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Is a Palm VIIx worth it?


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Though I only have around 50 caches under my belt, paper caching is driving me nuts! I asked around work, and found a guy with an old Palm VIIx that he's willing to sell for cheap, with cradle and leather case. Though I am pretty handy with computers, I have never held or used a PDA before, and am wondering if it will do the job I need it to do (namely, allow me to go paperless caching).

 

-Will it accept and display the format that gc.com uses?

-Will it be easy to use, and navigate?

-Will I need special software?

-What's the battery life like?

-How much data will it hold? (or does it use an expandable memory card?)

 

These are all the questions I have with my limited knowledge of these things. If this isn't a good one, can you reccommend a better one that I could realistically get for under $50? I don't care about email, networking, word-processing, hacking, surfing the web, or anything else that some of these units can do.

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-Will it accept and display the format that gc.com uses? YES.

-Will it be easy to use, and navigate? YES.

-Will I need special software? YES. GSAK ($20) on the PC and Cachemate ($8) on the Palm. Both well worth the price of admission.

 

How cheaply can you get it for? Check eBay as well, you may find one even cheaper.

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Just to give you a idea of Ebay, just picked up a Palm Vx for $15 cdn without shipping as I'm picking up tomorrow at lunch. Missed a simular one on Sunday for about $6 cdn but shipping put it higher than the one I got.

 

I'm even newer at this game but already I feel bad for the amount of paper I have printed and then thrown in the recycle bin after the find.

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The guy at work had totally forgotten he even had it, and had never even thought of selling it. I think I can probably get it for around $20 (USD). I have heard of GSAK, but I have also heard that it is pretty technical. If all I want to do is download caches and go, do I really need it? What else does it do that is so great? I haven't really been able to nail that down from other forum postings I've read. I have heard of some free programs out there (easygps, IIRC). Will those do what I want them to?

 

Also, where can I get cachemate for the Palm? I assume there is a website somewhere, but is one site better than another?

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GSAK and Cachemate really are the way to go. Neither is that complicated. Here is a website to get you started.

 

http://65.34.18.106/content.php?article.15

 

I think you will find there are several paperless cachers in the northeast Indianapolis area that can answer your questions if you hit a snag.

 

Thanks for the help, GreenGecko. I really appreciate it. What I don't appreciate, however, IS YOUR STINKING "CACHE BAR"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL. Seriously, I find myself twitching everytime I pass that park... I should by stock in Excedrin for all the headaches that one has caused me... One of these days, greengecko...one of these days.

:laughing:

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The guy at work had totally forgotten he even had it, and had never even thought of selling it. I think I can probably get it for around $20 (USD). I have heard of GSAK, but I have also heard that it is pretty technical. If all I want to do is download caches and go, do I really need it? What else does it do that is so great? I haven't really been able to nail that down from other forum postings I've read. I have heard of some free programs out there (easygps, IIRC). Will those do what I want them to?

 

Also, where can I get cachemate for the Palm? I assume there is a website somewhere, but is one site better than another?

 

GSAK/Cachemate is definitely the way to go. The problem(?) is that GSAK is very powerful and there is a LOT that it can do, if you want it to....that's why there are so many posts in the forums about it.

 

However, the basic stuff (loading a pocket query, sending waypoints to your GPS, exporting them to Cachemate) is all very simple.

 

It's kindof like any computer program. Anybody can open up Microsoft Word and start writing a document, but there's a ton of other things it can do if you want to get more advanced. GSAK is like that....anyone can use it, but there's a ton of advanced features if you want to use them.

 

I think all the questions about the advanced features scares some people off that really just need the basic functionality.

Edited by ThePropers
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I use a VIIx, and it works fine. I concur with the posts so far, and live and die by the Cachemate/GSAK combination. The VIIx was kind of cool in its day, but its defining feature - wireless connectivity - is no longer active. There weren't enough people interested in paying $10 a month, so they disbanded the network. That being said, it still works fine for caching and general PDA use.

