Palm ?

January 18, 2006

looking to buy a used palm for paperless caching , not wanting to pay alot for somthing I will end up droping someday. Would it be better to have one that runs on AAA battery or the rechargable one ???. & do they make a model that does runs off AAA bat.???. what model to look for???? this would just be used for caching any help would be great .

" new to this game "

Thank You

DUCKIT

24.7k · January 18, 2006

Virtually any old palm will run the geocaching software and are fairly inexpensive used.

5.7k · January 18, 2006

Palm m500 series. Premium membership. Cachmate. GSAK.

January 18, 2006

Palm m500 series. Premium membership. Cachmate. GSAK.

What?

11.3k · January 18, 2006

Cachemate

GSAK

<_<

5.6k · January 18, 2006

Check ebay for used palms, I bought one last month (M125 with serial cradle & USB cradle) for $1.00 - a steal!

January 18, 2006

Any Palmwith more than 2MB of onboard RAM will do, though I'd recommend 8MB minimum....

That being said, I have a T3 that I'd be willing to part with for 2 50cal ammo cans in trade.

January 18, 2006

I just bought a Sony CLIÉ PEG-SL10 on ebay for $20 .& was told this would b ok

January 18, 2006

Virtually any old palm will run the geocaching software

What geocaching software is this? Ive not heared of any do i neeed to be a prem member?

Oh and I have a Palm Zire 31 the cheapest color one

January 18, 2006

I won a bid for a Palm 3xe (like new condition) on Ebay for $21, including the base. I plan to download Cachemate for $8 once the PDA gets here, probably later this week.

January 18, 2006

looking to buy a used palm for paperless caching , not wanting to pay alot for somthing I will end up droping someday. Would it be better to have one that runs on AAA battery or the rechargable one ???. & do they make a model that does runs off AAA bat.???. what model to look for???? this would just be used for caching any help would be great .
" new to this game "

Thank You

DUCKIT

Duckit,

To answer your question, some Palms use and internal / rechargeable battery (like my Palm V) and some use AAA's (like my m100).

It's mostly personal preference, but I like being able to swap out the batteries on the m100 if it dies mid-cache. If the Palm V dies, not much I can do except wait for it to charge back up. But it's totally up to ones own preference.

-Ed-

January 18, 2006

Prem membership will allow you to download all real infromation that is needed for paperless caching. Cachemate is a program that you load onto the palm device. GSAK is a program to convert the files to Cachmate specific files. This is the setup that I use.

Good Luck

1.2k · January 18, 2006

To answer your question, some Palms use and internal / rechargeable battery (like my Palm V) and some use AAA's (like my m100).

It's mostly personal preference, but I like being able to swap out the batteries on the m100 if it dies mid-cache. If the Palm V dies, not much I can do except wait for it to charge back up. But it's totally up to ones own preference.

I was wondering if anyone was going to do that :laughing: I personally love my m125 for that very reason.

11.3k · January 18, 2006

I have had my Palm M500 for several years. I love not having to mess with extra batteries. I already carry one for my camera, and several AAs for my GPSr and my other camera. :laughing:

The battery in the Palm M500 lasts for a really long time -- days -- unless you are using it for hours at a time, or have it on at night with the backlight on.

Edited January 18, 2006 by Miragee

January 18, 2006

Our first PDA for caching was a Palm IIIxe purchased off of Ebay. It worked well but the screen was hard for old folks to read in low light conditions. We upgraded to a Palm Tungsten. We really love it EXCEPT the fact we cannot change batteries. We found the ability to carry extra batteries easier to manage that the recharge managment.

5.7k · January 19, 2006

Palm m500 series. Premium membership. Cachmate. GSAK.

What?

Where?

January 19, 2006

I strongly recommend an older Palm with AAA batteries. The Palm IIIxe is ideal. It will run either (or both of) Cachemate and/or CetusGPS, plus a web-page display application if you want to carry the cache pages in original form. I use CetusGPS, and stopped bothering to download the pages in web form, because I could get enough information from just the GPX file download (including description, hint, all that stuff) that I didn't bother to look at the cache-page-equivalent.

