Garmin Dakota 20 Review
I’ve ridden with the Dakota 20 quite extensively over the last couple months — about 1000 offroad miles according to the odometer on the unit. My conclusion is that it is a solid GPS for cycling and bikepacking.
Screen Readability
The biggest reservation cyclists have with the touchscreen Garmin units is that of screen visibility when used on the handlebars. The Dakota 20 is an improvement over the Oregon 300t I previously owned, and is good enough for most situations. With certain angles of bright light the screen is hard to read, but the difficulty is not enough for me to give up on the unit, like I did with the Oregon 300t. The only situation I would not use the Dakota for is racing — when quick confirmation of the route ahead is critical. For normal exploratory rides and everyday shredding, it works fine.
Use in hand
In the hand, the GPS is fun to use. It came in quite handy when I spent a week doing trail layout in a remote location. Having USGS 24k quad maps with my current location on them, was very useful in planning ahead and for quick orientation. When the unit is held in the hand it is easy to orient it for maximum visibility, so that issue is really only annoying when the GPS is fixed to something (e.g. handlebars).
Accuracy
In the accuracy department, I think the Dakota is a small step above older generation units. It is very quick to find its location, and in taking daily waypoints at a surveyed brass cap, the Dakota did better than my crewmate’s 60CSx. Tracklogs come out well, as expected. I have only noticed the expected number of anomolies here and there.
Battery Life
Battery life is shorter than a 60CSx or VistaCx, but still quite acceptable. I tend to get ~15 hours with years old rechargeable batteries.
Things I like:
1) Small and light unit, big screen. Similar in size to the VistaHCx, but larger screen.
2) Faster CPU – menus and maps respond and draw much faster than older units.
3) The custom maps – this feature is huge, never before seen on a Garmin GPS. As soon as I heard about it, I worked hard to add full support to TopoFusion. More about this in its own section below.
4) Track manager – no need to split tracks into 500 point chunks anymore. Just keep the track under 10,000 points each and you can quickly get it onto the unit. Much easier! You can also store quite a few 10,000 point tracks, and easily turn them on/of, look at profiles, etc.
5) HR / Cadence – I have a Garmin HR strap from an older Forerunner GPS, and the Dakota picks it up and stores heart rate data in the GPX, which is then read by TF.
6) Triaxial compass – I rarely use the compass when riding, but for trail layout it was nice to not have to hold the GPS level to get a solid reading.
Things I don’t like:
1) There’s no setting to change the color of the active tracklog. It’s always black and sometimes hard to see.
2) You can only have 100 custom map tiles. This amounts to about 580 square miles using the Topo 4m tileset (USGS 24k maps). Good enough for most epic rides, but not for a multi-day bikepacking trip.
3) No ability to turn on/off different custom maps. You can have overlapping maps, and the draw order can be controlled in TopoFusion, but it would be nice to have both topos and aerials for an area and be able to choose between the two.
4) The touchscreen is neat to use when you’re not riding, but I’d prefer tactile feedback when the wheels are spinning. Sometimes you hit a button and don’t know if you really got it.
5) Track archiving is a little strange. The unit saves out a new GPX file every 10,000 points (roughly). I think the way the Vista or 60CSx does it (archiving one track per day and naming it by the date) makes a lot more sense and is easier to deal with.
Note: hopefully the first three will be corrected by firmware updates in the future. Maybe the 5th as well.
Tips for using Custom Maps on the Dakota/Oregon/Colorado units:
2) With your GPS plugged into your computer, create a directory called “CustomMaps” in the “Garmin” sub directory on either your GPS itself, or the SD card. Map images in the .KMZ (google earth tile) placed in either CustomMaps directory will be automatically loaded by the GPS.
3) Use TopoFusion — it has the ability create large scale KMZ files from any of the available imagery in the software. That includes 24k topos and high res color aerials for most of the country. You can also add your own custom maps to TopoFusion and upload those. Just use the “File->Export View” command to get started.
4) Use the custom maps feature to upload tracks, too. Anything that is displayed in TopoFusion gets rendered and put into the custom map. That means you can have hundreds of GPX tracks loaded and they will all show up on the GPS. No more simplifying and splitting of tracks, worrying about whether it’ll all fit or not.
