# The Garmin Dakota thread



## 40hills (Apr 24, 2006)

I did a search and didn't find a Dakota thread, so I declare this thread as the Dakota thread.

I currently have a eTrex Vista HCx and use it on a bar mount. I like it a lot, but had the Dakota series been available at the time I bought it I probably would have wanted the Dakota 20. It seems to have pretty much the same features as my Vista, but with the large touch screen, which I think is nice. It also has much more internal memory so I don't think an additional microSD card (or whatever) is necessary.

I'm not sure if a bar mount is available for the Dakota though.

Is anyone using one, or can you post feedback on what's good or not good about this GPS for mtb'ing?

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=30926


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## Sometimes (Jun 21, 2009)

How about a combined Dakota *and* Oregon thread?

It would be interesting to read how the two compare.


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

I posted a fairly lengthy review of the Dakota 20 on my blog:

http://www.topofusion.com/diary/2009/12/16/garmin-dakota-20-review/

I previously owned an Oregon, and much prefer the Dakota for the increased visibility. Both have the custom map feature which is pretty cool IMO.


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## 40hills (Apr 24, 2006)

Great review. Thanks! Do you know if there is a bar mount available for it? I assume there must be, but I haven't seen one.



Krein said:


> I posted a fairly lengthy review of the Dakota 20 on my blog:
> 
> http://www.topofusion.com/diary/2009/12/16/garmin-dakota-20-review/
> 
> I previously owned an Oregon, and much prefer the Dakota for the increased visibility. Both have the custom map feature which is pretty cool IMO.


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

40hills said:


> Great review. Thanks! Do you know if there is a bar mount available for it? I assume there must be, but I haven't seen one.


Garmin web site -> Dakota -> Accessories -> Mounts

ta da

Bike/cart Mount


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

Thanks slocaus.

I'm pretty happy with the mount. The first pic is of my handlebars, though since it was at night it's a little hard to see.

I've run it both on the stem and the bars and prefer the bars for the ability to rotate it to optimize viewing (sun) angle.


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## Nathan Cloud (Jul 18, 2005)

I love my Oregon 400t! Its not a dakota but is similar enough!


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## sherijumper (Feb 19, 2007)

Curious why guys are going with these rather than bike specific gps units like the edge 705 ? I am looking at getting one for the new year .


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

sherijumper said:


> Curious why guys are going with these rather than bike specific gps units like the edge 705 ? I am looking at getting one for the new year .


Hehe....you don't pay attention much in this forum, do you? Krein is the developer for Topofusion. You've gotta be a certifiable map geek for that. Nathan Cloud runs Crankfire, which is a gps file-sharing and trail mapping website in New England. Another certifiable map geek. slocaus, too (though he hasn't written any software). I'd own a touchscreen handheld, too, but I have too many expensive hobbies. I will have to wait until later to buy one. I am also a serious map/tech geek.


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

Personally I haven't really liked any of the Edge units. The most annoying 'feature' for me is the start/stop button. I can't believe you can't disable it. Often I just want to turn on my GPS on and forget about it. It's easy to forget to hit start, or accidentally hit stop mid-ride... then you get home and there's a big hole in your tracklog. Not cool.

Also, I much prefer replaceable (AA) batteries. I do rides that (far) outlast any internal battery, and even for every day rides it's nice to just throw in a new set of rechargeable batts rather than worry about how much charge is left on the internal battery.

There's very little 'bike' specific stuff in the 705, when you really get down to it. The Dakota/Oregon support the same HR and Cadence sensors. The 705 does support Power display and recording, but my powertap is old and doesn't transmit anyway.


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## sherijumper (Feb 19, 2007)

Thanks guys , Nate your sticky up top is really good ! Good thing it`s a sticky  I`m going tomorrow to look at the Oregon and Dakota. I would ask you guys about bike mounts but I see you covered that already .


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## alamere (Dec 15, 2007)

Do these units show grade, temperature and/or calories?


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

alamere said:


> Do these units show grade, temperature and/or calories?


I can't find any of those on my Dakota, no.


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## fatboyone (May 28, 2009)

I recently purchased the Dakota 20 to serve my needs for a GPS. I also purchased the suggested HRM. I am having trouble getting the Dakota to find the HRM. Is there an on/off on the HRM?

the HRM is #010-10997-00

Thanks,
Mike P


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

There's no on/off on the HRM itself, but you do need to enable it on the Dakota.

Go to Setup -> (scroll a few pages down) -> Fitness and enable the HRM there.

Hope that helps.


