Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Before I even start: A lot of times when one reads a critical review they try to dismiss it; the reviewer is an idiot, just had bad luck, has an axe to grind with the company, or just likes writing negative reviews. I can assure you that this is the first seriously negative review I've ever written in my life and I've been around for a while. It actually pains me to have to slam a product so hard, but in this case I honestly feel it's justified and I seriously implore any potential buyer to think long and hard about what I write before choosing this unit. The Garmin Dakota 20 is a great idea; it's a very small, very portable unit with a lot of features that fits easily in a backpack, jacket pocket, camera bag, purse or what have you. While the screen isn't the brightest I've ever seen, it's workable even in sunlight, and the user interface has a nice feel. The GPS receiver picks up satellites reasonably (but not amazingly) quickly. Lots of stuff for a reasonable (although not bargain) price. When I first bought it, my hopes were very high and my initial impression good. The pre-installed basemap isn't serious enough for any real hiking; you're best to get one of the 24k or 100k topousa maps and install what you need. That being said, the map/GPS relationship isn't very accurate - my home location is reported the same in terms of GPS position by the Dakota 20 and both of my Garmin automotive GPS units, but on the map the Dakota 20 reports my position approximately 1/4 mile away from where I actually am while the auto GPS units are within 15 feet. That's not good. I'd almost say that's laughably bad. The most serious problem with the Dakota 20 is simply one of reliability. My first unit went dead as a brick within one week of ownership; it didn't even have an aggregate of 5 hours use on it. I'm technically competent and tried all the stuff on the garmin (and other) forums, to no avail. Back it went. The second unit worked when I got it, then it sat around a few weeks until I took it on vacation to test drive it. It worked fine there. Back home, still within 30 days of purchase, the unit once again is dead as a brick; power switch doesn't turn it on, and that's with fresh batteries, and once again, I might have maybe 7 total hours on the unit. Went back through all the steps, googled all the Dakota 20 problems in the forums, all of that - once again, to no avail. Bottom line is simply this: the unit is crap - having two units turn into non functional bricks within the span of two months is unacceptable - one I might understand, but two I can not tolerate - and I'm far from the only person who has had one die. It is, without question, the worst single piece of consumer electronics I've experienced in my 49 years on the planet, and this is coming from someone who rarely returns equipment or has issues with electronics in general - I am far from the usual complainer-on-the-forums kind of guy who hates everything. It is supremely frustrating, because I so *want* to like this unit; but there is no way I can. Two bricks plus pathetic map accuracy a happy customer do not make. Seriously and strongly not recommended. This unit is a disgrace to a GPS firm (Garmin) that in the past has done much better. Avoid the Dakota like the plague.