But you really want to not depend on rechargables... you want to be able to swap the batteries. At least, if you do any evening caching, having that backlight on the Palm REALLY drains the batteries, and you want to be able to finish.... it's a much different load on the Palm than just using it for a calendar/todo list, in which mode the Palm batteries will last for weeks.....

That's my advice, anyway.

Software to consider: Either CetusGPS (free) and/or Cachemate ($8) in the Palm. Premium membership on the website, so you can download GPX format files which have all the data you want. GSAK on your PC to manipulate GPX files. Possibly some mapping program (I like Microsoft Streets & Trips... it's very cheap, but then I do mostly urban/suburban caching, and usually want roads, not topo maps... you may be someplace else, and want topos instead). GPSbabel is a free program which converts to file formats which you will need... it's included as part of GSAK (and GSAK uses it internally), or you can download it yourself.

My best wishes,

Dick "RheS" Smith

January 19, 2006

Having gone with both the AAA battery unit (Palm IIIxe) and the rechargable unit (Palm 515), I would offer that the battery style is not the decision-maker.

Yes, you can carry extra batteries - but you can also use a 12v adaptor for in the car. Most of the time, most of us will not be away from the car for more than a few hours while caching. You can also get a pocket-sized battery-powered emergency charger that gives you many quick "mini charges", for very little money on Ebay.

Since both ways have advantages, I still use both. I use the 515 for any time I will be caching from the SUV, because I like the bright color screen and the bigger memory (and I have it attached to the Magellan GPS Companion). But I use the IIIxe whenever I will be going anywhere there is a likelyhood that it may get dirty, wet, dropped, or fallen on (because it's cheap to replace).

So, I guess my answer is - get one of each, 'cause one is nicer and the other is cheap. They both work great with Cachemate.

Edited January 19, 2006 by StarshipTrooper

January 19, 2006

I'm spmewhat like StarshipTrooper. I have an even older PalmIII (no letters) and use GSAK and Cachemate on it. Worked fine with the 2Mb of RAM. Recently upgraded to a T|X for the bluetooth capability and to use with a bluetooth GPS receiver.

I also use the Palm III when there is a strong possiblity of bad conditions.

JDandDD

1.4k · January 20, 2006

Having gone with both the AAA battery unit (Palm IIIxe) and the rechargable unit (Palm 515), I would offer that the battery style is not the decision-maker.

Indeed. The units that take AAA are generally monochrome and don't always have a great backlight. As such, they are not alway easy to read except in good light. OTOH, a rechargeable unit usually is set up that way because it's got a power-sucking color display that can be much easer to read unless in full sun.

Bottom line, display is a bigger factor, and that may force the choice on battery.

January 20, 2006

We use a cig lighter USB adapter plug charger and plug the Palm in while driving .... so it is always charged up. They also make battery packs that you can plug the Palm USB cord into for charging ..... say for a camping trip .... and they even make a solar charger unit for USB charging. I've even seen high tech jackets that have flex solar panels that charge up your devices. SO ...... Any battery issue can be solved if you throw enough money at it! :lol: ImpalaBob

January 20, 2006

will a 03 model palm zire do all that you folks are saying?? will it support the software i would need?

1.7k · January 20, 2006

Anybody using rechargeable AAAs in a Palm IIIx? I'm considering one, but noticed on Palm's site that they don't recommend rechargeables for the IIIx due to the discharge rate confusing the low-battery warning, possibly not giving the user enough time to shut down without losing data. Is this a legit concern?

1.2k · January 20, 2006

Anybody using rechargeable AAAs in a Palm IIIx? I'm considering one, but noticed on Palm's site that they don't recommend rechargeables for the IIIx due to the discharge rate confusing the low-battery warning, possibly not giving the user enough time to shut down without losing data. Is this a legit concern?

There is actually a setting that can set the battery type for the sake of the battery meter (shortcut-dot-7 in a text field to cycle between the various options, unless you want to buy a program to do it), but I haven't seen anything that would say whether or not it makes up for the discharge timing thing.

January 20, 2006

For you folks with units that recharge from the USB cable, here is a handy (cheap) way to charge in the car:

USB Car Charging Adapter

I bought a couple and charge my Pocket PC. My son uses his to charge his IPOD.

