GPS: Garmin Dakota 20

[Bryan]

The new Garmin Dakota 20 looks to be a very nice unit. It is lighter and much smaller than the 60CSx and it claims to have longer battery life. It supports 200 saved tracks, compared to only 20 for other Garmin handheld units! That's a feature I have been wishing for. Some say it's intended to replace the eTrex.

Garmin Dakota 20: Garmin product page | Owner's manual | How-to videos

Dakota reviews: GPSFix review | Equipped review | GPSTracklog review | GPSInformation review

Custom maps: GPSFix | Garmin | Free and Easy | Five Easy Steps | Garmin forum

Garmin software: Unit software | WebUpdater | BaseCamp | Communicator

Map overlay "plug-in" for Google Earth
Wikispaces message board
Imagery sources for Garmin custom maps
Tools for making Garmin custom maps

[chinoook]

My opinion as a long distance Great Wall walker:

- battery consumption too high, need a third more batteries to carry
- bas visibility of the display compared to the non-touchscreen models
- at least unclear how good the usability of touchscreen and on-screen-menues work, I have bad expectations
- unclear how shock-proof the display is

Since I need a GPS for at least finding the walls in desert and hilly landscape and sometimes to find the next water resupply location the ruggedness of my GPS device is crucial. I need a working set and not a trendstyle tool. I will go for the (in my opinion) best choice Garmin again, the Etrex Vista HCx. I just bought one for OutOfNowhere who will start for the desert sections in about three weeks. The Vista HCx is still the best pick for these purposes.


-chinoook

[chinoook]

I am very happy to have learned that the software Touratech QV I use for handling maps (calibrating, printing, ...) now supports the export of Garmin (Oregon, Dakota) bitmaps.
It also has a very good interface to GE so it is the ideal tool for me.
Maybe this (and the recently reduced prices for the Garmins) will force me to replace my Vista Cx by one of those, very probably one with the larger display. I will also be forced to carry a fifth more weight :/.


-chinoook

[Bryan]

BirdsEye Satellite Imagery -- Quickly transfer an unlimited amount of high-resolution sub-meter color satellite imagery to your Garmin device and seamlessly integrate those images into your handheld’s maps whenever you need them.

Press release

Requires firmware version 2.80.

I haven't tried this yet. I am actually not sure if it's available yet.

[chinoook]

Originally Posted by Bryan

BirdsEye Satellite Imagery -- Quickly transfer an unlimited amount of high-resolution sub-meter color satellite imagery to your Garmin device and seamlessly integrate those images into your handheld’s maps whenever you need them.

From the Garmin press release:

"The images are among the most highly-detailed available – offering 0.5 meter per pixel resolution in many areas of the United States."

So no much use for GW work. If there would be China coverage, if you could use the imagery with a software which would provide the exact coordinates I would pay a _high_ price for it. Since our understanding of the GW still depends on available imagery ...


-chinoook

[MarkA]

I'd be interested in your views of the Garmin Oregon series versus the Dakota?

MarkA

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by MarkA

I'd be interested in your views of the Garmin Oregon series versus the Dakota?

MarkA

The Oregon has a larger screen but I got the Dakota because it's smaller and lighter weight and has longer battery life. It also has a touch screen and a 3-axis compass.

[Kim]

Am I the only one that can not get Garmin's MapSource to transfer other than the saved track from the device to the computer?

EasyGPS transfer everything including waypoints without any problem

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by Kim

Am I the only one that can not get Garmin's MapSource to transfer other than the saved track from the device to the computer?

EasyGPS transfer everything including waypoints without any problem

I don't bother with MapSource. I just copy the GPX files from the Garmin\GPX folder. There will be a separate file for waypoints. The GPX files can be opened directly in Google Earth.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Bryan

I don't bother with MapSource. I just copy the GPX files from the Garmin\GPX folder. There will be a separate file for waypoints. The GPX files can be opened directly in Google Earth.

I've been satisfied with MapSource so far, but from now on I will only use EasyGPS.