Garmin GPSMapCSX Vs Garmin Dakota 10

[+GreyPurrson]

Hi, Kinda new to this. We started getting into it a few years ago and purchased the Garmin GPSMap60CSX. Never really did much with it. Now we would like to get back into it and I see the new Dakota 10 and it looks so much easier to use? Would it be silly of us to sell the CSX and purchase the Dalota 10? The CSX is like in brand new condition. We maybe used it 3 or 4 times and have all the accessories that came with it? I don't want to make a wrong decision as we paid almost $400.oo for thsi unit when we bought it. Please e-mail me if you would like.

 

Peri

purrson@verizon.net

[+W7WT]

The GPS you have is one of the top stable units. Use it for a while until you are comfortablle with it. Keep it if you can as they have dropped in price from what you paid for it. Later when you are ready for an upgrade you will be better able to judge which new GPS will best meet your needs. Dick

[+trondkj]

I agree with Dick. The gps you have is amongst the best, and if you are caching a lot in bright sunlight, you have the best display available. The touchscreen Garmins (Dakota, Oregon, etc) are not as easy to see in bright sunlight, but the CSx stands out clearly visible. If you do as I do, use an iPhone (or another smartphone) for the paperless part, you will not miss the paperless possibilties of those other Garmins.

 

Happy caching

kind regards

trondkj

[+briansnat]

The only real advantage the Dakota brings is that it's a fully paperless unit. You will be hard pressed to find a better all around unit than the 60CSX. Its only negative is that it's not fully paperless, but you can go paperless if you have a PDA. You can add some limited paperless functionality to the 60CSX using 3rd party software like GSAK.

[+osquadrados]

I read somewhere that the compass of dakota 20 didn't work verry well.

can anyone tell me something about it?

 

Thanks!

[+Searching_ut]

I read somewhere that the compass of dakota 20 didn't work verry well.

can anyone tell me something about it?

 

Thanks!

 

The only problem I know of with the Dakota 20 compass was one I had been reporting when it first came out. I had two different units that would loose compass calibration over time. When they did, you had to power the unit off and back on to re-calibrate the compass. The first firmware fix released for the Dakotas fixed the problem though, and now in my opinion it's one of the best implementations of an electronic compass in the Garmin line up of receivers.

 

As for the OP, the Dakota is a nice unit, but you won't get any better accuracy, or performance any any way that makes finding geocaches easier. The dakotas are touch screen, which you may find preferable, and they do offer paperless caching which is nice depending on your caching style. That said, if you don't cache very often, I'm not sure the paperless caching alone would justify buying the new unit.

[+ecanderson]

I read somewhere that the compass of dakota 20 didn't work verry well.

can anyone tell me something about it?

 

Thanks!

In terms of calibration, it works just as well as those in every other Garmin unit -- once the batteries start to fade a bit, you will find it helpful necessary to recalibrate if you want any precision in the results. Alternately, you can do like I do, and just swap batteries more often. Was true on my eTrex, and remains true on my Dakota 20. Why Garmin can't either provide a regulated voltage to the compass chip or find a chip with internal regulation, I dunno. What I can say is that these chips are sensitive to voltage changes. When the voltage drops, the calibration suffers.

 

That said, if calibrated, the compass on the Dakota 20 works much better in actual practice than it ever did on my eTrex. That's because the Dakota 20 has a "3 axis" compass that isn't sensitive to being held level the way the older Garmin units required. So when I'm climbing around, I don't have to keep paying attention to the orientation of the unit now. Nice improvement.

Edited March 15, 2010 by ecanderson

[+FLYING FLIVER]

Hi, Kinda new to this. We started getting into it a few years ago and purchased the Garmin GPSMap60CSX. Never really did much with it. Now we would like to get back into it and I see the new Dakota 10 and it looks so much easier to use? Would it be silly of us to sell the CSX and purchase the Dalota 10? The CSX is like in brand new condition. We maybe used it 3 or 4 times and have all the accessories that came with it? I don't want to make a wrong decision as we paid almost $400.oo for thsi unit when we bought it. Please e-mail me if you would like.

 

Peri

purrson@verizon.net

 

The GPSMap60CSX is an excellent GPS. I suggest you go to the Garmin web-sight & download/update your GPS to the latest available Firmware. The update procedure is easy to do & will bring your GPS up to current "60CSx" capabilities.

[+Thrak]

I have the 76CSx - same guts as the 60CSx with a different outer case and different button placement. It's finally dying. I've left it on the hood of the truck and driven off too many times. It's been bounced across parking lots, down the road, etc. and is finally getting pretty wonky. (I've been caching since August 2005 and the 76CSx is the only unit I've used.)

 

I'm looking to purchase a replacement unit. The ONLY thing I would change on the unit is that I would love the ability to do paperless caching with it. However, I can use an old Palm for that or, if I'm on a trip with my wife, I put everything into my Garmin nüvi using a GSAK macro and get the full cache info that way. We use the nüvi to view the actual cache listing, hint, logs, etc. and use the 76CSx to actually find the cache. It works well that way.

 

Before I bought the nüvi for work, we made several multi-state trips using the 76CSx. I have full maps on it and it routes wonderfully. Sure, it beeps and trills rather than telling me to "turn right on Main Street in .3 miles" but it worked flawlessly and got us where we wanted to go every time. The 76CSx (and therefore the 60CSx since they have the same inner workings) is a really great unit for geocaching. It's not as flashy as the new touchscreen units but it finds caches flawlessly and, with maps, routes wonderfully.

 

I don't know if they changed the newer units in the last few iterations but I didn't like some of the "features" on them. When I mark a cache found on my 76CSx it disappears from my "unfound" list and goes to a "found" list. The icon changes from a closed treasure chest to an open treasure chest both in the listings and on the map. The caches I mark "found" also magically appear on the calendar so, even if I don't write them down in my book, I can look at the calendar and be reminded which caches I found that day when I go to log them online. If I want to delete a cache in the field I can do so. Some (maybe all?) of the newer units require you to connect them to a computer to do that simple task.

 

I agree with the other folks here. Use the unit, learn to geocache with it, and you likely won't have need of any of the newer units. For myself, I believe I'll just replace my trusty but beat up 76CSx with another, identical unit. Why change what works so very well for me?

 

2,088 caches logged so far and all of them found with the 76CSx.

 

NOTE: Whatever you decide, I STRONGLY suggest you go to zagg.com and purchase an invisibleSHIELD for the screen on your unit. The thing is indestructable and not at all like cheap screen protectors. I've used the invisibleSHIELD for a long time and have done really horrible things to my GPS but the screen was always unscathed. (I once tripped in the semi-dark and grabbed at a small oak tree for support. I ended up with one arm wrapped around the tree and still slid all the way to the ground. The skin on my arm was pretty shredded by the bark. The front of the GPS unit was scratched. The screen was against the bark all the way down to the ground. The invisibleShield looked cloudy but it's self-healing. The next morning the screen was totally clear again and NOT SCRATCHED AT ALL.)