I recently got a new Garmin Colorado through work. Thank God I got if free because after my wife spilled melted ice water from a cup on it, it is shot and will cost $100 to have them repair it. So much for warranty. As soon as I get it back I am getting rid of it. Thus I am wondering how water resistant the iFinder or XOG are? That is what I wanted but could not get them through the program we were under. I know they say they meet the IPX7 standard but so did the Garmin. Also, has anyone geocached with the iFinder's. I really liked how I could quickly download sites from the web right to the Colorado.

I would say they will hold up but don't expose them to a lot of water and abuse them. They may say they are water proof, but I wouldn't chance it.

as far as i know the XOG is not water proof, the H20s are and i have been very impressed with the waterproofness (is that a word) of my h2o, cant count how many times mine has been in the drink and she is still working great.

yeah, my H2O has seen some mighty impressive downpours

Mine has sat in puddles in the bottom of the boat before, not 1 problem.

I have the H20c not only is it waterproof but it floats too! not ontop of the water but just under the waterline

Waterproofness goes away if you are using the DC adapter on the H2O's

I have personally dropped an ifinder into a lake up to about my elbow before i grabbed it, it worked fine after that. A little bit about the rating (IPX7) the 7 means that it is protected against immersion to 1 m. google it if you want more info. but in their testing they are using water in a tank somewhere, not necessarily lake water or pop, etc. If the product is somewhat close to the limits of passing or failing the test, little changes of water properties can make a difference. Also little nicks in the seal or slightly off size o-rings/seal can cause it to fail. Sorry for the long rant/sidetrack, i had an internship last summer with a company that made cordsets for industrial automation and a big part of what i did for the summer were water tests (IP67 specifically).

I have put the Ifinder expedetion thru the ropes for a couple years now and have not had ne problems. ice fishing,duck hunting,snowmobiling. all have some type of moisture and i dont go many places with out it

All Garmin products are warranted for 1 year from date of purchase. If you were charged their flat repair rate it would suggest that you either neglected to register you Garmin or it was over a year old.

Bob

I've got an Expedition C and never had problems with dropping it in the snow but I at least try to keep it dry. I did forget it in my glove box through some hot summer days and no heat related problems.

a friend of mine dropped his ifinder into the livewell and works fine. mine has sat in puddles on the bottom of the boat and still works good

I'd say they are very waterproof. Mine has fallen out of the canoe three separate times on trips to the BWCA. It does float and is completely waterproof. When submerged the thing still works under the water. I won't literally hold it under and not worry, but mine has been under for probably a good minute and had no problems.

I think I have hounded them enough that they will warrant it. It was only two weeks old and the unit just came out a few months ago so no where near a year old. They have been very rude so far. Not a good introduction to Garmin. Apparently this is a known problem with the unit according to everyone but Garmin. I did like the way you can download the geocache sites directly to the unit.