Garmin Dakota 20: Honey, I Shrunk the Oregon!
When I first showed Garmin’s newest outdoor GPS, the Dakota, to my daughter her immediate reaction was, “Awwww, it’s a baby Oregon!” Her statement accurately captures what this new GPS from Garmin is all about; taking the features of the larger touchscreen Oregon and squeezing almost all of them into an eTrex-sized device. If you haven’t been following our recent posts on the Dakota I’ll run through a quick recap of the features and then get right into my observations about the new pint-sized GPS.
The Dakota 10 ($299) and Dakota 20 ($349) are Garmin’s first attempt to move the touchscreen technology found in the pricier Oregon down into models that are similar in size and function to the Garmin eTrex HCx family. The specifications and features common to both Dakota models are:
- Size: 2.2″ x 3.9″ x 1.3″ (5.5 x 10 x 3.3 cm)
- Weight: 5.25 oz (148.8 g) with batteries
- 2.6″ (6.6 cm) diagonal 160 x 240 pixel 65k color TFT touchscreen
- High sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix (rapid first position fix)
- 20 hour battery life
- Paperless geocaching with support for 2000 geocaches
- 1000 waypoint / 50 route / 200 track capacity
- 850MB internal memory for additional maps
- Preinstalled worldwide basemap
- USB port for computer transfer and power
- Turn-by-turn routing capability (with additional maps)
- Waterproof to IPX7 standards
The Dakota 20 includes the following features over the Dakota 10:
- Micro SD-card slot
- 3-axis tilt compensated compass / Sight’N Go
- Wireless (ANT-based) transfer of tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches between other Garmin GPS models
- Barometric altimeter / Elevation Plot
- Beeps / Alarm Clock
The Dakota 20 ships with the following accessories:
- Lanyard
- USB cable
- Owner’s manual on disk
- Quick start manual
Here are my observations based on my experience with the Dakota 20 I have which is running Software Version 2.10 and GPS Software 3.40 (sound familiar?).
External Hardware
When you grab the new Dakota for the first time (especially after using the Oregon) it feels small, about the same size as a slightly used bar of soap. The unit is well balanced and rugged, not unlike the Oregon. The width and thickness of the unit is about the same as the Oregon, the Dakota being just 0.1″ (2-3mm) shorter in both dimensions. The main difference is the length of the Dakota, which is about 0.6″ (1.4cm) shorter than its larger cousin. Compared to the eTrex HCx the Dakota is about 0.1″ (3mm) thicker and the same width, but the Dakota is 0.3″ (7mm) shorter than the older eTrex. The Dakota is about the same weight as the eTrex, weighing in at 5.25 oz with two AA batteries, a full ounce and a half less than the Dakota’s big brother.
From the front the Dakota looks very similar to the Oregon. The only obvious difference is that instead of the Oregon’s two-hole style lanyard mount at the bottom of the unit the Dakota has a larger, easier to access, rail mount at the bottom.
From the back the Dakota is quite different from the Oregon. The metallic spine of the Oregon is replaced by a mounting spine that is cast into the plastic battery cover of the Dakota which is compatible with the Oregon and Colorado mounts. This is great news for those of us who have already invested in Oregon and Colorado accessories. The latch to remove the battery cover has moved to the top of the device, sliding it down easily removes the cover exposing a familiar watertight battery compartment which Garmin advertises as IPX7 waterproof. The microSD card slot sits beneath the two AA batteries like the Oregon.
The battery cover has two fingers that wrap up and around the upper corners of the handheld. I like this design better than the Oregon because there seems to be a more snug fit between the cover and the body when it is closed. The cover is also much easier to install and remove than either the Oregon’s or Colorado’s.
That leaves the USB port which is on the top back of unit between the two fingers in the battery cover. It is covered by a flexible rubber plug that fits very snugly in the hole into which the USB port has been recessed. The USB port is a little more difficult to access down inside the recess but it feels like a much more water- and dirt-proof than the Oregon’s USB cover. Once again my angled Oregon USB adapters worked without any problems in the Dakota.
The power button, the only button on the Dakota, is located on the upper right side of the unit. It is smaller than the Oregon’s power button and I found it a little more difficult to locate in the dark.
