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Paperless Cachers


Mearth

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I'm ready to buy a PDA and go paperless. I'm a penny-pincher with little (to no) innate techno-savvy. I'm hoping to get a no-nonsense model that holds a charge well. I prefer to spend my money on things that serve more than one purpose, so if you have a model that you routinely use for other things, I'd appreciate that info too. Any recommendations?

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I have a Palm M500 that I have had for more than four years. A model like that can be purchased on eBay for a very reasonable sum. The battery lasts for days and days, but it recharges quickly when I HotSync it to add cache data.

 

I also have an inexpensive hard case for it and I purchased Cachemate for $8.00.

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i have a Palm Zire 72, and i use it for keeping numbers, address, i keep my appoitments on there, and my work schedule. its easy, I also have Cachemate on there and thats the best i think, its easy to use. I bought my palm for $100 dollars on ebay, its slightly used, but is in great shape, if you want to look for cheap look at ebay.... hope this helped you out! got any other questions just ask!

 

Oh and if you at least charge it once a day or once every two days it will last all day long!

Edited by Coastiegirl04
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I run a Dell Axim x51v. You mentioned that you are a penny pincher and this unit goes for $399 new but I thought I would share some of it's other attributes so you have a better idea what these machines can do other then geocaching.

 

I use mine for WiFi internet access including email, connecting to BT devices including remote GPS recievers, appt. info, address book, notes of all kinds both voice and text, video viewing including full movies (nerd required to convert and store), gaming, picture sharing, pod casts, music, etc. Battery usage is an issue but I have an extended battery plus chargers so it isn't a big issue for me. Anyway, you get the idea.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that a PDA/PPc is alot more fragile and less resistent to weather then a dedicated GPS unit, i.e. Garmin.

 

Dell Axim x51v

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I use an Ique 3600 with palm software. I use it in conjunction with Cachemate and CacheNav. I can't say much for the internal battery, but this unit has an internal GPS and I have a 1GB SD card. I also use the car package that charges as I drive.

 

I use this unit to store all my cache information and to navigate to the cache sites. I use another unit that I use to get to the cache. This is a fully functioning PDA and GPS unit, but the internal battery leaves a lot to be desired. It is kind of pricey, but you'll never get lost. Hope this helps.

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I'm a penny-pincher with little (to no) innate techno-savvy.

 

We may be twins separated at birth!

 

After much research, I decided to go the El cheapo route.

 

I ebay'ed a Palm IIIxe (8mb) for around $50.00.

The unit came new in box with the sync cable & (2) cheapo AAA batteries.

There are 100,s of them out there as we speak.

 

I used the Spinner/Plucker method for a few weeks.

Then switched to Cachemate $8.00

 

As much as I hated to spend the money, I must admit it has uncluttered my life.

I find my self using it for many other tasks.

I have downloaded dozens of FREE applications and games since my purchase.

After using it for just a few months I find myself wondering how I ever survived without it.

My frugal 0.02 :(

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I've got a Palm M130. It has the color screen that can be hard to read at times if in bright sunlight. I also use cachemate and love it. It is easy to run a PQ and just hotsync all the info right into the palm. The M130 has a lot of other cool features too that are helpful in everyday life (non-cache related).

I think that it was pretty cheap when it was new but I can't remember now.

I have been happy with it so far.

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I got an almost-new Palm Zire 21 for almost free, and it was just enought to give me a taste of paperless caching. I soon saw the limitations, though, and fell into a great deal on a used and supposedly Mac-unfriendly (works great with Missing Sync) Sony Clie'. I knew I would appreciate the hi-res color screen, removeable memory and swing-around screen so it protects itself, but the one feature that few PDA's allow (and any future model I buy will have to have this) is the thin (magnesium?) body that allows me to carry it in my back jeans pocket with no damage. With the, uh...potentially high torsional stress loads that my (slang for donkey) must place on the contents of my back pockets, that's quite a feat!

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I have a BW Palm Zire M150. Not very powerful at all, only 2MB of storage. I got it for a gift a few years ago and never had a use for it. Then I started Geocaching. It works great for that end and can hold a lot of waypoint data, even with its limited memory. So if you want the PDA for purely Geocaching, I dont think you need one with all the bells and whistles.

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I have a BW Palm Zire M150. Not very powerful at all, only 2MB of storage. I got it for a gift a few years ago and never had a use for it. Then I started Geocaching. It works great for that end and can hold a lot of waypoint data, even with its limited memory. So if you want the PDA for purely Geocaching, I dont think you need one with all the bells and whistles.

I have the same model Palm m150. My hubby bought it for me a couple of years ago, but I had no use for it... I hate reading electronic books (paper is much nicer), never used the address book or scheduler and it's been gathering dust all this time. I started using it for caching and it works perfectly adequetely. Since it's such an old model I was able to pick up a protective case and screen protectors for it at the dollar store. At some point I might replace it with a model that has a bit more memory (unfortunately you can't remove the programs you don't use like the address book because they are built in), but until then it does a job and I won't cry if I drop if off a cliff or drown it.

 

- Jen.

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I am using an IPAQ 3955. I bought it used on Ebay for $250. I looked and it appears they are still going for around $150. This may be more then you want to spend, but for the price you are getting a lot of capabilities. It has an easily read color screen. It comes with word and excel preinstalled. Since it is running a version of windows CE you can purchase a lot of programs for it, including games. I think for the price it exceeds a geocachers needs, but I use it for a lot of things including keeping track of maintenance on my vehicles. ;)

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Hey Mearth-

 

I think I recognize your name from several local caches I've done... I have a Palm m105 that I just upgraded from. I have used it successfully for quite a while, and as it is a fairly cheap model, I never worried about breakin it! I'd be willing to part with it for a fair price. Email me at domedwellers@comcast.net if you are interested. Happy Caching! Go Seahawks!

 

DD

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If you are truly cheap, like me, go for a Palm as opposed to a pocket PC.

- Palms are much cheaper

- Most software for it is cheaper if not free due to the open architecture (not a windows product).

- Also, Cachemate is probably the best paperless cacheing software out there, and it's writen for PALM systems.

I have a Tungsten E2, and I love it-great battery life, lotsa functions. I bought a cheapy metal case for it and put it in a ziploc, and I'm good to go.

 

Oh, and go Steelers!

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I'm using a Palm Zire 21 (don't laugh to hard ;) )

Its been dropped, kicked and sit on but it keeps on tickin' It holds a charge really good.

The only problem I've seen is that if left next to my cell phone to long the cell phone kills it and I have to use my back-up file when I get back home to reload all my info. Then again this could happen to others as well.

I want a Palm TX but then would I even take it in the woods with me? Probably not.

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I use a HP Ipaq RX3115. I use it for just about everything. I have my contacts on it, excel, word, and pocket streets. It usally will hold a charge for about 4 days depending on how I use the WIFI. I also use GPXView so that I don't have to print out every cache that I want to look for. I just download a PQ and save it on the IPaq. When I go into GPXView it almost looks like the website. It has the last 5 or 6 logs, tells you if there should be any TB's in the cache and will go ahead and decyphor the hints if you want it to.

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At the suggestions of the rest of the veterans here...

 

I ended up with an eBay special, Palm M500, with games card (yeah!), Hot Sync cradle/charger, full box and CD...$48 shipping included (3-day UPS)

 

Cachemate (again from recommendations here) $8

 

GSAK (ditto above) $20

 

The combination above has made this "simple hobby" a lot of fun!

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