I've been researching GPS's and have come up with a shortlist of…

Memory Map Adventurer 2800
Garmin Oregon 300
Garmin Dakota 20

Anyone else had this dilema lately? Which one did you plump for and why?

Yep, gave this some thought recently and went for the Dakota 20.

Admittedly online looked at Garmin units and wanted OS mapping. The Oregon has a few more features than Dakota but is a fair bit bigger, not an issue if you arent going to mount it on your bars though I guess. I got the impression the Dakota is a little more robust (my old Vista got shaken, soaked and crashed to pieces after a few years).

The Dakota touch screen works with gloves, which is useful. But it isnt the easiest to read, the Oregon is brighter. It does have all the Vista features, plus a few more. I think it will get the job done.

It can also read maps that arent called gmapsupp.img which is handy, you can just copy multiple map sets to the unit or sd card and pick and chose which to display. No need to rename.

Annoyances:

When you connect it to a pc via the USB cable, it automatically goes into mass storage mode. When you unplug the lead it automatically shuts down, there is nothing you can do about that.

If you use Memory Map you will need to upgrade to use the Oregon or Dakota. For me this has meant I have had to "activate" various maps again, particularly old OS maps that I have knocking around from various sources. This wont be possible in all cases if you know what I mean… So, I think I will also keep an old version of MM too, for viewing maps, then use the new version for transferring to the Dakota.

Garmin also want you to use their Basemap program to manage the device, Mapsource isnt included in the box, so you will need to have an old version somewhere if you want to use that. Personally, I'd prefer to stick to MM for all my UK maps.

I've only had the unit for about a week and havent used it in anger.

cheers

I've pretty well settled on the Dakota myself. The MM unit seems to have too many gliches and is being field tested by people who have paid good money for a unit.

My understanding is that the only way to view OS maps on the Dakota is to buy Garmin's GB Discoverer range of maps on mico SD card. These aren't cheap but at least the 1:50000 series cover decent area of the UK.

I don't think you can get MM maps onto the Garmin. You can use MM or Tracklog to plan your route and then download that to your unit.

I believe you can load free open source mapping from various websites on the internet. There also seem to be a few dodgy forums giving info on how to hack and copy Garmin maps.

Can you explain the difference between Basemap and Mapsource – I don't understand what these programs do and why you have to use them.

Have you looked at the Satmap Active 10 yet? It's a bit clunky, but well thought out and seems very robust, with neat features like a replaceable screen. You have to use Satmap's OS maps, but prices are more or less the same as everyone else's.

Sorry, still not worked out Basemap vs Mapsource, but I used to use Mapsource to load maps onto my Etrex Vista and to pull maps off of it. As above though, you cant get MM OS maps onto the Dakota, but there are offers on the Discoverer 1/2 the UK coverage for £50. Mapsource (and Basemap) can also transfer tracks, routes and waypoints back and forward, but so can MM.

I've managed to get some opensource maps in the last week, including a decent Topo map of the whole UK. Not OS quality, but good enough. It's also "routeable" meaning you can use it like a car satnav, if that's your thing.

If you are a fan of Piratebay and Co, there's a lot more out there, including a 3Gb topo map of the whole of Europe…..

<sigh> Why does this all have to be so complicated?

Have a look at open source mtb maps

This tells you how to get Mapsource from the Garmin website and provides opensource maps based on openstreetmap. The open source maps are far from perfect but they're free and you can upload and view them on Garmin units (I've just done this on my Dakota 10).

dakota 20 – its an awesome piece of kit, i run it with the gb discoverer sd card, and its like having a mini map on screen, its absoultly brilliant! in my opinion without the OS discoverer map the units are crap, the base maps are near useless if you are going somewhere off road on a bike for the first time without a route planned. if however you are plotting a route and just using the gps systems for waypoints to follow then you may as well get a cheapo basic one….

the discoverer os maps make all the difference and allow you to go new places you perhaps wouldnt have ventured before, its full colour like a book map, fully loaded with pubs, car parks, bridlepaths etc etc etc, ok they are 110quid each area, but without it the dakota would be pretty useless to me, other than a waypoint marking system, it wouldnt actually help me and my riding in any way….

its clear enough on any type of weather to read the screen, you can change the brightness of the screen accordingly, and also you can zoom in quite a bit on the discoverer ones and its still clear…..for the size of the screen its never going to be the most clearest of things, but i fail to see how you couldnt use it with plenty of vision, ive used mine through summer, dull days, snowy days and never ever had an issue reading the screen….

it also works as a car sat nav, using postcodes for most places (i think this only works if you have a gb discoverer card), and failing that, as i have just found out you can input the co-ordinates of where you wanna go, and ask the dakota to recalculate the route on road, and it gets you there on the road to the exact point (as someplaces you go biking dont often have postcodes to guide you there)….

im gonna be looking to use mine alot more through this year, but i used it alot last year on new rides and it never once let me down 🙂

battery life is a bit hit and miss though, it says 20 hours, and im running mine on Nimh rechargeable 2100 mah ones, and after a 2 hour ride the battery indicator is showing half empty/full, so again this could well just be my batteries….though it would never last 20 hours of constant use even in the warmer summer months…may have to invest in some uniross 2700mah nimh ones, as ive heard they are the best..

I would second the Active 10. You can now get a bike bundle for about £340ish which includes power pack and bike mount. Nothing stronger out there. If you read any reviews on OS gps Satmap wins hands down.

One thing I don't like about the Satmap is the price. The absolute minimum deal for me would be £380 + 2x £69.99 for the maps. That's a lotta money! Even then I'd need some other (paper) maps for other places not in UK.

At that price, I'll stick with my Vista, plus some regional OSM derived maps, and a handful of local OS (or equivalent) paper maps, and spend the rest on bike/ski bits.

I'd probably go for the Dakota now, but knowing that the touchscreen isn't the easiest to read.

For batteries, I've heard Ansmann batteries are the current best rechargeables. German you know! 2850mAh are available. Google it to get the best deal.

For batteries, I've heard Ansmann batteries are the current best rechargeables. German you know! 2850mAh are available. Google it to get the best deal.