Internal Hardware and GPS Receiver
Under the covers the Dakota seems to share much with the Oregon. Although the circuit board is covered with a metallic shield making it difficult to confirm the exact GPS chipset the Dakota behaves like the Oregon — it locks the same satellites, has the same WAAS issues, runs the same version of GPS firmware and supports HotFix. This all leads me to believe that the device used in the Dakota is also the STMicroelectronics Cartesio.
My Dakota 20 has 1GB of flash memory of which about 950MB was available on the device for GPX files and maps, Garmin advertises the free space to be 850MB.
Like the Oregon 550t the Dakota 20 also has a built in magnetometer (compass) and accelerometer. Together these two sensors provide the user with a tilt compensated 3-axis compass. Calibration of compass and its operation is identical to the 3-axis compass on the Oregon 550t.
The USB 1.1 interface on the Dakota means you won’t get the same snappy map and GPX file transfers that the Oregon 550t enjoys because of its faster USB 2.0 interface.
Screen
The 2.6″ (6.6 cm) diagonal screen of the Dakota will be a step up in size for eTrex users. The 160 x 240 pixel transflective 65K color TFT touchscreen has about the same number of pixels as the eTrex HCx screen but it is about 40% larger in area. The drop in resolution is very noticeable going between the Oregon and Dakota. The Dakota screens looks a little pixelated to me after using the higher resolution receivers. The other thing I noticed after using the Oregon and Colorado is that the screens all felt compressed vertically on the Dakota, probably because of the aspect ratio differences between the screens.
My hands are big enough that I sometimes have problems with double key presses on small touch devices, so I was concerned about the Dakota. The worst case on the Dakota and Oregon interface is the alpha-numeric input screen which has a 4 x 7 grid of buttons crammed into one page. What I notice about the Dakota is that the aspect ratio of the buttons is different from the Oregon (images below). Buttons are almost the same width but the Dakota’s are not as tall as the Oregon’s. Based on my crude calculations the buttons on the Dakota are about 14%-15% shorter. I thought that this would make a difference on very dense screens but so far I have not noticed any problems, maybe preserving the width of the keys is enough to make it feel similar.
There has been a lot of discussion about screen readability since high resolution devices like the Colorado, Oregon and Magellan Triton were introduced several years ago. The simple fact is that transflective screens become less reflective as the pixel density increases making a higher resolution screen more difficult to read than a lower resolution screen given the same lighting conditions. Based on this “lower resolution display is more reflective” arguement I was really hoping that the Dakota would be brighter and easier to read outside.
Although the Dakota 20 is more reflective outdoors than either my Oregon 400t or Oregon 550t, it is only marginally better than the 550t. Furthermore, under low light conditions when you need to use backlight the Dakota is not nearly as bright as either Oregon. My guess is that there are two issues at play. The first issue is the plastic material over the Dakota touchscreen which affects visibility under both bright and low/no light. This material seems to block more light as compared to either Oregon and it makes lighter colors like white and yellow look washed out and gray. The second issue which only affects low light operation, is that the backlight does not appear to be as strong as the Oregon’s.
The picture below compares the GMAP60CSx, Dakota 20, Oregon 550t and Oregon 400t. This shot is representative of a low light comparison, the backlight is probably the dominant factor here and the Dakota is obviously darker than the others. If I can ever get a day with some bright sun around here I’ll post some bright light comparisons!
3-Axis Compass
I’ve never liked the 2-axis compass on the older Garmin models because of the need to hold the unit flat. The 3-axis tilt compensated compass on the Dakota allows you to use the compass when you are holding the GPS in just about any orientation making it a much more useful sensor. Calibration of the 3-axis compass involves one rotation on each of the three axis, which takes about the same amount of time to calibrate as Garmin’s 2-axis compass. The electronic compass turns on below 1-2mph much like the Oregon 300/400 compass. Based on my tests with the Oregon 550t, which appears to share the same compass, you need to calibrate at least as frequently as you do with Oregon 300/400, maybe slightly more.
Garmin has also changed the look and feel of the compass page, not only did they “supersize” the bearing pointer (you can still select the thin anemic pointer!), but the rotation of the compass and pointer is much smoother. The pointer no longer jumps as you change your heading, it glides like a real compass. Although I’m not a compass page navigator I think those who rely on the compass tool will like these changes on the Oregon 550t and Dakota.
