How are the Garmin Dakota 10/20 Touch Screens?

[sup909]

Been doing a bit of research on these two devices and I am curious what people's experience is with the touch screens. My limited use with touch screen based GPS devices (professional Trimble units for survey work) has been less than exciting and I am slightly hesitant to go that route for my recreational use.

[eaparks]

The touch screens are great for menu navigation and data entry. The only drawback to them is the inherent technology of touch screens that makes them not as easy to view in 1 circumstance. That is when your outside on a bright sunny day, but the sun is not shining on your GPS screen, in this situation the backlight as little effect and the screen can be a little hard to see on some pages. Individual opinoins concerning this are swayed more by what they were accustom to prior to getting a touch screen.

 

I've never had any input or sensitivity problems on my Oregon 400t

 

Now having said all of this, my opinoin, I wouldn't go back to a buttons GPS at all. It's about like trying to text on an old cell phone without a keyboard compared to a smart phone with a keyboard.

 

Cabelas has a great deal on the Garmin Oregon 450 for $249.99 right now.

Edited March 24, 2011 by eaparks

[+dreamarcher]

I believe these in particular are made to be "tough" unlike a phone screen which seem to scratch if dust falls on them. Because of this the Dakota screen feel different from a phone. Not bad but just different.

[+dfx]

They are tough in that they don't break as easily, but they still scratch easily, even with just a grain of sand. Screen protector highly recommended for this very reason. Occasionally they also break, but that requires quite a bit of misfortune to happen.

 

The different feel mostly comes from the fact that it's a resistive touchscreen vs. a capacitive as most moden smartphones have. The advantage of a resistive touchscreen is that you can use it with gloves on or with a random stick as stylus. They have a number of disadvantages too though.

Edited March 24, 2011 by dfx

[sup909]

Hmmm.... Sounds like the screens are similar to the Trimble units I used, as those were resistive as well. I am still hanging on the fence then for the whole touch screen GPS.

[+ecanderson]

Have never had issues with the 'touch' on my Dakota 20. I did throw a Zagg on it to protect it. Beyond that, it's been flawless.

 

The only "disadvantage" that I'm aware of is that resistive touch panels do block some of the light from the LCD below. Other than that, I much prefer them over capacitive for the exact reason that dfx mentions - you can use anything to operate them, not just a 'capacitive' raw finger.

[+GrateBear]

I've got a D20 and the only problem I have is trying to get my big finger to hit the cache icon on the screen. It usually takes a few stabs to hit it. Other than that, no issues. And, they wipe clean when rain falls on them.

[+gnjeepn]

I've got a D20 and the only problem I have is trying to get my big finger to hit the cache icon on the screen. It usually takes a few stabs to hit it. Other than that, no issues. And, they wipe clean when rain falls on them.

I had that problem too. Then I calibrated the screen and haven't had an issue since.

[+GrateBear]

I've got a D20 and the only problem I have is trying to get my big finger to hit the cache icon on the screen. It usually takes a few stabs to hit it. Other than that, no issues. And, they wipe clean when rain falls on them.

I had that problem too. Then I calibrated the screen and haven't had an issue since.

Ok, kindly explain what you mean by that. I'm very challenged when it comes to the finer points of technology, and always welcome help from my fellow cachers!

Thanks.

[+G & C]

I use both a Dakota 20 and an Oregon 550t, both touch screen, both awesome. Never had one break on me, and I keep a screen protector on both of them. That way, any scratches go on the protector, and I can then replace that instead of the GPS screen. Mine have been dropped, rolled, pounded, stepped on, and sat on. Numerous times. I'm sure eventually something's going to break, but with what I put mine through, I'm pretty pleased.

[+ecanderson]

Ok, kindly explain what you mean by that. I'm very challenged when it comes to the finer points of technology, and always welcome help from my fellow cachers!

Thanks.

It is possible, though not common, that the touchscreen and LCD display do not perfectly align "digitally". It is possible to reassign/realign the touch area to better match the LCD underneath.

[+gnjeepn]

I've got a D20 and the only problem I have is trying to get my big finger to hit the cache icon on the screen. It usually takes a few stabs to hit it. Other than that, no issues. And, they wipe clean when rain falls on them.

I had that problem too. Then I calibrated the screen and haven't had an issue since.

Ok, kindly explain what you mean by that. I'm very challenged when it comes to the finer points of technology, and always welcome help from my fellow cachers!

Thanks.

If you go into settings then select display and on the bottom of the menu there is a button that says begin screen calibration. This will bring up some prompts that have like a bullseye that you touch. There will be a few that pop up and they move to different locations on the screen after you touch them. Since I did this with ours I haven't had any problems.

[+GrateBear]

I've got a D20 and the only problem I have is trying to get my big finger to hit the cache icon on the screen. It usually takes a few stabs to hit it. Other than that, no issues. And, they wipe clean when rain falls on them.

I had that problem too. Then I calibrated the screen and haven't had an issue since.

Ok, kindly explain what you mean by that. I'm very challenged when it comes to the finer points of technology, and always welcome help from my fellow cachers!

