Dakota 10

[+johnny2154]

Does anyone know anything about the Dakota 10?, Considering going with one of those,

[+kallt_kaffe]

Does anyone know anything about the Dakota 10?, Considering going with one of those,

 

Seems like a nice unit. It's the same as the Dakota 20 but without a microSD slot and no electronic compass. You do not need an electronic compass although it may be nice to have one but you should be aware that not having a microSD slot can will limit the amount of maps you can store in the unit.

 

Also the Dakota is quite similar to the Oregon series but the Dakota has a slightly smaller screen, lower resolution and lacks picture viewer and Wherigo support.

 

Do compare the price of Oregon 200 (which also lacks electronic compass) with the Dakota 10 before deciding. While the Oregon 200 only has 24Mb built in memory it does have MicroSD slot and MicroSD cards are dead cheap. Also you'll get the picture viewer (for bringing spoiler pictures) and Wherigo support. Since th Dakota is "new" and the Oregon 200 has been on the market for a while the price difference is propably low or none at all.

[+g-o-cashers]

http://www.gpsfix.net/gamin-dakota-20-first-impressions/

 

http://garmindakota.wikispaces.com

[+jeepdelfuego]

I have used six different GPSR's, including a couple of e-trex models, an Oregon 200, and a Nuvi 265WT. I am, by far, impressed with the Oregon & Dakota series. They do everything I need them to do for me. They are awesome for geocaching, and auto-routing. But, if you want a unit strictly for the car, I would go with one of the Nuvi's because of the bigger screens.

 

I bought the Bike & Hike bundle (Dakota 10, bike mount, & City Navigator) for $202 (including shipping) from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. I gave my wife my Oregon 200 because she was suffering from "paperless geocaching" envy. I did have an 8gb micro SD card on the Oregon. So, I do miss the SD card. But, the Dakota 10 does have 850gb of memory which is a lot more than what comes with the Oregon 200. I have loaded almost half of the United States from City Navigator 2010, and Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, & Washington from Topo 2008. Plus, I have 168 MB of gpx (19 GSAK generated files with 2000 geocaches each) files loaded and ready to use for the different areas that I find myself in. Just a note, I can only use one of these files at a time. That still leaves me with about 100 MB of space on the unit which is 75 more MB than what the Oregon 200 comes with.

 

Anyway, the Oregon and the Dakota work the same. The Oregon screen is nicer at night and in low light conditions. But, the Dakota seems a bit easier to read in direct sunlight. That has always been a problem for me because I geocache a lot in a part of So. California that is very desert like. Another added benefit of the Dakota is that it is smaller. It fits better in my hand and that makes it more conducive for long hikes.

 

I never had use for the picture viewer and Wherigo on the Oregon 200. Kind of like the compass feature that more expensive units have. I really don't need it when I have a real compass handy. The Oregon 200 and the Dakota 10 have a compass, but it only really works when you are moving. Again, I haven't had much need for that feature.

 

I hope this helps.and don't forget to check out these two reviews:

 

http://www.gpsfix.net/gamin-dakota-20-first-impressions/

http://gps.about.com/od/handheldgpsreceive...a-20-review.htm

[+johnny2154]

Thanks for all the help, bought an eTrex Vista Hcx today