GPS Performance
Even though I believe the GPS chipset is shared with the Oregon the antenna design may not be because of the Dakota’s smaller form factor. I’ve run through a few head-to-head tests and the Dakota does have more track noise and variation than the Oregon. Before I draw any conclusions though I’ll have to do more testing to determine if the Dakota might be a little less sensitive than the Oregon. The Dakota has the same excellent fast lock performance as the Oregon does, once you’ve locked the first time and established the HotFix database the unit typically acquires satellite lock before it displays the map page.
UserDataSync
UserDataSync is a new feature which appeared on the Oregon 550t and has been both useful and an annoyance. UserDataSync allows the GPS and external software like BaseCamp to share the same waypoint and route data. This post on the Garmin TrailTech site summarizes the benefits of using BaseCamp with devices like the Oregon 550t and Dakota.
UserDataSync means that edits made on the GPS show up in BaseCamp and changes made in BaseCamp are reflected on the GPS the next time you restart the GPS. That sounds great; on the Dakota and Oregon 550t you no longer have to deal with the fact that waypoints and routes created on the GPS can only be edited and deleted on the GPS.
The issue with UserDataSync is that the support in BaseCamp (and other 3rd party software like ExpertGPS and TopoFusion) has not quite caught up yet. If you try to archive trip data without the help of BaseCamp you have to hunt through three or four files to find all of your waypoints, routes, tracks, geocaches and saved tracks. At least on the Oregon 550t, and I’m assuming the Dakota 20 although I haven’t tried yet, UserDataSync broke the ability to load GPX files from microSD card. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future software release.
Miscellaneous
The user interface on the Dakota feels faster than the Oregon to me. Maybe because the screen is smaller the redraws are faster but navigating around the screens is a pleasure. The boot time is about the same as the Oregon (10-12 seconds) if you take into account the added time to load maps on the 400t or 550t.
There are a few other minor software differences between the Oregon and Dakota:
- Satellite page has a slightly different layout, probably to fit the compressed screen format
- The Dakota background is always set to a solid color or a graduated shading using a single color. Some of the light gray schemes are nice, I wish these were available by default on the Oregon. Unfortunately this means you cannot use the all white background images we’ve been providing for Colorado and Oregon users which improve screen visibility and provide a place to display personal information when the unit is running (the Dakota does have support for the custom text message at startup).
The rest is extremely similar to the Oregon 300 except for a few features that have been eliminated on the Dakota:
- Wherigo
- 3D View
- NMEA interface and Spanner support (temperature fields & settings removed)
- Image viewer or photo viewer
Here are a few more screen shots of the Dakota, they should all look pretty familiar to Oregon users. Note the map page does support terrain shading if the maps you are using support DEM (e.g. US TOPO 100k or 24k)
Bundles
Many retailers are now bundling GPS receivers with software and accessories but I think this is the first time that I’ve seen Garmin do this directly. There are least two bundles being offered by Garmin, both based on the Dakota 10. The first is the Dakota 10 Bike and Hike bundle which includes the GPS, bike handlebar mount and City Navigator North America NT 2010 DVD road maps. The second is the Dakota 10 Outdoor and Geocache Topo bundle which is being marketed through Dick’s Sporting Goods with a $50 off rebate. This bundle includes the GPS and a copy of TOPO U.S. 100K DVD.
Summary
It is still too early for me to make a recommendation on the Dakota but Garmin has put together many of the right ingredients to make the Dakota a great unit: they’ve crammed just about every feature you could want on the Oregon into the smaller package, offered it at a lower price point, threw in a 3-axis compass and improved the battery life. I’m guessing the ~$300 price tag of the Dakota is going to be attractive to many people who really want the touchscreen and features of the more expensive Oregon but who don’t want to shell out $400-$500. If you spend a lot of time backwoods hiking and backpacking the increased battery life and smaller size of the Dakota will make more sense than the Oregon regardless of price.
I have two complaints about the Dakota: display readability and GPS receiver performance. The display is too hard to read especially considering that this is a screen which has the same resolution as the GPSMAP 60CSx. I believe that the display alone may turn some people away from the Dakota to a GPSMAP 60CSx, an eTrex or a Delorme PN-40, all which have similar size and resolution screens but are easier to read outdoors. And then there’s the STM Cartesio GPS chipset which still has issues at walking speeds under tree cover. I’m hopeful that these problems can eventually be fixed in software which would be a boost to the entire Oregon product line as well.