Thanks.

If you go into settings then select display and on the bottom of the menu there is a button that says begin screen calibration. This will bring up some prompts that have like a bullseye that you touch. There will be a few that pop up and they move to different locations on the screen after you touch them. Since I did this with ours I haven't had any problems.

Something must have changed, as I have no "settings". There's "setup", but no "screen calibration". There's a compass calibration and an altimeter calibration, but that's it.

[+Highland Horde]

I've got a D20 and the only problem I have is trying to get my big finger to hit the cache icon on the screen. It usually takes a few stabs to hit it. Other than that, no issues. And, they wipe clean when rain falls on them.

I had that problem too. Then I calibrated the screen and haven't had an issue since.

Ok, kindly explain what you mean by that. I'm very challenged when it comes to the finer points of technology, and always welcome help from my fellow cachers!

Thanks.

If you go into settings then select display and on the bottom of the menu there is a button that says begin screen calibration. This will bring up some prompts that have like a bullseye that you touch. There will be a few that pop up and they move to different locations on the screen after you touch them. Since I did this with ours I haven't had any problems.

Something must have changed, as I have no "settings". There's "setup", but no "screen calibration". There's a compass calibration and an altimeter calibration, but that's it.

 

go into -setup - display - screen calibration

that should fix it. I also try to carry a stylus from my kids DS. it makes screen navigation and log entry quicker for me.

 

Edit: as to the original topic. I love the touch screen. The screen can be hard to see in some lighting conditions but overall I am super happy with my dakota 20

Edited March 27, 2011 by Highland Horde

[+GrateBear]

Something must have changed, as I have no "settings". There's "setup", but no "screen calibration". There's a compass calibration and an altimeter calibration, but that's it.

 

go into -setup - display - screen calibration

that should fix it. I also try to carry a stylus from my kids DS. it makes screen navigation and log entry quicker for me.

 

Edit: as to the original topic. I love the touch screen. The screen can be hard to see in some lighting conditions but overall I am super happy with my dakota 20

Dumbo, that's me. I can't believe I missed that! I thought I looked at every option, and just must have gone blind. Thanks. I thought about trying a stylus, but figured I'd lose it quickly.

[+ecanderson]

I thought about trying a stylus, but figured I'd lose it quickly.

I just use the closed tip of my cache signing pen. Works fine.

[+dgwebster]

I have the d10 after getting it for crimbo. I find the screen perfectly fine to view and use and backup with my dell streak phone. I havent see this sunlight issue people talk about but I was an early adopter of touchscreen phones many many years ago (about 8) so im probably accoustomed to it.

[+fanfan-77]

Hi Guns & Cockpits

 

Why do you have both a Dakota and an Oregon?

Thinking of upgrading my 60cs (no SD card, no 3-axis compass and no high-sensitivity antenna making my life very difficult!) but am unsure if the extra $$ to be paid for an Oregon 450 (or a 62s for that matter) over an Dakota20 would be worth it. Not interested in Wherigo.

So what are the differences between your Oregon and your Dakota that you like and dislike?

 

Thanks

fanfan

[+ecanderson]

Hi Guns & Cockpits

 

Why do you have both a Dakota and an Oregon?

Could be for the same reason I do. Got hooked on touch screen in the field, and then they expanded 450 capacity to 5000 caches... and I decided I needed NMEA data.

 

So what are the differences between your Oregon and your Dakota that you like and dislike?

 

A little more screen room, NMEA out (I needed that for another project) and 2-1/2 times more caches all favored the Oregon as an addition to the family.

Much lighter weight on the Dakota seems to keep it more stable on my handlebar mount when things get bumpy, and somewhat better battery life.

[+Madproforg]

If your afraid of losing a stylus try this. Tie it to a heavy duty retractable key chain (thin steel cable rather than just nylon). Clips on the rucksack, pull to use, just let go when finished.

[+dfx]

If your afraid of losing a stylus try this. Tie it to a heavy duty retractable key chain (thin steel cable rather than just nylon). Clips on the rucksack, pull to use, just let go when finished.

 

 

Or you pick up a random stick from the forest ground and use that...

[+tumebroutes]

Hello,

Does anyone of you know how not to input a WP when touching the screen ( in map mode) ? This is usefull when geocaching but not when cycling !

 

Sorry for my bad english

Edited June 3, 2011 by tumebroutes

[+CacheFreakTim]

Like others have mentioned the only down side I have with them is sometimes in the sun it can be hard to read. This is usually not too big of a deal and I would not change my buying decision on it alone. I personally love my Oregon and don't ever plan on going back to a button unit like the etrex, GPS60 series, etc...

[+patnhank]

Regarding the OP, have had the Dakota 3 weeks now and really like the touchscreen. The display can be hampered or enhanced by the sun, just depends on the angle IMHO. I try and keep backlighting low to conserve battery but bear in mind the lighting doesn't do much in bright conditions, it's the angle of the screen to the light source; generally the sun.

 

I've had no issues with alignment on the touchscreen. I did a calibration, use the tip of my finger or sometimes my pinky for that difficult cache chest on the compass.