Garmin Announces the Dakota: Palm-sized Touchscreen Outdoor GPS
After all of the recent rumors about the Dakota there isn’t much to report about here, but it is official now. Today Garmin announced that the $299 Dakota 10 and $349 Dakota 20 will be available in the 3rd quarter of this year. From what I’ve seen these units appear to be a smaller version of the Oregon with a few differences, but let’s start with the common features of the Dakota 10 and 20:
- Size: 2.2″ x 3.9″ x 1.3″
- Weight: 6.75 oz w/batteries (I’ve also seen this listed at 5.5 oz)
- 160 x 240 pixel transflective color TFT 2.6″ touchscreen
- High sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix
- 20 hour battery life
- Paperless geocaching with support for 2000 geocaches
- 1000 waypoint / 50 route / 200 track capacity
- 850MB internal memory for additional maps
- Worldwide basemap
- USB port for computer transfer and power
- Waterproof to IPX7 standards
This makes the Dakota slightly shorter and thicker than the eTrex HCx, but with 40% greater screen real estate. The screen specifications are very similar, at least in size and resolution, to that of the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx. Hopefully this implies the Dakota will be a little more readable in sunlight than the higher resolution Oregon and Colorado screens.
The Dakota 20 adds the following features over the Dakota 10:
- Micro SD-card slot
- 3-axis tilt compensated compass
- Wireless transfer of tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches between other Garmin GPS’s
- Barometric altimeter
Garmin’s cramped product line makes it hard to place the new Dakotas, but the Dakota 10 seems to fit in between the eTrex Legend HCx ($249) and the Oregon 200 ($369) whereas the Dakota 20 fits in between the eTrex Vista HCx ($299) and Oregon 300 ($399). Comparing the Dakota 20 to the eTrex Vista HCx, the extra $50 for the Dakota buys you a 1/2″ longer and 1/4″ wider touchscreen, 850MB of built-in memory, a 3-axis compass, and wireless transfer. The larger screen has some disadvantages: the Dakota 20 is almost an ounce and a half heavier and has about 20% less battery life, but as mentioned above Garmin was able to keep the size similar to the eTrex (Garmin’s comparison page).
Comparing the Dakota 20 to the Oregon 300, the Oregon adds Wherigo support, a photo viewer, NMEA/Spanner support (which allows you use the GPS as a tracking device connected to a laptop), and a larger 3″ 240×400 resolution screen. The Oregon weighs about the same but is over a half inch longer and burns through batteries about 25% faster than the Dakota. You actually lose the 3-axis tilt compensated compass and track capacity drops from 200 down to 20 going to the Oregon 300 as well — why does Garmin have to make product selection so difficult!
I’m also happy to see that Garmin is keeping the same rail mount as the current Oregon and Colorado. At least based on Garmin’s website the Dakota seems to be compatible with all the same auto, bike and marine mounting accessories, although there is a carabiner clip, slip case and form fitting case which look new for the Dakota.
The Dakota 10 “Bike and hike” bundle ($370) is also worth mentioning. The bundle includes a bike mount for the Dakota and City Navigator maps for an additional $70.
Based on the screen shots Garmin has provided, the user interface looks almost identical to the Oregon’s and I’m not expecting too many surprises in that area, but the question around the GPS chipset and antenna design still remains. While Garmin never publishes this information I’m really hoping to see the MediaTek MT3329 show up in these new units. Hopefully when these devices are released in the 3rd quarter we can figure that out.
Watch here on GPSFix for more Dakota information as it becomes available. We’ll be getting our hands on one as soon as we can, and we plan to support a wiki for Dakota owners.
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