Garmin Dakota Wiki
Several weeks ago I set up the Garmin Dakota wiki as a central resource for Garmin Dakota owners. The site currently supports a discussion group, the start of an FAQ and a Versions page. I’ll be adding an Issues List to record the problems I uncover. All Dakota owners (and perspective owners) are encouraged to join the wiki and participate.
Given the nature of the Dakota and the similarity of its software to the Oregon software I’ll probably make heavy reuse of the Oregon wiki for many of the FAQs and HowTo’s and only document the differences on the Dakota wiki.
Where to Buy
Only a handful of retailers have Dakotas right now but TheGPSStore.com has both the Dakota 10 and Dakota 20 in stock. GPSCity also has the Dakota 10 and Dakota 20 (shipping Monday). REI would be my recommendation for users looking to jump to this new Garmin. REI has the Dakota 10 in stock now and should have the Dakota 20’s by early next week. Members get 10% off and you can’t do any better than REI’s return policy which is always an important consideration when purchasing a newly released model.
Related posts:
July 27th, 2009 at 9:17 am
No Wherigo on the Dakota…. don’t like seeing that line item. Up until I saw that, I was thinking this would be a great GPS for my spouse
July 27th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Cant seem to find the Dakota 10/Topo bundle on Dick’s website.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I haven’t seen it show up on Dick’s as well, just the rebate form I linked from the Garmin site.
-Scott
July 27th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Well, Whereigo didn’t remain in the line for very long, though its poor performance and compatibility made me wonder if it was ever strategic.
I’m more puzzled by Garmin’s ongoing product decisions to make units that perform less well at the primary purpose of a GPS: identifying your position. Your observations on receiver performance are a bummer.
Amazon shows the Dakota 20 and the Oregon 300 going for the same price. (I’m sure Dakota will fall a little once the SKU gets tenure.) Both are encroaching the price point of the established, but aging, 60CSx. That price point is getting crowded. They can either cannibalize thieir own market share or let someone else do it, I suppose.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
is alkaline battery usable for dakota?
July 28th, 2009 at 12:01 am
[...] Dakota Review at GPSFix Here’s a detailed description and review of the Dakota, complete with screenshots and pictures of the device taken apart so you can get an idea of how [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Thanks for the impressions Scott. Hope to see a comparison with the Oregons in bright sun. Also, a comparison of the map pages on the same location between the two units will be very helpful. Awaiting furhter tests (esp. battery life and reception), the only other thing that could turn me to the Oregon 300 is a huge difference of the viewable map area.
Keep up the magnificent work!
July 28th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Just found this site and it is awesome. I know the Dakota 20 does not have the same resolution as the Oregon 550, but does it have shaded relief if you are using the newer Garmin maps?(I know the older v3 of Garmin 24k and 100k maps did not have shaded relief) I just like actually seeing the mountains in the maps instead of just purely topographical maps. I agree with Raf in that a comparison with 550 in direct sunlight would be nice.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
@Dan
The Dakota does have shaded relief, if you look at the map page screen shot you can see a little bit (not real hilly around here). You need to be using the US Topo 2008 100k maps or 24k maps to see shaded relief.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
@Azman, Alkalines work fine on the Dakota, although I would still recommend good NiMH batteries if you can.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Will do Raf. I’m on vacation this week but vacation means more play time with the toys. It was sunny today (finally) but I didn’t have both units with me. I’ll see if I can get some bright sun shots up tomorrow. Battery life is definitely better than the Oregon.
July 30th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Thanks a lot for your great review. I do wonder how the new Dakota 20 compares to the eTrex Vista HCx. I just bought the eTrex recently and now I am a bit puzzled to read about the Dakota line.
July 31st, 2009 at 5:43 am
could you please tell me why on the comparison photo each GPS is showing NORTH to wherever it likes?
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Ceko, I’m not sure if I had the compasses enabled and/or calibrated on all of the units — I obviously did not!
-Scott
August 11th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Thanks for the review. I have a hunting trip coming up in unknown country at the end of the month and need to decide on my first GPS unit. I have been following the reviews of the 60Csx, the complete Oregon line and newest Dakota items. Based on the conditions I am going to be working in, i am interested in comparisons of the above in tree cover (not necessarily really dense, but forest tree cover nonethless)and screen performance in sunny conditions. Unfortunately I haven’t seen anything. Can you steer me in the right direction? Any new reviews other than the above ‘GPS Performance’ and ‘Screen’ items above?
