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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
not ready for prime time, September 13, 2009
This review is from: Garmin Foretrex 401 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)
One of my Foretrex101s expired a few weeks ago and I decided to replace it with the just released Foretrex401. It arrived mid-week and I had no trouble accessing and opening the Foretrex401 generated gpx file with Easy/ExpertGPS and Topofusion. The 401 appears as a USB drive in Windows. I was hoping to use the 401 along with the Garmin heart rate monitor during my mtbike rides instead of the my Edge205 and separate HRM. The 401 had no trouble picking up the HR reading and displaying the values.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Garmin website has no substantial information of the 401 as of yet and no discussion of what software will work with the 401.
[...]
At this point the Foretex401 appears to be corporate orphan that no Garmin division is able or willing to support. It is unclear if it is intended for jumping out of airplanes (jumpmaster function), hiking (altimeter/compass), cycling/fitness (HR/cadence) or providing a heads-up when ordinance is going to explode (countdown-up/timer). In addition to the above, function wise, the 401 adds a USB interface, faster satellite acquisition and wireless data transfer to the venerable Foretrex101. It is slightly more compact in size than the 101, has a better strap attachments and stores the data is in a gpx file. Operationally the Foretex401 does what is it supposed to do but with no software included, undocumented functions and virtually non-existent technical support, most purchasers will be frustrated in trying to use the Foretrex401 right out of the box. A printed quick start guide is in the box but the manual in a pdf on the CD.
As noted above, with some tinkering and non Garmin software I've been able to list and view the Foretex401 tracks, waypoints, routes and other data as well as transfer the data to GoogleEarth. For what Garmin lists as a basic handheld GPS it should be much more straightforward to operate and transfer data. I'll give it 2 stars until it is better supported.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Garmin 401, April 22, 2010
This review is from: Garmin Foretrex 401 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)
Easy to use right out of the box. Gets a fix in less than 30 seconds and is water proof. This is a great piece of gear for any tactical environment or hiking and camping. I am currently using this in Afghanistan and would not want another GPS in this environment.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great update on a classic, March 28, 2010
This review is from: Garmin Foretrex 401 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)
I purchased a Garmin foretrex 201 in something like late 2002/early 2003 (first year they were out, whenever that was), and tended to use it as a "backup" GPS. The foretrex 401 here is a really nice update on the 201, with significant new features:
-- A "high sensitivity" receiver. This means that usually you can get a GPS fix indoors, and outdoors the fix is generally much batter -- particularly if you're in a heavily forested area where there's a lot of canopy above your head.
-- A compass. For geocaching, this is invaluable -- being able to know which direction it is to your cache while standing still makes finding a cache MUCH easier!
-- Bicycle/heart rate monitor interface. It's now entirely viable to use this as a bike computer, which is a significant "value add" over a regular old GPSr. It's true (as one poster alludes to) that it's not really designed as a bike computer from the start (and that GPSrs that *are* such as the Garmin "Edge" series are better if all you're going to use the unit for is biking), but I still find it a very worthwhile addition -- especially in that it makes geocaching with a bicycle that much easier! (I do find the bicycle mount a little cheesy, however -- it's just a rubber cylinder that clamps around your handlebars, and you then strep the 401 to it as it the rubber cylinder were your wrist.)
-- A barometric pressure sensor. For me, this just means that the 1000' intervals I normally "count off" (inbetween rest stops :-) ) while hiking are a little more accurate
The only disappointment I had with this GPSr is that it can't be used with a laptop and, e.g., Streets & Trips or Street Atlas USA -- it doesn't output NMEA data. The Foretrex 201 did this, but I suppose they're figuring that these days when you can pick up a Bluetooth GPSr for such applications for <$50, it's not that great of a loss -- and it probably would have been difficult to implement in addition to the "plug this GPSr into your PC and it shows up as a regular drive letter" function which *is* quite useful. (I agree with the reviewer who mentions how easy it is to transfer waypoints, tracks, etc. -- this required extra steps and special software with the Foretrex 201.)
I'll also note that the instruction manual is a little light on describing all the features (particular what all you can do insofar as transferring data to and from the unit goes). There's really no good reason for this, although asking questions on the Garmin forum largely suffices for this oversight on Garmin's part.
But overall I'm quite pleased with this purchase. It really is a well-engineered device, and well worth the money.
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