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## shimanator (Oct 22, 2008)

I am having trouble getting the Dakota to find the HRM. Is there an on/off on the HRM?

the HRM is #010-10997-00

Thanks,
Mike P[/QUOTE]

No but I think you have to wear it to make it reconized


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## shimanator (Oct 22, 2008)

But why it is not listed like a compatible accessories for the dakota 20??Look here http://www.gpscentral.ca/accessories/hrm-10997.html


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

shimanator said:


> But why it is not listed like a compatible accessories for the dakota 20??Look here http://www.gpscentral.ca/accessories/hrm-10997.html


Garmin has it listed for the 20, but not the 10.


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

What's the future for the Dakota? Is there any reason for/against going with the less expensive Dakota 10 vs the 20 or spending another $100 and getting the Oregon?

I'm a GIS geek getting into natural resource management and trail design/planning so the closer I get to a Trimble the better...without spending more than $400.


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

PaintPeelinPbody said:


> What's the future for the Dakota? Is there any reason for/against going with the less expensive Dakota 10 vs the 20 or spending another $100 and getting the Oregon?
> 
> I'm a GIS geek getting into natural resource management and trail design/planning so the closer I get to a Trimble the better...without spending more than $400.


For trail work, the Garmin 60CSx has the helix antenna for much better gain and therefore greater accuracy.Just under $300 at Amazon.










It is my serious trail design tool, with free 20' contour topos from GPS File Depot, and the one used by our GIS map maker. (check links in my sig)


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

What am I losing vs the Dakota?


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

PaintPeelinPbody said:


> What am I losing vs the Dakota?


Touch screen that I see, and some custom raster mapping, but you gain so much more in accuracy and serious functionality if you want to do trail mapping.

Garmin Comparison


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

I'm not overly interested in raster mapping because I can make my own vector based stuff with GIS.

I was lucky enough to score a free full copy of the older ArcGIS 9.1


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## Morlahach (Nov 8, 2005)

Finally made the move to purchase a Dakota 20. Though I was a lurker on this and other related threads, I appreciate the discussion. It definitely helped me to narrow my decision.


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## cummins_powered (Mar 5, 2010)

PaintPeelinPbody said:


> I'm not overly interested in raster mapping because I can make my own vector based stuff with GIS.
> 
> I was lucky enough to score a free full copy of the older ArcGIS 9.1


Hey i was just curious what kind of work you do with ArcGIS in relation to GPS and biking. i have access to a full copy of the latest version through school, plus a student version.

would be interested to know what kinda of things i can do with it and a garmin gps.


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## trhoppe (Sep 3, 2008)

Looks to me like the official garmin mount sort of blows and you can't put it on your stem? Any insight/input into this? I really like the way the 305 and 705 mounts on the stem, can that be done here?

-Tom


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

trhoppe said:


> Looks to me like the official garmin mount sort of blows and you can't put it on your stem? Any insight/input into this? I really like the way the 305 and 705 mounts on the stem, can that be done here?
> 
> -Tom


It works just fine on the stem. I have tried both, but prefer the bars so you can rotate it to adjust for different sunlight angles.


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

cummins_powered said:


> Hey i was just curious what kind of work you do with ArcGIS in relation to GPS and biking. i have access to a full copy of the latest version through school, plus a student version.
> 
> would be interested to know what kinda of things i can do with it and a garmin gps.


How'd you get a full version? I was under the impression the licenses were only to the schools...though I guess you could get around that.

I'm using GIS right now for preliminary trail design and layout. Helps us make better use of the land without actually seeing it. Once we get a given design we'll upload it to the GPS for flagging. This allows us to get closer to property lines and other things that might not be easily visible on the ground.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

PaintPeelinPbody said:


> How'd you get a full version? I was under the impression the licenses were only to the schools...though I guess you could get around that.
> 
> I'm using GIS right now for preliminary trail design and layout. Helps us make better use of the land without actually seeing it. Once we get a given design we'll upload it to the GPS for flagging. This allows us to get closer to property lines and other things that might not be easily visible on the ground.


Maybe he's talking about the 1yr licenses for ArcView that professors at my school pretty freely hand out (that's what I have on my PC) when you take GIS classes and use Arc in your thesis. My officemate used the student pricing to buy himself an ArcView license that doesn't expire. The student pricing only applies to the ArcView license, AFAIK, not to ArcEditor or ArcInfo (the license my university has that can only be installed on university machines).

http://store.esri.com/esri/showdetl.cfm?SID=2&Product_ID=29&Category_ID=121 (regular pricing)

I pretty much use it the same way. One cool feature I've used is that you can shade a line (your trail) according to slope if you have DEM data loaded. Helps you find potential trouble spots in your flagged line or identify spots of an existing trail system that need work.

You can also run some analyses to buffer your potential route from certain 'negative' control features (points you would like to avoid). I haven't used it for that yet, but I can see that being an extremely useful feature when creating a plan for a landowner who would like us to stay x-distance away from things like wetlands or property boundaries or similar.


