Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • Garmin – Dakota 10 or Dakota 20?
  • butcher
    Full Member

    I’m pretty much decided on one of these now, but not sure which to get.

    On the face of it, the Dakota 10 appears to have everything I need (it’s main functions for me would be navigation and saving routes).

    However, the Dakota 20 has a barometric altimeter and an SD card slot. For the sake of accuracy, the altimeter would be nice to have (I have heard electronic devices can be way out) and the advantages of an SD card slot are obvious.

    My thinking is that the former I can live without. But having no experience of GPS I’m not sure how much a lack of additional storage will affect me. For instance I had a quick look on the Garmin site, and country wide discoverer maps are over 2GB, when the Dakota 10 only holds 850MB!

    I’m assuming you can hold local maps as and when you need them without the requirements for so much space? Would it end up causing headaches, and would I be better spending the extra £50 which is a bit outside my comfort zone if I’m honest.

    Can any Garmin users share their experiences?

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    If you want it with the 1:50 mapping then the edge 800 is <£300 at halfords (using quidco and NUSMAY12 at the checkout) and would do the bike bit better.

    My edge 305 (near enough) exactly matched counting contorus on OS maps for total climb/decent over a ride without an altimeter. Garmin connect/mapmyride under-estimate it to about 2/3rds, google earth matches the OS data.

    Aidan
    Free Member

    Having an SD card slot and therefore proper maps makes navigation much easier.

    e.g. you can see that the trail you’re looking for is the one just after the end of the woods, or it doesn’t cross the river yet, or (on road) it’s the second turning not this one here.

    Magic line with no background works, but (for me) involves more backtracking. And doesn’t allow you to improvise as well.

    I thought the 20 also has an electronic compass in it which helps to solve the usual GPS problem where the device doesn’t know which direction it’s facing until you move forward a bit.

    I wouldn’t say the cycling specific ones are better at cycling, but they do have training features if you like that sort of thing.

    Oh, and if you do get one, consider Open Steetmaps as a money-saving alternative to OS. Works well for me most places.

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    gazc
    Free Member

    i’ve got a dakota 20 and really like it. when i went to new zealand for a month bike touring i downloaded a free map off the net, put it on a micro-sd card and swapped it for the gb discoverer i had in it. worked on the garmin fine. i prefer it to the bike specific garmins as it uses AA batteries which i find ideal for touring/multi-day hikes and rides. would imagine the memory limit on the dakota 10 would prove problematic though. my girlfriend was thinking of getting one but we’ve decided to hold out for another dakota 20 instead

    butcher
    Full Member

    the edge 800 is <£300 at halfords

    Might be the best, but that’s still nearly £200 more than the Dakota 10..

    I looked at the Garmin maps for research only really. Was looking into the free alternatives as a more realistic option for the budget conscious user (i.e. me). In fact I have another question about these…do they show accurate rights of way like on an OS maps, or just contours and landmarks, etc?

    The Dakota 20 is the obvious option. It’s just the Dakota 10 is a really nice comfortable price which I can justify. And if it held maps and data OK, at least enough to get by, I think it would be enough for my needs.

    Bike specific functions would be nice, but navigation is the priority.

    abductee
    Free Member

    Comparison

    I wouldn’t be bothered about the lack of electronic compass or barometer but the lack of an SD card slot could be a bit limiting. You could load the Talky Toaster open source maps on the 850Mb built in memory of the Oregon 10 but the GB discoverer is about 3Gb for full coverage or 1.5Gb for a region so as you said it wouldn’t fit.

    Have you looked at the etrex 20? The touch screen of the Oregon makes the display a bit dimmer than the older Legend models. I Don’t know what the user interface is like on the etrex 20 but it’s worth a look.

    butcher
    Full Member

    Have you looked at the etrex 20?

    My head’s bursting wit information without looking at the eTrex series. Is it basically a Dakota 20 but with a smaller screen and buttons rather than touch screen? If so, it might be a winner at the right price.

    Top.Dog
    Free Member

    i’ve got a dakota 10

    i have downloaded the free gb and irl map from talky toaster as mention above

    last month i used it for a 300k audax, and set the record frequency to the normal setting (you can adjust the frequency it records points and this improves space used#)

    the memory was at 90% after 18hrs of riding, and this includes the space used by the map

    HTH

    KZP894
    Free Member

    I use a Dakota 20 which is great. The OS mapping is really helpful. Ideal it you don’t just want to use it on your bike. My opinion would be save up for the 20 with GB 1:50,000 bundle.

    CraigW
    Free Member

    Have you looked at the etrex 20?

    My head’s bursting wit information without looking at the eTrex series. Is it basically a Dakota 20 but with a smaller screen and buttons rather than touch screen? If so, it might be a winner at the right price.
    Not quite. The Etrex 30 is about equivalent to the Dakota 20. The Etrex 20 doesn’t have the barometric altimeter or compass, but it can take an SD card.

    IME the barometric altimeter is not very helpful on a bike anyway – it needs to be calibrated to be accurate, and it can be affected by changes in the weather. The GPS altimeter is good enough most of the time (assuming you have a reasonable view of the sky).

    Also note the Etrex 30 or Dakota 20 will work with a heart rate monitor or cadence sensor, the Etrex 20 or Dakota 10 won’t.

    butcher
    Full Member

    Cheers guys. All very helpful. Just been looking at the specs on the eTrex 20 and 30. And I’m kinda liking the eTrex tbh ( wish I never started this thread, I was about to click buy 🙂 ).

    I take it the eTrex still has speed, max speed, trip, odometer, etc…you know, standard bike computer stuff?

    maloo
    Free Member

    I have got the Dakota 10, with the free maps installed as mentioned above. Never missed not having an SD card slot or the barometric altimeter. I would say save your money and get the 10.

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