrWevil]

you can buy them off ebay now and some online shops have them too.........or so they claim.

they look like a real nice unit if i were buying a first gps even for road use id look real hard at one.

http://www.octapc.com.au/prod39.htm appear 2 have them 2

DrW

[Nicko]

They may show they sell them but doesn't mean they have them in stock. I know for a fact it is not yet out of the factory.

[DrWevil]

how true

i shall make some enquiries ill let you know the reply but he does have good feedback and ill get back with his reply.

but this auction

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160203731173&_trksid=p2759.l1259

claims to have it in stock there are other auctions tho state that its a preorder either way its way cheaper than the units will be here.

please forgive me if i have broken any rulz buy posting that

I suspect the stock is in the shops and waiting for release much like the Harry Potter books ie some got release b4 the due date. it wouldnt make sence to have 1000's of boxes in the garmin wharehouse when release date is only a few days away

tho one auction states "I am seeing the ship date for the Colorado 300’s as 5/15/08 so they should arrive to us by the 20th of May" so you are probably correct. but the reply should be interesting from the one I asked about. It is not beyond the relms of possibily that the guy actually has some but if there is a production issue and it cant be fixed with a firmware patch would you want to take the risk?

[Nicko]

My sources suggest May too. However the dates have varied from 28th Jan to Feb but now back to May again. I recently dealt with a power seller once, who ripped me off but the negatives can be circumvented so I am certain it is a lottery when dealing with ebayers.

[DrWevil]

yeah dont I know it about the feedback thing being false. i got screwed by a telescope guy that shipped a damaged telescope then told me i dropped it the strung it out so long that i couldnt leave feedback. :(

Any how i got a reply and this guy "Claims" to have one in his hands. So I strung him on a bit to find out a bit more. its actually a good deal IF all he is sayingis true. its a $532 "IF" tho


I do note that the colorado 400 and 400t are no longer on the garmin website. it was there last night.

Hymm

[Nicko]

$532, that's the list price. you will find it will be much cheaper if you wait a little while longer.

[DrWevil]

yeah i have the luxury of time. :)

so there is no rush

[Dooghan]

They may show they sell them but doesn't mean they have them in stock. I know for a fact it is not yet out of the factory.You sure about that?? Some people on GPS Passion are saying they have got a Colorado I was listening to a couple of Geocaching podcasts and they were saying the same thing :confused

[Dooghan]

yeah i have the luxury of time. :)

so there is no rushI would wait until they release a couple of firmware updates before buying one. Should be a bit less to buy by then.

[harryw]

Looking at the 300 on the Garmin Site the following software updates are available for downloading already:



Change History


Changes made from version 2.20 to 2.30:
Added setting to turn off the compass.
Alarm clock will not change your backlight if it is already on.
Low battery warning shows on powerup when appropriate.
Improved DEM shading with supplemental maps.
Fixed marine colors for depth soundings and active track.
Added ability to view extended chart information and chart notes.
Improve share wirelessly connection.


Changes made from version 2.10 to 2.20:
Fixed potential shutdown when using partially discharged alkaline batteries and significant amounts of backlight.
Improved backlight usability.
Corrected potential memory leak on altimeter page.
Corrected issue that changed map setting to north up if reviewing a point on the map.
Changed the automotive view angle to match automotive products.
Added ability to exit compass calibration if calibration fails.
Improved performance and error handling of Share Wirelessly application.
Corrected tone of route turn warnings.
Added height and depth information on review pages if the information is available (related to marine maps).
Corrected drawing of spot soundings.
Improved drawing of satellite imagery in 400i and 400c.
Instructions for using this software
Download the self-extracting archive file for your Colorado onto your hard drive.
Connect your Colorado to a free USB port on your PC with the correct PC interface cable.
Allow your Colorado to initialize and enter USB mode.
Unzip the files in the archive by running the downloaded executable file.
Follow the instructions provided by the launched update application on your computer.
System requirements:

IBM-compatible PC running Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system and an available USB port.

So there must be some out of the factory or beyond their reach to update prior to sale.