 

To address some of your questions specific to the unit:

 

-What's the battery life like?

I have never had problems in the field, since the use is for only a few minutes per cache. However, you have to change the batteries every two weeks or so, even if you never use the unit. If you don't it loses all of its programming and needs a full resync. Kind of a pain, but because I use 15-minute rechargables, it's not a big deal as long as I don't forget to change the batteries from time to time.

 

-How much data will it hold? (or does it use an expandable memory card?)

I have had some very large GSAK databases - over 500 waypoints - loaded and have not come close to exhausting all of the memory. There is no way to expand the memory, but I don't see it as a problem unless you chew up the memory some other way.

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-How much data will it hold? (or does it use an expandable memory card?)

I have had some very large GSAK databases - over 500 waypoints - loaded and have not come close to exhausting all of the memory. There is no way to expand the memory, but I don't see it as a problem unless you chew up the memory some other way.

How much memory does it come with?

I get about 1400 cache listings on my Palm IIIxe which has a total of 8 mb.

Edited by Team Perrito Blanco
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I use the VIIx in combination with Geotoad and Cachemate which has turned out to be a good setup of non premium members.

 

Don't pay any more than $20, it's not worth any more

 

Battery life was a problem at first because the wireless function (which can't be used) gets charged up, after I passed that I was having to recharge my 2 AAA's every couple of weeks which was a pain so I've adapted mine to take 2 AA's and now I get about 2 months between charges plus it's makes an excellent spare battery holder incase needed for the Palm, GPS or Digital Camera.

 

palm_back.jpg

palm_front.jpg

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<_<

 

Ok, I kinda feel stupid about this since I have messed with computers most of my life. I have the Palm VIIx, but am having no luck getting it to sync up. Having never messed with a PDA in my life, can anyone give me some basics with this thing? Why do I need to sync up? Why can't I just transfer programs like CacheMate, transfer some caches, and be done with it? Of course I am expecting this to act like a USB device where you plug and transfer and go. Maybe this older technology doesn't work this way.

 

Anyway, I have the cradle plugged into what I believe is the serial port on the back of my computer (9-pins with IOIOI next to it), I have the Palm set into the cradle, turn the Palm on, and press the sync button on the bottom, but no luck. Nothing. I did turn my computer off after plugging the cradle into the serial port, and then turned it back on so that it would recognize that something was there, but still nothing. I have the books for this thing, and they mention some software of some sort (which I currently don't have), but the book makes it seem as though that software would just allow me to run the PDA from my desktop. Is there more to it than that? Is this something I should make an effort to get from the guy I bought it from? If he doesn't have it am I up a creek? Is there some way around not having it?

 

Finally, you have all lauded the glories of the gsak/cachemate combo. I am cheap and short on money. If I don't have to spend the $28 for these programs, could I just use an Acrobat reader for my Palm, and download the PDFs from GC.com? Is the main issue with that just that you can only download one cache at a time? Is there some reason why I haven't seen many others talking about this in the forums?

 

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to get paperless, (FINALLY), and I thought this would have been a little simpler. Oh well. I'll learn from this and hopefully be able to help the next newbie, right?

 

hoosier_daddy <_<

Edited by Hoosier_Daddy
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<_<

 

Anyway, I have the cradle plugged into what I believe is the serial port on the back of my computer (9-pins with IOIOI next to it), I have the Palm set into the cradle, turn the Palm on, and press the sync button on the bottom, but no luck. Nothing. I did turn my computer off after plugging the cradle into the serial port, and then turned it back on so that it would recognize that something was there, but still nothing. I have the books for this thing, and they mention some software of some sort (which I currently don't have), but the book makes it seem as though that software would just allow me to run the PDA from my desktop. Is there more to it than that? Is this something I should make an effort to get from the guy I bought it from? If he doesn't have it am I up a creek? Is there some way around not having it?

 

The Palm Desktop Software can be donwloaded here: http://www.palm.com/us/software/desktop/. With it you can upload palm files.

 

Regards,

Luis Sismeiro

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