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## cummins_powered (Mar 5, 2010)

PaintPeelinPbody said:


> How'd you get a full version? I was under the impression the licenses were only to the schools...though I guess you could get around that.
> 
> I'm using GIS right now for preliminary trail design and layout. Helps us make better use of the land without actually seeing it. Once we get a given design we'll upload it to the GPS for flagging. This allows us to get closer to property lines and other things that might not be easily visible on the ground.


I dont have the full version for my personal PC (i have the lame student year long version) I just mean i have access the the computer lab at my school which has the full version.

Im still learning GIS, and i havent come across using it yet for my major (geology) but its interesting to hear its uses with something relevant, like mountain biking. sounds pretty cool.


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

NateHawk said:


> My officemate used the student pricing to buy himself an ArcView license that doesn't expire.
> 
> I pretty much use it the same way. One cool feature I've used is that you can shade a line (your trail) according to slope if you have DEM data loaded. Helps you find potential trouble spots in your flagged line or identify spots of an existing trail system that need work.


 Student Pricing Eh? I'll have to check that out...maybe I can get student pricing on ArcGIS 10.

Anymore info on using that DEM data for trail shading? I could really use that on my current project for highlighting areas that are too steep. You can PM me that info.


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

On topic:

I've done a lot of reading that suggests that the newer processor in the Dakota matches the accuracy of the 60CSx. If that's the case, doesn't it even the playing field a bit between the two units?


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## cummins_powered (Mar 5, 2010)

PaintPeelinPbody said:


> On topic:
> 
> I've done a lot of reading that suggests that the newer processor in the Dakota matches the accuracy of the 60CSx. If that's the case, doesn't it even the playing field a bit between the two units?


It would seem so. i think the 60csx is a great unit but i still prefer my vista hcx.compact and good battery life, and ive never had trouble with accuracy or satellite locks.

but as for something with a touch screen, the dakota seems pretty cool.


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## racerwad (Sep 17, 2005)

PaintPeelinPbody said:


> On topic:
> 
> I've done a lot of reading that suggests that the newer processor in the Dakota matches the accuracy of the 60CSx. If that's the case, doesn't it even the playing field a bit between the two units?


I actually had a specific question about this topic. I read somewheres that the Dakota had more noise in its tracks than the 60CSx. Is this still the case or has it been addressed through software updates? My use would be on a bike and since the purpose of a GPS receiver is primarily to tell me my location and record my trip, I'd like the most accurate one available in this range.


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

GPSTracklog review actually showed more tracking noise with the 60CSx over the Dakota.


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## racerwad (Sep 17, 2005)

Well that's good news! I like the idea of a touchscreen but the visibility of the 60CSx is noticeable even in the store. I imagine on a sunny day with sunglasses on, the difference between the two is the ability to glance quickly or stop. Am I right or does it not make that much of a difference?


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## PaintPeelinPbody (Feb 3, 2004)

The 60CSx is the benchmark of visibility. Probably the reason it has a slightly lower battery life than the Dakota. Amazingly enough, the Delorme PN-40, with a smaller screen, has a lower battery life than both Garmins.


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## tonebone2000 (Oct 10, 2009)

I stopped in at REI today to check out a few of these units. Without me asking, the employee told me the new Oregon units they had recently gotten had a brighter display and something new with the screen (I forget what) that was better in the sun. Comparing the Oregon and Dakota units, the Oregon was noticeably brighter on the same brightness level. 

Has anyone else heard about this? He said it was new within the last few months. 

I was pretty much leaning towards the Dakota 20 based on a lot of the input in this thread and Scott's review, but seeing and hearing that kind of made me lean back towards one of the Oregon models I was originally considering. 

I was just wondering if anyone knew if there was any truth to it or he was just trying to upsell me?

EDIT: After doing more searching I think what he may have been talking about was the difference in the newer x50 models. Think it has actually improved enough to consider it?


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

tonebone2000 said:


> I stopped in at REI today to check out a few of these units. Without me asking, the employee told me the new Oregon units they had recently gotten had a brighter display and something new with the screen (I forget what) that was better in the sun. Comparing the Oregon and Durango units, the Oregon was noticeably brighter on the same brightness level.
> 
> Has anyone else heard about this? He said it was new within the last few months.
> 
> ...


I do not find a Garmin Durango, so it must be new. Google only gives me the Garmin Nuvi in the Dodge Durango truck.


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## tonebone2000 (Oct 10, 2009)

Haha, my bad. I meant Dakota, not Durango. Apparently Dodge has prevented me from differentiating between the two.


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

tonebone2000 said:


> Haha, my bad. I meant Dakota, not Durango. Apparently Dodge has prevented me from differentiating between the two.