I was tempted to get one off ebay but decided to get the 60CX locally because being new at this I wanted to make a less risky step into GPS land.

[Nicko]

There may have been a few that escaped, however, the shift in delivery dates is most likely due to some serious bug errors, just like the Triton. Thus, there may be a few hundred out there but no more until the bugs are sorted.

[Nicko]

So far the bike Mount is available :)

[michaelcarey]

Hi Everybody,

Is it possible to get plain ol' NEMA serial data out of the Garmin Colorado (or any other Garmin USB unit eg, Nuvi)? I know they have an FMI mode for integration into a dispatch system that talks through the USB connector but I really need NMEA 0183... oh and the ability to power the unit in my vehicle. I've had a quick look through the manual and can't see if the Colorado series can be powered externally.
Anyone know?

Michael.

[Nicko]

Did you click on the link in the other Colorado thread? That will tell you everything you need to know

[michaelcarey]

Ahh, OK... so there is no NMEA tracking over USB with the Colorado...
but do any of the Garmin USB connection units (including the Colorado) have a NMEA output? Not NMEA into a PC with a USB driver giving a virtual COM port... a good ol' fashioned serial NMEA interface. Apparently there is some kind of Garmin FMI interface cables that do this kind of thing with their Nuvi model.
Believe it or not, a serial NMEA interface this is still a VERY handy thing to have if you really play with GPS and have gadgets like me... APRS, GPS Dataloggers, etc. that need a NMEA input.
Being able to feed RTCM data into my GPSMAP60CS from my Omnistar DGPS receiver is a very handy thing. The demise of the data in/out connections on Garmin GPS's is a backwards step when it comes to connectivity.

[Nicko]

The 60CSx has a serial connection as well as usb.

[michaelcarey]

The 60CSx has a serial connection as well as usb.

Yes, I know, I have a GPSMAP60cs... I wish all Garmin GPS navigators had serial & USB like the GPSMAP60 and GPSMAP76 series.
Sometimes progress is a backwards step.

[michaelcarey]

Ok, I've been looking through the Colorado user manual and had a play with one (had a visit from a GME sales rep.), and it appears the Colorado series DO have an NMEA serial interface (via the USB socket).
Now, if Garmin (or someone) brings out a cable that allows NMEA output AND allows the unit to be powered from an external source.. I'll be getting one.
I'm looking forward to seeing what RAM Mounts come up with for a Colorado mount.

[Nicko]

A small number of units have trickled into Australia via Standard Communications. When I say small I mean you won't find them in shops yet except the few shops that have received a couple to sell/trial. I have ordered one and hope to see it first hand myself. I will check the NMEA side of things using the genuine Garmin USB cable. I hope that other software such as OziExplorer or other generic laptop software can see it.


(had a visit from a GME sales rep.)

Your either a Government department or a GME Dealer? ;) In 8 years I have never seen a Next Destination Rep. Ok, so I don't turn over more than $10,000 a year but still expect at least ONE contact in 8 years! They must be hurting because I hardly get any interest in the Triton series, people seem to be far more interested in Garmin units especially now that a free Topo map and a 3rd party payable high detail Topo map is available (OzTopo). I know I shouldn't get on my :soapbox especially as it is :ot so :sorry and I will go and :meditate or have a beer :prost before I go :crazy

[Stilllookin]

Hi all,

We have just taken delivery of our shiny new Colorado. So far it has not disappointed but the weather has been so poor up here in the Blue Mountains that we have not really had a chance to do too much field testing. I do have a question though, and perhaps it has been mentioned somewhere else but here it is anyhow.
We can connect the Colorado to our PC and communicate with it ok using it as either a mass storage device or using map source to send or receive tracks, WP's etc, but we can not do the same in Oziexplorer. We are running Oziexplorer 3.95.4q which is what seems to be the latest version but this may not be correct.

Any advice.

[Nicko]

Click on the link below

http://www.gpsaustralia.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4610&highlight=colorado

[Stilllookin]

Click on the link below

http://www.gpsaustralia.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4610&highlight=colorado


Thanks for that