Garmin Dakota 20 GPS Receiver

Simply trying to get the right piece of kit to do the right job is not always easy and I have found from past experience to do your research first. When I searched ebay for GPS I was amazed at what was on offer, but also I was quite surprised at what they were selling for. (Expense wise) I realised through the research that a commodity such as a GPS was in demand for the latest craze of Geocaching. So I did more research including watching an amusing clip about geocaching on youtube in the film Splinterheads. It looked fun but at this stage not for me. I had a purpose for my GPS. I was after one for pinpointing sites and areas when out metal detecting, so I could keep track if I was finishing half way across a field etc. or if I had a good find and wanted to record it.
Well I found a GPS on ebay AS NEW an unwanted prize. Put in the bid and won the lot. Quick all round service and in a couple of days was opening my new gadget.
I took a little while to get to know the Dakota but was keen to give it a real field test so that was the plan. It seemed on the day that I was too engaged in metal detecting that my daughter had control of it. After a couple of hours I found a nice hammered silver coin from 1545 so I asked my daughter if she could pinpoint the location. Well no sooner said than done "Done it came the reply do you want me to name it and flag it" Typical response from a teenager while I had my head down for the last couple of hours she had got her head round the Dakota and I was now asking her for a demo. Easy to use simple clear and spot on for the intended job. My only problem was the inital map, so because of what I wanted to do I purchased another map an OS Map perfect for the job. Easy to install and well the rest is history. Everytime I go metal detecting the Dakota goes to.... and you never know I was talking to my girls the other day about Geocaching. Wouldnt it be nice to leave some treasure I have found somewhere for someone else to get the thrill and experience from finding and seeing it.
Simon Marsh fish4adeal www.Octagon.me

I bought the Garmin Dakota 20 GPS Receiver because I was fed up printing everything off when I went out cache hunting. It has made a big difference being able to have not only the description and hint available but also a few of the logs. It is a bit different to use then my old GPS and is taking me a wee bit of work to get used to it but all in all I can recommend this product

I bought this piece of kit purely for Geocaching and i am well impressed.
Simple to use and understand,bright touch screen,small and lightweight plus with an optional bike mount it is now fitted to my mountain bike and when you get back from a bike run upload to garmin connect and hey presto you can see on a map where you have been and many other bits of info eg altitude,distance,speed and time.
I rate this as the best gadget i have purchased in the past 3-4 years......LOVE IT.
Allan

Once you get your head around the not very good manual this is a fabulous piece of kit. The manual tells you how to change things but does not tell you what the things you can change actually do! Be also warned it will take some time to used to how the Dakota relates to Garmin Basecamp. In both these instances if you ignore the manual and just play with it like I did you will get the hang of it. I do also recommend using the Lithium batteries they do clearly last longer.

I've used this on my Bicycle and whilst running. I purchased this as it runs off batteries and therefore as long as I carry batteries it will work I do not have to worry about a battery charger. My intended use is to Cycle from Lands End to John o Groats, and it took nearly 3 days to create the route in garmin Basecamp but having done so I was able to load the entire route into the dakota.

My son has got me hooked on GEOCACHING and this is a first class GPS ideal for this.I was recomended to buy this as my son has got one.The size is small and very easy to use.Can't compare as never had one before.