Any suggestions on unit selection based on the above?
Thanks!
Mark
August 11th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Best screen performance in sunny conditions of the units above will be the 60CSx, followed by the Dakota and then Oregon. All will do well under moderate tree cover, the 60csx having the slight advantage over the other two. The Oregon and Dakota get you the touchscreen and are easier to learn as a first time user.
August 14th, 2009 at 6:25 am
I look for new gps unit to replace the “prehistoric” b&w Legend. At first I thought about byuing 60CSx. Now I’m almost decide to buy Vista HCx .. but thinking about Dakota 20 too.
What would you recomended (primary use for geocaching and
for hiking, bike)? Thnx very lot..and sorry fot may english..
August 14th, 2009 at 7:07 am
The 60csx and Vista HCx are a little easier to read outside in direct sunlight which makes easier to read on a bike mount. However the paperless geocaching features of the Dakota, ease of use and touchscreen give it some advantages over the older units for geocaching (and touchscreen is handy while biking too). Probably depends on your primary use.
-Scott
August 14th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Thnx for answer.. but let me give you another answer: what about that gps chipset..? Garmin official representatives in Czech give me information that chipset si MTK … you say that si STMicroelectronics Cartesio (based on your experiences)… Do you have some new information/experiences with accuracy or
sensitivity..etc?
August 14th, 2009 at 8:30 am
My experience with the Dakota is that the accuracy is similar but a little worse than the Oregon’s (more track noise) and not as good as the 60csx. The 60csx is still a very reliable and accurate chip.
Your comment about the chipset being MTK (which would make it the same or similar to the Colorado) is an interesting one. I don’t have exact proof that it is STM because the chipset is actually covered by a metal shield, but the behavior and software version of the GPS firmware make me think that it is probably the same as the Oregon (STM).
August 14th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Thnx again for fast reply..
)
)
Finally, Dakota or Vista HCx/60CSx will be better than the old legend.
If I can get any further information about GPS chip in Dakota, I’ll write it here…
once again thank you for your help and time spending with answering on my queestions…
August 14th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Just another quick update. I been looking through the binary files for the Oregon and Dakota and in both files I find string references to ST Microelectronics so I’ll stand by my earlier statements that the Dakota is a STM chipset.
August 18th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Hello, I got some updates too..
Previous version I told about MTK chipset was from one of resellers in Czech (but htey have Dakota to store).. sorry for mistake.
Form Garmin official representatives in Czech I got answer, that they can not say wich chip is to use in Dakota, because in each model in a range may be different chipset…
August 19th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I got the unit today. First impression is a little bit confusing. I like the size,shape, even screen resolution is not too bad, but the back light is extremely low. It doesn’t mean its impossible to read the screen,but you keep it in your hand and and want it at least 2 times brighter.Something like dimm your laptop screen to maximum. I hade no chance to test it in the direct sunlight so far. I spoke with garmin support today and guy said its to save battery,and it might be fixed with software update.I hope, it would be nice to have choice of energy saving or a bright screen if necessary …
at the end of the day I think it was a good choice.Time will show…
August 20th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Thanks for the comments PanK. You are right the backlight on the Dakota is dim (especially compared to other Garmins). Although in practice I haven’t found it to be an issue. When you use the unit in low light and need to use the backlight I find that it doesn’t matter much how high it goes because the screen shows up pretty well as long as there is some level of backlight.
Under direct or bright sun the backlight (no matter how bright) doesn’t play a factor even on the brighter Oregon’s and Colorado’s. It is all about screen reflectivity under these conditions — in this situation the DK is better than the OR or CO but still not as good as the 60CSx.
August 20th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I agree with you.
After a day of playing with my new DK I got used to it.
I didn’t test it in direct sunlight yet ’cause in Ireland two days of summer have been gone already.Maybe next year.
However I’m going out of the city this weekend and I will give some feedback how it works in the rain
Cheers,
August 21st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
when using the city navigator with DK does it actually give you spoken commands? as apposed to the Vista HCx which gives beeps when a turn is coming up
August 21st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Stu,
No the DK does not do spoken directions, it has beeper like the eTrex. None of the Garmin outdoor units are capable of this — the only one which is close is the Nuvi 500 crossover which can be used as a car GPS or outdoor handheld.