Ah. I have not seen a Dakota. My 60CSx is my go to serious GPS for navigation and mapping for trail building. I ride with a 705 for tracks and HRM data, though it has proven great for navigation when needed for that purpose in tough old over grown trails. I read about them, but have no desire to get something other than what I have, which I feel are the best for the uses on which I rely on them.


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

tonebone2000 said:


> I stopped in at REI today to check out a few of these units. Without me asking, the employee told me the new Oregon units they had recently gotten had a brighter display and something new with the screen (I forget what) that was better in the sun. Comparing the Oregon and Dakota units, the Oregon was noticeably brighter on the same brightness level.
> 
> I was just wondering if anyone knew if there was any truth to it or he was just trying to upsell me?
> 
> EDIT: After doing more searching I think what he may have been talking about was the difference in the newer x50 models. Think it has actually improved enough to consider it?


It seems like every time a new Garmin touchscreen comes out we hear claims that it is easier to read than the older ones (Dakota is supposed to be better than Oregons, other than the x50 models). I don't think any of the improvements are significant. Supposedly the backlight is more powerful in the x50 Oregons, but the Dakota is plenty bright for me. I have no problem seeing the screen in low light conditions -- once the backlight is on it's very clear. The trouble for all of them, IMO, is in bright sunlight, where the backlight and brightness of the screen doesn't do anything, it's all about the angle the sun is hitting the screen at.

Just finished a 90 mile, 12k+, 10 hour butt-kicker easter ride, all navigated by Dakota. :thumbsup:


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## newfydog (May 8, 2009)

Dakota 10 vs. 20....

I bought the Dakota 10, and absolutely love it. I didn't think I much needed the extra features on the 20. but the SD card has a real advantage---you can find map packages cheap on EBay in SD format, but the CD format is rare. I'm sure there are tricks to enable loading the SD package to the PC, then to the unit, but I find Garmin has made this tough for people who aren't fairly savy and try to do it legally.

I've loaded a 900 KM mountain bike route across southern France into it, and the Garmin street maps have most of the obscur double tracks in there. I wanted Garmin Topo France, but in the end decided I don't need it. Heading out next week, and the more I use this unit, the more I cut back on the maps I'm bringing.


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## Devastazione (Dec 16, 2009)

Garmin Dakota 20 newbie here. Love it so far. Beside track recording I'm using it mainly as a bike computer. 
Great device,I love it !! I spend endless hours playing with it in front of the TV,it just drive wife crazy !!
.......and yes,screen backlight sucks !!!


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## bill_in_sd (Oct 24, 2008)

*Dakota 10 on sale at Costco - $50 rebate*

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...=8&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

Worth it? I am lurking/studying all the posts here and considered getting this one.

ETA: The Rebate works for other models too! I think it may work for other stores also..... 
http://www.costco.com/Images/Content/misc/PDF/509882_exp062010.pdf


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## ataylor (Dec 28, 2009)

bill_in_sd said:


> http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...=8&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1
> 
> Worth it? I am lurking/studying all the posts here and considered getting this one.
> 
> ...


the 10 is lacking the data card, compass, and altimeter that the 20 has. Yes Gamin seems to have a $50 rebate program for all retailers


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## dwt (Jul 19, 2009)

Krein said:


> It works just fine on the stem. I have tried both, but prefer the bars so you can rotate it to adjust for different sunlight angles.


Saw this bar mount on ebay. Wondering if it might be better than the Garmin accessory?


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## Krein (Jul 3, 2004)

dwt said:


> Saw this bar mount on ebay. Wondering if it might be better than the Garmin accessory?


Looks interesting but more bulky. I personally think the Garmin mount is quite adequate. Better than the mounts for previous units (60CSx, Vista, etc). Only thing I don't like is having to use new zip ties when I move it from bike to bike or switch to my Vista's mount. The mount you linked to does have that advantage.


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## newfydog (May 8, 2009)

I just spent six weeks mountain biking in France with my Dakota on the regular Garmin mount. It seems totally bombproof, and I like the fact that it is flat when there is no GPS attached. I picked up several of them on Ebay. I actually like the zip ties too----fast on off and they are about free if you buy a pack of them.


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## Consuela (Jun 13, 2008)

How well the touch screen works with full finger gloves?


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## newfydog (May 8, 2009)

It sucks with gloves. Or with a little moisture. That said, it is a very good touch screen and there is no way I would go back to buttons.


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## Consuela (Jun 13, 2008)

Thanks! 

What about carrying it in your Camelbak? Do screen buttons every get activated and what not? Or is there a way to lock the touch screen while its in your backpack/bag?

I know there is a handle bar mount, but in reality, I'll probably start it up, throw it in my Camelbak, ride, then download afterwards.


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## newfydog (May 8, 2009)

never used it, but there is a lock screen function.


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