I have found this to be extremely useful. I can load up (or draw) several tracks in an area, change their colors/widths, and then get them all very easily onto my GPS, laid over a highly detailed basemap.
This is hands down the best way to get a GPS network onto a GPS for use in the field.
5) Use Topo 4M. I’ve found that the white background on Topo 4M makes the map more readable than the Garmin vector basemap (e.g. Topo 2008 DVD).
In addition I recommend 4M to cover more area (than Topo 2M) and also so that tracks you have loaded end up thicker and easier to see. You may want to add additional thickness to your tracks by right clicking on them in the map and choosing “Track Properties.”
6) Aerial photographs are cool, but harder to see. I definitely get a kick out of passing a big building and seeing what it looks like from the top, but aerials tend to be a little dark and tough to read outside on the Dakota and Oregon screens.
7) Remember that you can only have 100 map tiles on your GPS at a time. TF will give you a warning message if you generate a single KMZ file with more than 100 tiles (the number is displayed as you zoom in and out and choose a tileset as well). But even across multiple KMZ files you can only have 100 tiles total. So, be careful.
8 ) You can use Google Earth to preview the generated KMZ file and see what you have. It will look less pixelated on the GPS since Google Earth resamples the map tiles and loses some quality. Still useful to verify what you have.
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December 26th, 2009 at 10:19 am
[...] BikeRadar.com GPSfix Diary of Scott Morris [...]
December 29th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Sounds like you have great experience with the Dak 20
I have had mine for 1 month Has been working well Lots to learn tho
Now I went to torn on faint screen and then goes dead Have tried 3 new sets of AA batts nothing
Any idea? Is Garmin Int..really swamped for customer support I have tried emails and phone 2 days ago nothing?
New item I maybe should have know to get bugs worked out first?
Thanks
December 30th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Scott
Thanks for taking the time to educate others based on your past experience with GPS devices.
I like road cycling myself, and I would like to get a GPS device, in order to put an end to losing my faster teammates at different events.
What is your take on the GPS technology incorporated in cell phones? I would rather hit two birds with one stone if the 10$ monthly AT&T/GPS fee would be waived.
Are you familiar with the HTC Tilt 2 for AT&T?
Cordially
Robert
December 30th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Dave — Garmin has a good reputation for customer support. They’ve always helped me out. Keep trying.
Robert — Unfortunately I have limited experience with GPS+phone technology. In general my feeling is that in combining devices you often sacrifice some of the functionality a dedicated device gives you.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Garmin did finally get to me …4 days later It was a corupt file had to remove al files and do a reboot
Works great now Hope it continues Like the unit
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:17 am
Scott, this post has inspired me to finally go buy a GPS and the Dakota looks like a good fit. One question, do I have to buy Garmins Topo to make this thing work off-road.
Thanks for the help! I enjoy your blog immensely.
January 2nd, 2010 at 10:23 am
You don’t need the Garmin topos, no. They are a pretty comprehensive basemap to have on the GPS, but you could use custom maps, or there are a number of free alternatives for vector basemaps, depending on what state(s) you are looking for. See this thread: http://www.topofusion.com/forum/index.php?topic=3796.0
January 3rd, 2010 at 8:43 am
[...] Fanning. I’ve never owned a handheld GPS before, and after exhaustive research and reading Scott Morris’ recommendation, I decided on the Dakota, and I have been most pleased. It’s a cinch to operate, perfect for [...]
January 18th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Scott,
I am planning on doing the APC 116 this coming weekend and was going to use my Garmin Edge 305 for navigating to the GPX that you cleaned up. What I have done in the past for rides beyond the battery life is to bring one of those small AA USB recharger packs and plug it in when the batteries are low. My concern on the APC is I have never ridden these trails and if I lose my GPS nav ability then I will be reduced to map/compass. What are your comments on continuing to use the Edge 305 versus upgrading to the Dakota 20?
Thanks,
Kevin
January 18th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Kevin–
I don’t have much experience using AA USB chargers and the edge units. However, I do know of some failures — e.g. Dave Harris on the Colorado Trail Race this year. I prefer something that directly uses AA batteries.