January 20, 2006

I decide for in celebration of reaching the milemarker 100th cache, that i would go paperless, I ended up buying my Palm (Zire 72) For like $100 on Ebay, barely used great shape, Trust me if you want to buy something cheap look at ebay, a lot of my caching gear, and Camping gear off of ebay, its a cheap and easy way to go about it..

1.4k · January 21, 2006

Anybody using rechargeable AAAs in a Palm IIIx?

Palm IIIxe count? I have a pack that I picked up on close-out from Radio Shack a year ago. I think it was about $12 and had the battery, a cigarette lighter cord that charged it though the battery door and the AC adapter to cigarette lighter. (The latter by itself is probably worth that much.)

Yeah, if you don't pay attention to the battery meter, you don't get much warning. But I've not lost data yet. One day I'll figure out how the change the battery meter. I saw the sequence on the thread, now if I can just figure out how to do "shortcut"..... Hmm, it doesn't seem to do anything.

February 21, 2006

My suggestion is to get a Paml Zire 72- You could get one off of Overstock.com. That's where I got mine, and I've been slowly adding on to it. It cost me under 200 clams, then the add ons, such as a hard case which I needed for work purposes. I work w/ students w/ severe behavioral problems, which often require restraints. I lost my first palm doing this. Anywho, I then got a 1 Gig expansion card, which holds a ton of music, pics, and also programs. And I just recently aquired a bluetooth GPS reciever, which brought me to the realm of Geocaching w/ it. I've also managed to get my hands on some very nice programs to use in conjunction. I think all I need now is a small keyboard, and my Zire will replace my need for the PC by about 90!! Technology is great. Anyways, I hope this helps. My zire is my ultimate carry along entertainment center, and it's hard to find me w/ out it.

February 21, 2006

I would say "ditto" with a Palm Treo 650. TomTom, music, movies, contacts, calendar, Planterium for star gazing, on and on. I like GeoNiche. I put the cache location in the TomTom maps and in GeoNiche. Just waitng for a break in the weather now.

February 22, 2006

1. Can someone please explain what 'bluetooth' means?

2. Re GeoNiche, if I'm understanding correctly, you have to somehow connect your Palm to your GPSr for it to work. Is this right?

I'm a techo dummy :laughing: , so any help (the more explicit, the better) would be appreciated.

:lol: Sue

February 25, 2006

I have a Palm m105 and when I change the batteries I lose cachemate and have to hotsync to get it back. Is there an internal battery that needs changing or some "special procedure" for changing batteries to preserve the database?

Edited February 25, 2006 by bunchabunkeys

1.7k · February 25, 2006

I have a Palm m105 and when I change the batteries I lose cachemate and have to hotsync to get it back. Is there an internal battery that needs changing or some "special procedure" for changing batteries to preserve the database?

How long are you taking to change the batteries? The manual for my IIIxe says the data will stay on the PDA without a battery for only one minute.

February 25, 2006

Just got into geocaching also -- and had to go paperless -- I went crazy and got the Palm LifeDrive -- 4 gb of storage with the ability to add even more (not that you would ever need it) with an SD card. I also ordered TomTom Navigator 5 for it along with GeoNiche. Plan on using my explorist 600 for the bushwacking caches to keep the Palm out of harms way.

Bluetooth is a type of wireless connection --

Edited February 25, 2006 by maddog20_20

February 25, 2006

I have a Palm m105 and when I change the batteries I lose cachemate and have to hotsync to get it back. Is there an internal battery that needs changing or some "special procedure" for changing batteries to preserve the database?

How long are you taking to change the batteries? The manual for my IIIxe says the data will stay on the PDA without a battery for only one minute.

Only a matter of seconds. The unit is several years old and I wonder if there is an internal battery or capacitor that has gone bad?

1.8k · February 26, 2006

It is designed to run for a minute without batteries. Yo udo have it switched off? If you have it on when changing batteries there is no way thecapacitor will cope. If it is switched off and loses its memory contents I suspect the capacitor has gone bad.

February 26, 2006

It is designed to run for a minute without batteries. Yo udo have it switched off? If you have it on when changing batteries there is no way thecapacitor will cope. If it is switched off and loses its memory contents I suspect the capacitor has gone bad.

