Dakota 10

[gaga55]

Like many others, I was waiting for the Dakota 20.

As I wanted the GPS for an upcoming trip in 2 weeks, and don't really need the compass and altimeter, I decided to order a Dakota 10 which was shipped to Europe from the US in less than 3 days.

 

So, here's a short hands-on:

 

For me, the biggest disadvantage of the Dakota 10 - compared to the 20, is the missing microSD slot. And, as it turns out after reading the Owner's Manual, the absence of an alarm clock (that always came in handy on the etrex Venture Cx).

As the Dakota's have a built-in memory of about 900 MB, the missing card is not too much of a problem. Transferring maps directly to the unit takes a long time though (like all Garmins, I suspect they use a very slow USB).

The good thing is that the img files can be named with any name. Like on the latest Colorado firmware (2.95Beta).

Compared to the etrex, the Dakota seems slightly smaller, but thicker. The egg shaped unit is very comfortable to hold. Screen readability is worse than the etrex and about the same as the Colorado 300.

 

The basemap has no shading and the size is only about 19 MB. I replaced it with the basemap from the Colorado which works well and like that I have the shading.

 

I did compare the tracks of my 5 GPS units (Triton 200, etrex Venture Cx, Colorado 300, nüvi 255W and Dakota 10) today while driving. All except the nüvi were in a plastic box on the passenger seat. The nüvi was "locked on road", the others not. Driving was mostly motorway, through a few tunnels, onto a shopping center parking, and through a pretty dense forest.

The tracks of the nüvi and the Dakota looked best, followed by the Triton. Then came the Colorado and last the etrex.

 

Now I'll start the battery test, all handheld units with freshly charged eneloop batteries. I hope I'll get 20 hours for the Dakota, then my etrex will be retired.

[+lezaar]

Thanks for the feedback...please keep us informed

 

Where did you order your unit?

[+comphelp]

Any chance of a photo that shows outdoors screen readability compared with your other units please?

[gaga55]

I ordered it at http://www.thegpsstore.com/

 

here's a picture of the 3 Garmin units (cloudy sky):

Garmins

 

The eneloop batteries in the Dakota lasted for 18 hours. Garmin recommends 2500 MAh batteries, the eneloop are only 2000 MAh.

[+lezaar]

Thanks for the info...TheGPSstore seems to have the 20 in stock !

 

the comparative picture is interesting...a comparison with an Oregon would have also been of interest (but you can't possess all GPSes of course;)

[+comphelp]

here's a picture of the 3 Garmin units (cloudy sky):

Garmins

Thanks for the picture.

 

Was that with the backlight on or off?

 

How much difference does the backlight make with the Dakota?

[gaga55]

Backlight is off. Outside, during daylight, it doesn't make a difference.

[fujitsu]

Hi guys!

 

Did anyone buy the silicone case for the Dakota?

 

Thanks

[yogazoo]

Tracks at slow (walking / hiking) speeds are of more interest than driving tracks. It's at slow speeds where the men are seperated from the boys.

[gaga55]

Tracks at slow (walking / hiking) speeds are of more interest than driving tracks. It's at slow speeds where the men are seperated from the boys.

 

You're right. But until now I didn't have time to go hiking, and driving tracks are better than nothing.

At least it showed how the units can re-establish a signal after coming out of a tunnel. And getting a good signal through the roof of a car is (to my experience) similar to walking in a forest.

[yogazoo]

getting a good signal through the roof of a car is (to my experience) similar to walking in a forest.