-Scott
August 21st, 2009 at 9:59 pm
I like the idea of a dedicate outdoor gps, along with the ruggedness that goes with it, and hence like the look of the DK, but wouldnt mind using for in the car as well. in your experience with the DK does it offer adequate in car navigation?… while i am not thrilled about the nuvi 500, the price point on amazon is about right.
August 22nd, 2009 at 5:12 am
If you want to use your handheld as an auto nav I would consider an Oregon which has a bigger screen. Right now the Oregon 300 and Dakota 20 are about the same price and nearly the same features although you get the larger touch screen in the Oregon.
I use my Oregons for autonav and although they don’t have voice navigation of a Nuvi they work pretty well.
-Scott
August 24th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Was considering the 550t or this w/ plus Garmin Topo maps for western national parks. Mostly for backpacking but would also like to get into geocaching. Am I right in understanding the Garmin topo map CDs are locked to one GPS unit? Are the 100K oopos even useful on a device like this? Otherwise I’d use Trails Illustrated or Tom Harrison (approx 1:40K or 1:32K) maps. Would I be able to upload freebie Topo maps to the Garmin units, and would that even be worthwhile for backpacking or is the official software the recommended approach? Thx.
September 1st, 2009 at 11:19 am
Great reading the reviews. I have several and I mean several Garmin systems but I’m looking to upgrade to the Dakota or Oregon. I current work for the Dept of State in Kathmandu, Nepal and I was thinking of purchasing 5 gps units for the office. In reading the reviews, it appears my money maybe well spent keeping with the eTrex HcX series vice the new Dakota or Oregon. Since the gps units would need to function in either a vehicle or walking, I’m not getting a warm feeling on these new models. further, I see mapsource in CD doesn’t come in the box, so is it assumed mapsource is installed on the gps? How then do you interface with your computer, update maps, etc. Sorry for all the questions. thanks
September 16th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Thanks to the reviews on this site, I picked up a Dakota 20 yesterday! I’m initially impressed – but a little confused about the screen brightness issues. Under the default brightness level, I agree it’s a little hard to read however at any brightness setting above 75%(ish) is more than acceptable -in my opinion of course =). Thanks again for the great review. ~Mike
September 16th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Thanks Mike, glad the review helped. My comparisons are primarily with other Garmin GPSs and the backlight isn’t as strong as the Oregon, Colorado and 60csx. I would agree that the Dakota’s is more than adequate under low/no light conditions.
-Scott
September 19th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I have had my Dakota 20 for about a Month now I have had several problumes with it but I still like it! Problume one was when I pluged in my car power plug the unit overheated the Litiam batters I had in it and Stopped working( I was Sold the other cord insted of the one listed on the sit). got it replaced no problume but I just have not been able to get to the garman customer service line to get a New actavation code for the new unit so the full maps will display.
Problume two. I find that my unit will lose sattalite signal esialiy (while walking)and will not reaquire unless I turn it off and then back on it does not take long but it is a Hassel. ps it may have been the alkaline Batters I was Using as I have not had the problume with NMHI batteries so far.
The primary use I use this unit for is Geocaching and I like the features it has for this the caches are esasily found and all the Info is avalable that you need new waypoints can esaily be changed and cords corrected as needed. that being said the units compass like most has a Problume at walking speeds of not changing direction when you do and needs a Little while to recalibrate ( if batteries are low).
I still like this unit a lot as I am still learning how to do every thing it will do. and I figure out it quirks it is far better then my old Yellow E-trex with I still use as a Backup the accurace is better and it recalibrates faster plus having all the info in one unit is a great help.
I hope the few quirks can be fixed with soft whare updates I will be reading the page for more info.
September 21st, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I’ve got my Dakota 20 two days ago. It looks like a toy after my big enough 60CSx.
Unfortunately it does not have Ukrainian language as a display language and, therefore, it’s impossible to enter some Ukrainian letters from the virtual keyboard. It’s strange for me as my Nuvi 205 has both Russian and Ukrainian languages and keyboards. Anyway it’s completely can display any of characters on Ukrainian maps and I can type almost any toponym without several missing characters (that differs Ukrainian from Russian alphabet).
The simplicity of use is amazing, I got used to the menu after 30 minutes of walking through menu. The profiles are good idea, I can easily change a lot of settings like “Lock on road”, “Route fast time / short distance” with just a profile change.
