Customer Reviews

Garmin Colorado 400i Portable GPS System with Preloaded U.S. Inland Lake Maps

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, the pictures above are a collage from all the various base maps. This unit can not show the 3D images and has little detail.

First impressions after one day of use. The screen is good and the back-light makes it very readable at night. Fine without the back-light in the day. The menu wheel/push button/rockers are easy to use, After a few minutes of use. It's just a case of pressing one of the menu buttons and selecting the appropriate item. Normally the wheel is the zoom control.

Calibrating the compass and altimeter was easy. And easy to find. All the setup seemed easy.

The geocaching works well with the built in compass.

I checked the navigation marks on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. They seemed right, from memory, but the map detail is inadequate to be certain. They certainly don't show the whole picture, they miss shoal detail which is absolutely essential if anyone were going to trust this as their main navigation.

In general the built in map is poor. It has little detail, few roads, few geographical features. Not enough detail in the lakes to know for sure that you are looking at the right islands.

The supplied CD shows even less detail than the preloaded base map. Useless. It's just a questionable tool for managing trips and waypoints, it says. They really should have supplied a better map with a $600 GPS. I expect they hope to rip-off the early adopters and then include the topo maps as a package later.

The geocaching site allows you to transfer direct to the connected GPS, including the descriptions if you paid the subscription to the site. Useful. But it would be a lot more useful if the map was any good.

All in all, good product badly let down by bad maps. If the maps had been any use I'd have given it 4 or 5 stars. But what's the use of a GPS that can't tell you where the there you are at is on a map?

While the GPS is made in Taiwan the case and all else that I ordered with it, all Garmin, are made in China.

In the GPS realm, in my opinion their are only two companies to consider, they are Lowrance Electronics and Garmin. Upon a close review of available products, the Garmin wins hands down because the 400i Colorado has all of the cadilac features of those of the Lowrance Endura products but at a price that will shock you. Both the Lowrance Endura GPS and Garmin Colorado 400i GPS lines retail around $500 from the factory and their foo foo outlets. Thru this site, you will find you can purchase a Garmin Colorado 400i for $312. and get the product in less than a week. The Garmin has capability for easy downloading of topo maps and even turn by turn directions while driving. This is my third GPS unit over a period of the last 15 years and it is by far the easiest to use. I highly recommend it to all.

This unit is basically the same at the Colorado 400t, with a different preloaded map set. In the reviews for the 400t some folks have mentioned that the battery life is a tad short. Others have suggested using high capacity batteries. Both opinions are accurate. I like to use rechargeables and I have tested Duracell NiMH with an 1800 mAh rating, Sony NiMH with a 2500 mAh rating, and Duracell NiMH with a 2650 NiMN. I turned on the receiver, left the back light on the low setting, and checked it periodically, noting when each set failed. Obviously this is an approximation and I won't report the details but there was a significant improvement with each step up in mAh. It was measured in hours, not minutes. I wish that the unit ran longer on a set, that is a fact, but I will just carry spare high capacity batteries. I have not used this in the field but have practiced with it extensively here in my home area. So far it is a great unit, better than my old Magellan. The technology has improved over the years.

Este gps lo compre debido a su gran precio, en mi pais no importa el que los gps traigan o no mapas preinstalados de EEUU que aprendí es lo que diferenciaba a esta unidad con otros similares de mayor precio. Si vives en otro pais que no sea Estados Unidos este modelo viene bien, trae todo lo necesario para la aventura, al inicio cuesta acostumbrarse a los controles pero luego se vuelve facil. Lo mejor de todo es que al ser garmin puede encontrarse varias opciones de mapas para cualquier pais aunque no sea soportado oficialmente. Yo compre un gps delorme y hasta ahora no he encontrado un mapa que pueda usar en mi pais.

I got this product for antlope hunt in wyoming,I am leaving to go my trip today.Every thing with this product seems to work correctly.I will be better informed to review when I get back.

I bought one of these over a year ago and I paid about $350 for it at the time. Overall, this is a good device. The screen is nice and clear. The backlight works well. The device feels pretty sturdy. The controls are pretty intuitive. I haven't used a GPS with a touch screen yet, but I can imagine that it might be a little quicker to input data with a touch screen over the rock-n-roll wheel. The lake maps that come with the 400i are OK. I think the lake contours are specified every 5 feet. There are certainly better lake maps out there. All-in-all, this device meets my needs and Garmin has been very good at taking care of problems that I've had, including replacing the first one I had when it stopped working.

The updated product is the Oregon 400i, which is currently 2x the price. Just as an FYI, not saying anything bad about the product.

I purchased a Garmin 400i from Amazon, it has been a excellent product, the shipping came to my home in and near the time frame that was mentioned. I used the Garmin handheld Gps for month and I must say it has been fun and useful, since I am a bowhunter. I use the Garmin to scout and locate my deer stand hunting spots. I thank Amazon for making the purchase a breeze.

Nice unit, but the rock & roller wheels takes getting use to. Color display screen is easier to read than my last GPS. The only real negative is that the unit appeared to be used. When I took it out of the box and started it up it had already been initialized and there were waypoints entered into it. I don't consider this to be a new unit as advertised. Will not buy anything from the distributor it was shipped form again.

Wow...this IS NOT a product for anyone unfamiliar with anything other than basic computer software management. I like the pretty maps and knowing where I am (within 10-20 yards) on the planet is kinda cool, but the promised features such as connecting with services like Google Earth? Forget about it. I have spent days--literally days--trying to figure out how to fix some freaking .msi file and no success. Garmin support is primarily in user forums and that is a maze of options. Dealers haven't a clue. In short, this "Ease of Use" only gets two stars from me because I can turn this on and then turn it off. I also know how to use the "Rocker bar" thing. Whoopee. As far as meaningful use of maps and such. Zilch. A huge disappointment.

I'll go on enjoying the pretty colors and the fun trip odometers and stuff, but unless you have a computer science degree or infinite time to spend loading and unloading software, I don't see a reason why you would want this product if you want easy mapping features. It is a drag.