Whether or not it’s worth upgrading for the APC, I don’t know. You could turn the GPS off for significant portions (like the whole neutral portion — you might be able to get away with it.
If you are planning on doing other 12+ hour rides (or bikepacking), I’d say upgrade for sure!
January 18th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Thanks for the feedback. There are two versions available one of which comes with the TOPO U.S. 100K mapping DVD for an extra $50. Is it worth the extra money? I already have the 7.5′ TOPO state maps for CA and AZ so I should be able to use these correct? I’m assuming that I would have to specify what areas to download to the device since the take up so much memory.
January 20th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Kevin — your existing maps wouldn’t load onto the unit. Not without a bunch of trouble. Using TopoFusion you could upload a fair area of topo maps (for anywhere in the US), but they are different than the (vector) Mapsource TOPO U.S. DVD. Those basemaps are still somewhat useful, depending on your use. However, there are also some free options for vector basemaps, see this thread for more info: http://www.topofusion.com/forum/index.php?topic=3796.0
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Hello Scott,
First thanks a lot for your amazing review. I’m considering to buy the Dakota 20 GPS. I have a few questions though:
Will I be able to store whole Great divide route GPS data (as provided by Adventure Cycling Association) on it? I basically want to use it for navigation (Not super important… I did the Great Divide twice between Banff and Salida so I know the part pretty well. Navigation would be only helpful past Marshall pass to the US/Mex border.) But more important for me is the ability to save and download all the route tracking gps info after I return back home. Will the Dakota 20 able to hold all the data??? I don’t want to carry a netbook and off-load the gps tracks daily???
January 24th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Scott – great review. You mention you wouldn’t use the Dakota for racing as the screen isn’t perfect – what would be your suggestion for a better racing GPS?
Ian
January 25th, 2010 at 11:58 am
RichNYC — you’ll have no problem storing the entire divide route. Even a single 10,000 point track is enough for navigating divide, in my experience (I have toured the route and raced it). I wouldn’t bother with the custom maps feature for the divide, though, just stick with an uploaded screen.
As for storing your ride, with 850 mb internal memory you could record the whole thing no problem. The unit automatically archives your data ever 10,000 points. You’d just have to merge it all together after the ride.
IanC — my first choice would be a VistaHCx (or LegendHCx). Small screen, but easy to read, lasts for ~50 hours on two lithium AA’s. No custom maps, but still works for uploading a (split) 10,000 point track.
January 26th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Thanks Scott, I just bought the Dakota 20 and your TF software… Quite an upgrade from my Edge 305;) BTW, this is my first mapping GPS. I’m really happy that Dakota accepts my old HR straps, too;) Now, I just have to spent time with this little wonder to learn to use it…
One question re. TF: Would it be possible to custom select the 100 map tiles rather then be limited to whatever is visible in TF? Something like in Garmin Mapsource where you can click on specific maps (tiles) and select them for upload to a GPS… This way I could fit more maps around my planned route??? Just a thought…
As for the Divide, I will most likely just put the ACA track on it and upload the free state topos from GPSFileDepot for the whole route. They are small but have plenty of detail to be used…
February 6th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Scott – Appreciate the time spent on the review. I am a casual road biker (around 2,500 miles per year). I don’t have a GPS yet, but am considering either the Dakota or the Garmin 605, do you have any opinion on which would be better? I like to make cue sheets with turn by turn directions, even if I am only riding locally – the 605 seems to be better for this replacement of my paper cue sheets, what are you thoughts?
February 20th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Thanks for the review…I was split between the Edge series and the Dakota 20. After reading through your review, the Dakota 20 became the clearer choice for me, I ordered it yesterday!
February 24th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Rec’d the Dakota 20 today….great GPS signal reception. I was on the 1st floor of a two story school and it tracked my path through the different wings and hallways! Looking forward to using this on the trails!
March 4th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Hey,
I bought a brand new Dakota 20. new AA, nothing, only lines across the screen and then went dead. Tried 4 different sets of AA. same shiite. Got another dakot. same thing. Finally my 3rd dakota worked well. no problems so far. Hey, what can I say. Poor product, maybe was build on a monday, guy still had a hangover from the weekend. Garmin was clueless. Great GPS thou, now that it works.