I wasn't sure if I always had the unit turned off, so I just tested it and am now restoring my Cachemate database from GSAK as it lost everything during the 10 seconds without power. Looks like I have a bad capacitor. Not a problem while sitting here next to my PC, but it sure is if I have to change batteries in the field. Looks like I may be in the market for a new PDA in the future.

February 27, 2006

1. Can someone please explain what 'bluetooth' means?

BlueTooth is a short-range wireless standard allowing devices to communicate when they get in proximity to each other. An example is BlueTooth wireless headsets, which allow hands-free operation of compatible cell phones without the wires.

2. Re GeoNiche, if I'm understanding correctly, you have to somehow connect your Palm to your GPSr for it to work. Is this right?

Geoniche can be used without a connection to your GPS, but to do so would be to ignore a lot of it's features. If you have a non-BlueTooth enabled GPS, you can get a cable to connect your GPS to your Palm/Pocket PC device, but that all gets a little tangled in the field. Being able to upload coordinates from a database in your mobile device vs. entering coordinates in your GPS by hand makes this a very attractive option.

I'm a techo dummy , so any help (the more explicit, the better) would be appreciated.

Sue

8k · February 27, 2006

It is designed to run for a minute without batteries. Yo udo have it switched off? If you have it on when changing batteries there is no way thecapacitor will cope. If it is switched off and loses its memory contents I suspect the capacitor has gone bad.

I wasn't sure if I always had the unit turned off, so I just tested it and am now restoring my Cachemate database from GSAK as it lost everything during the 10 seconds without power. Looks like I have a bad capacitor. Not a problem while sitting here next to my PC, but it sure is if I have to change batteries in the field. Looks like I may be in the market for a new PDA in the future.

We have a palm m125 with the same problem. bought it a couple of years ago and never used it for just that reason. Just recently discovered that it is a VERY frequent problem with the m100 series units. so much so that there was a class action suit and recall. Unfortunately the deadline to file was Feb 22. I believe the web site is www.taylorsettlement.com

February 27, 2006

It is designed to run for a minute without batteries. Yo udo have it switched off? If you have it on when changing batteries there is no way thecapacitor will cope. If it is switched off and loses its memory contents I suspect the capacitor has gone bad.

I just got my Palm IIIxe. I read somewhere that it is best to remove and replace one battery at a time, instead of removing both at once.

Here it is (from the Palm IIIxe FAQ):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Changing the alkaline batteries in your Palm device

If you use a device that uses AAA alkaline batteries, please review the following guidelines when changing the batteries.

1. Perform a HotSync® operation with your desktop computer immediately before changing batteries. This ensures that the latest version of your personal data is backed up onto your desktop computer.

2. Have your new batteries on hand. Open the package and place the batteries near your handheld. You have one minute or less to replace batteries without losing data on your handheld.

3. Remove the handheld battery door. Check your device's handbook for a diagram of the battery door.

4. Take one battery out of the handheld, noting its orientation, and place it to the side away from the new batteries.

5. Place a new battery where the old one was, with the same orientation (the battery compartment also shows proper orientation with "+" and "-" symbols).

6. Repeat this for the other side (note that the orientation is different).

7. Slide the battery door back in place to close it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am assuming that these directions apply to all Palm models that use 2 alkaline batteries.

I haven't had the opportunity to change my batteries yet, but I hope this helps!

GVMO Crew

1.6k · February 28, 2006

Although a lot of folks swear by the replaceable batteries, I would go with th rechargeables. More of the newer models (M500) have non-volatile memory. So, if, somehow, you completely drain the thing of power, you don't lose the programs and data you have in your handheld. Just a thought.

8k · March 1, 2006

Any Palmwith more than 2MB of onboard RAM will do, though I'd recommend 8MB minimum....

That being said, I have a T3 that I'd be willing to part with for 2 50cal ammo cans in trade.

Hey I have a couple of ammo cans here with your name on them........

February 25, 2007

For you people with an old Palm IIIxe, if you hold down the power button for 2 or 3 secs while powering on, then it will go into back light mode so it can be read in the dark. Warning though, doing this is hard on batteries.

Jim

Palm ?

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