kewlkatz

I am trying to learn a little GIS for work. I gave up on ESRI, too expensive. I use DIVA-GIS, developed by the University of Berkley. It is also much easier to use.

I have noticed it slows down a lot sometimes. And I just noticed on the Garmin website it says it is discontinued now. But I am still happy with it. Garmin also does not recommend it for use near or on water, or any rough use, which means I'll probably end up getting a more rugged one for boating and such. (I carry ziplock bags for rainy days anyway.) I wonder if there are some waterproof cases such as they have for cameras for underwater use. I have not been able to figure out if there are limits to SD cards to use with the M5, otherwise, more is better. And Garmin hasn't emailed me back yet. I have downloaded and installed cachemate, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet. But at least I am beginning to find my way around all the features and using the map and driving directions.

The 3600 was actually what I originally intended to get. But when I did a search, I found the M5, more powerful, but at Amazon the same price. I had borrowed a Garmin 76 series GPS before, and just got somewhat familiar with the cumbersome menus and maneuvering around them, and the terminology. I guess it takes some practice to work this one. While driving, it shows speed and direction, but not coordinates. My first attempt at geocaching was not a very succesful one, since I couldn't find the correct coordinates. I had already looked at the photos, so knew where it was. I picked this site since it was only a mile or so away. But because of it being "downtown" not so good to practice a search. The rain was a welcome disruption. I'll try again next week, after I download that software. I am finding also, there is not a lot of room for maps. I guess upgrading memory is not a waste (once I find out where it goes). Thanks for the link.

Just got my GPS/pocket pc since I wanted a PDA also. It is a cute toy, but I am beginning to wonder how useful the GPS is on it. I can use it as a car gps and mount it on the windshield and it does a great job finding restaurants. The GPS even works inside the house, near a window! But I haven't been able to find locations bij coordinates, nor have I been able to mark waypoints. The manual is not much help with that. Anyone that has tips using one of these? I also got the Microsoft GPS module for streets and trips for my laptop which allows me to put in coordinates, but found it cumbersome walking around with it.