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Which PDA< Bluetooth rec, and mapping software?


geobudman

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I am really wanting to go paperless in a big way, and want to get away from my first gen Lowrance iFinder.

 

Doing a little research I have found numerous bluetooth receivers, even solar-powered for less than $100.

 

Question 1: I you had $250 to spend, which BT receiver, PDA, and software would you go for?

Question 2: What is the "barebones" minimum cost setup that would best serve a cacher? I'm talking the cheapest serviceable unit. (Keep in mind that I only want to use a bluetooth receiver.)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

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Edited by geobudman
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I am really wanting to go paperless in a big way, and want to get away from my first gen Lowrance iFinder.

 

Doing a little research I have found numerous bluetooth receivers, even solar-powered for less than $100.

 

Question 1: I you had $250 to spend, which BT receiver, PDA, and software would you go for?

Question 2: What is the "barebones" minimum cost setup that would best serve a cacher? I'm talking the cheapest serviceable unit. (Keep in mind that I only want to use a bluetooth receiver.)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

207.gif

 

My next unit will probably be an I-Blue 737.

 

http://www.buygpsnow.com/i-blue-edition-2-...on-off-679.aspx

 

It looks pretty good and you can't beat the $70 price tag. I actually own and use a Wintec WBT-100. I bought it because of the built in compass but I ended up not using it that much. If I were doing it again I'd buy the WBT-200 (same thing sans compass and ten bucks less.) I use my cell phone (see link below if interested) for the readout but the nice thing about these BT GPSR's is that you can use them with anything that will take a serial NMEA data stream. You can buy a Bluetooth USB dongle for your laptop (I've seen them for as little as 12 bucks) I bought mine at a local computer store and it came with the Blue Soliel software. That seems to be popular on the PC end of things. I can't help you with PDA choices as I don't use one. My cell phone has all the PDA I need (g). I like DeLormes products for PC use. I think they have PDA offerings as well. Check them out at www.delorme.com

 

If you already have a BT PDA or Cell phone then the absolute "cheapest" is to just get one of these little GPSR's and somebody's software. FWIW, if your PDA or Cell phone can run Java Midlets (Java 2 Micro Edition) I'd love to have you test my software and let me know what you think. See the link below for more info.

Edited by dpbabcock
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You might want to do some craigslist searching or other source becaue if you want a pda bluetooth and mapping you will have to squeeze to stay in a $250 budget.I would recomenfd whatewver bluettoth gps you go with to make sure it is the sirf3 chip in it.They are only a small price difference more but definitely worth the $$$.

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You might want to do some craigslist searching or other source becaue if you want a pda bluetooth and mapping you will have to squeeze to stay in a $250 budget.I would recomenfd whatewver bluettoth gps you go with to make sure it is the sirf3 chip in it.They are only a small price difference more but definitely worth the $$$.

 

Yes. If you back out the minimum of $70 for the BT GPS, you have about $180 to play with for the PDA. That may be a bit tight.

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I am interested in this topic also. I'm home sick today (102 for 3 days is *not* fun) so I've been looking for the software to complement this setup. I have a Palm OS pda w/ expansion card, and a BT GPS reciever (no display, reciever only) My laptop also has BT, and I looked at CacheMaps, but I'd like to find something very similar to that program that will sync to my Palm, so that I can be directed to the caches with my handheld, and not the laptop.

 

Any suggestions? Or am I missing the part where CacheMaps will sync with a PDA?

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Take a look at CetusGPS. It has lots of geocaching features, and both Cachemate and GSAK will export cache info to it. It works well with a bluetooth GPS, and the price is right (freeware). CacheNav which is included with Cachemate is very similar, and integrates with Cachemate well, but I prefer Cetus for the navigation.

 

$250 won't get you much if you're buying a PDA with it. You'll have to pay more than $200 to get a decent PDA with bluetooth, but you won't have to pay a lot more. If you want automobile routing and mapping, you'll need to pay a couple of hundred more in addition, though.

 

I've never heard of CacheMaps, no idea what it does on what platform.

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Cachemaps runs on a PC, and basically adds Mapping functionality to GSAK. It imports the waypoints, then plots them on a map of your choice (google, etc)

 

CetusGPS does look very similar to CacheMate/CacheNav. Which is to say, no maps feature.

 

I want to see my position on a map, similar to a normal handheld gps that has had maps downloaded to it. I'd like to have an all-in-one program, instead of cobbling together several things and having to convert files all the time.

 

CetusGPS did have a link to GPSVisualizer, which functions similar to CacheMaps, only online. However, I can't see any way to get these maps onto the PDA for use within CetusGPS.

 

Ideally, I'd like a desktop program for importing/editing downloaded waypoints/caches from geocaching.com, plotting them on a map, then syncing to my PDA so I can see my position on the map as I search for my next Cache.

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MS S&T might have a version that runs on Palm, but I don't know. DeLorms Street Atlas 2007 has a Palm component, and very good maps, and it should be possible to get the caches on there. GSAK will export to that format via GPSBabel. You can also get (minimal) driving directions to the caches or other addresses with it. I got SA07 for Christmas, and while it has nice maps, Mapopolis blows it out of the water for driving directions, so I don't use it much, except to view the maps once in awhile. It does work very well on my laptop, though, but it's a hassle setting up the laptop in the car. For caching, it should do pretty well, because the maps are good and you can see your position on them. For caching, you might prefer the topo edition.

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With the things you seem to be wanting it is going to be very hard to stay within a $250 budget.Most mapping programs cost around $100 just for the mapping the reciver another 70 or so and even used gps with bluetooth are around $100.You are probably at the minimum need at least two programs.One for the mapping and one for the paperless caching portion.

For paperless look into

-gpxsonar (free)

-cashemate ($8) but more features and support

 

For mapping look at

-Mapopoilis $100

-Tom Tom $100

-Ms streets and trips around $50 but last I knew didnt support autorouting

 

All of these are also from a windows mobile perspective though most except s&t can be found for palm as well

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You might take a look at the Mapadvisor/Quakemap combo for the mapping. It works with USGS topos as well as aerial photos. One thing I dont like though, is it requires MS .NET to be installed on your PC.

 

I have it installed on my PDA, but have taken the time to download maps and actually try the program.

 

If you are comfortable with doing the ebay thing, with some patience and luck, its possible to score a like new Palm with BT. The E2s are pretty low now, since I believe they are discontinued. Then you have the T-series.

I lucked out and got a practically brand new Lifedrive for $91.

 

I've been looking at BT receivers on ebay, and they can be had for $50-100...

 

I use GSAK and cachemate, as they work, work well, and the support is awesome. There is a learning curve with them (especially GSAK), but I'm comfortable with them now, and havent seen anything else (for Palms) that does as much.

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