Screen without lightening looks good under the direct Sun rays but becomes unreadable in the shadow. The maximum level of brightness is less than on 60csx with 50% of brightness. It looks like be more power consuming in comparison with 60csx despite the claimed 20 hours of operation. Maybe it can keep 20 hours if you do not use screen lightening at all.
By the editing a special text file on the Dakota’s file system you can add a text message that appears on the boot screen (the analog of Welcome message on 60csx). Also you can fix any translate errors just by editing of the corresponding text file with translated messages.
The battery compartment is more tight, I cannot pull the batteries by my nail as I do on 60csx. I use some metal object to to this.
The bike mount is not as good as for 60csx. It is difficult enough to put on and take off Dakota to its bike mount. 60csx is easily taken off and put on to the mount, and the mount is more durable. I do not have plans to replace 60csx as a primary bike navigator with Dakota, 60csx is unkillable.
The bottom line is – Dakota is a wonderful toy for everyday and trip usage. I like it.
September 28th, 2009 at 4:22 am
I bought my new brother-in-law an Oregon and we used it together with my 60CSx for a day. I preferred the readability of mine on a bright day to the Oregon, but he loved everything about the Oregon. I was very happy about the paperless caching, and could see it would allow more casual caching if one had the habit of having a local set loaded all the time. The same comments would pretty much apply the the Dakota apart from a weaker backlight, I suppose.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:05 am
[...] of hours. Don’t expect a full review from me based on that short experience. There are better reviews available online. Things I’ve notice [...]
November 21st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Are you sure this is only USB 1.1? Being a current unit, that hardly makes any sense.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Not sure why they went this way, but it may be that the USB controller on the GPS integrated as part of another device and Garmin had to live with what was available. Older Oregon x00’s and the Colorado are all USB 1.1 as well.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
[...] you can pick up the Garmin Dakota 10 Bike and Hike Bundle at REI for the same price. See our Dakota review for more [...]
November 24th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Acabo de comprar un dakota 20 y a unos cuantos minutos de uso ya no quiso encender, ya probe de todas las pilas, al parecer no inicializa completamente,solo aparece GARMIN en la pantalla y se apaga, agradezco sus tips.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Have you ever been able to boot the Dakota successfully or has it always failed to start? If it started failing after loading new maps or gpx files you can use this procedure to get it to work:
http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#toc3
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I’ve read a lot of articles about Dakota’s and Oregon’s lack of 4+ GB flash card support. Today I bought a SanDisk microSD SDHC 8GB card to test if it is accepted by my Dakota 20. Any difficulties, 8GB card formatted with FAT32 on the factory is working well with my Dakota. I haven’t tested 16GB, but I don’t expect any differences as long as FAT32 is supported.
Off topic: this 8GB SanDisk card is working properly even in my old-fashioned 60csx (with firmware version 4.0) which was also thought as incompatible with SDHC cards.
December 26th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
[...] GPSfix Diary of Scott [...]
December 30th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Had my Dakota 20 for a month now has been working well
but went to get a waypoint I had saved and nothing
No power The screen comes up faint shows Garmin copyright etc and then goes off
Have tried 3 new sets of AA batteries nothing
Have tried Customer Support at Garmin 3 days no reponse.
Any advice?
Thanks
January 4th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Dave,
Can you try the recovery procedures here:
http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#toc3
-Scott
January 5th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I played with a Dakota 20 and Oregon 300 in a store today for about 20 minutes and the Dakota user interface is noticeably faster. Map redraw is almost instant when zooming and panning.
January 10th, 2010 at 7:55 am
True. The DK user interface is faster than the OR because the screen is lower resolution.
-Scott
January 20th, 2010 at 10:25 am
“Had my Dakota 20 for a month now has been working well
but went to get a waypoint I had saved and nothing
No power The screen comes up faint shows Garmin copyright etc and then goes off”
Dave H!
At me the same problem. On…Garmin copyright…Off
Has asked a question to the manufacturer. I look forward to hearing!
I am from Moscow!
January 20th, 2010 at 11:40 am
Have you tried the recovery procedure above?
-Scott
January 20th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Have you tried the recovery procedure above?
-Scott
No. The navigator is not defined by a computer.
Has purchased one week ago. Did not begin to experiment and has handed over on a guarantee.
January 20th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Scott, at us big woods…Taiga. There is no place to do recovery procedure.
Navigator GPS should be absolutely reliable.