New Smart Phone

[+Haughton's Hunters]

Ok, so I'm going to be upgrading my phone to a "smart phone" soon.

 

My options are either:

Motorola Q, which has Windows Mobile 5.0 OS for smartphone

or

Samsung SCH-i730, which has Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC 2nd edition

 

Anyone have any idea which would work better? Does one OS have better programs that can be run on them for caching? Of course I can always just browse to geocaching.com with the browser on either model, but that only works if you have signal.

[+fratermus]

Ok, so I'm going to be upgrading my phone to a "smart phone" soon.

 

My options are either:

Motorola Q, which has Windows Mobile 5.0 OS for smartphone

or

Samsung SCH-i730, which has Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC 2nd edition

 

The main difference between ppc and WM5 is touchscreen support. Since many apps require this, smartphone OS will rule some/many apps out. Navigating a PDA without a stylus is weird at first but I am almost used it it.

 

IME and speaking in comically broad terms:

the smartphone version will likely be physically smaller, more limited in apps, have better battery life, and more stable.

The PPC version will have more apps, worse battery life, and be less stable.

 

I use an SDA (WM5.0). I generate .html from my pocket cache, load it to the phone automagically with MobSync, and view on the SDA with Pocket IE (PIE). I think palm makes a better paperless platform, but I went to the SDA to get wifi.

[+Arndtwe]

go for the Q. thats what i'm getting in a month or so.

[+Renegade Knight]

The touch screen for a PDA is hard to beat. The more you will use the Smart part of the phone the more you will want a version with a touch screen.

[+StarBrand]

Use a program caller GPX Sonar to view the cache details from the .GPX file that you get from pocket Queries. Also the PPC version of cachemate works great for this. Either way - the PPC is a great platform for paperless. Bad news is that you may be sorry the first/only time you drop your expensive device into a mud puddle while out on the trail. Keep it protected.

[+Haughton's Hunters]

Use a program caller GPX Sonar to view the cache details from the .GPX file that you get from pocket Queries. Also the PPC version of cachemate works great for this. Either way - the PPC is a great platform for paperless. Bad news is that you may be sorry the first/only time you drop your expensive device into a mud puddle while out on the trail. Keep it protected.

Thanks all, and I have thought about the dropping it problem. But it will not be my GPS, but carried just like my current phone is, and I have never dropped it while caching yet.

 

I'm leaning towards the Q because I will also have the unlimited data plan (thanks to the office), so I won't need the programs such as cachemate or GPX Sonar since as long as I have signal, I can go to geocaching.com and look at the page live. Kind of like when I used the company's Verizon broadband card for the laptop on the way back from California. If it had a signal, I'd fire it up, connect and search for caches and log caches too. Very convenient.

[+howeler]

OK I work for Sprint and I have have had a treo 700p and now I am running a Moto Q. The palm has some programs that are out that I know run on it to Cache. But you need an External GPS. And the Bluetooth on the 700's is not great... I kept loosing the connection.

 

Now I have the Q and I have found programs that say they run windows 5 but when I install them on the Q it says that the program was not designed for this device.

 

I have demoed the PPC's and other window devices and all the others I have crashed...

 

The Q is my favorite... Even coming from touch screen. (one less thing to Break)

 

Palm is unstable

Blackberry is hard to find Gps programs for... But TELENAV is AWESOME on it!!!!

Windows... Well lets just say... if blackberry is limited Windows is even more so...

 

I don't think I have helped... but my purpose is to try and say this...

 

Don't by a PDA phone to Cache with.

 

To date the best caching solution I have found on a phone is a nextel phone with Geocaching Navigator on it... That program ROCKS!!!!!

[+howeler]

OH one other shameless plug... the Sprint U720 and S720 broadband modem cards have GPS chips in them and you can see yourself in google earth while you drive... Very cool to Cache with...

[+Haughton's Hunters]

OK I work for Sprint and I have have had a treo 700p and now I am running a Moto Q. The palm has some programs that are out that I know run on it to Cache. But you need an External GPS. And the Bluetooth on the 700's is not great... I kept loosing the connection.

 

Now I have the Q and I have found programs that say they run windows 5 but when I install them on the Q it says that the program was not designed for this device.

 

I have demoed the PPC's and other window devices and all the others I have crashed...

 

The Q is my favorite... Even coming from touch screen. (one less thing to Break)

 

Palm is unstable

Blackberry is hard to find Gps programs for... But TELENAV is AWESOME on it!!!!

Windows... Well lets just say... if blackberry is limited Windows is even more so...

 

I don't think I have helped... but my purpose is to try and say this...

 

Don't by a PDA phone to Cache with.

 

To date the best caching solution I have found on a phone is a nextel phone with Geocaching Navigator on it... That program ROCKS!!!!!

 

Thanks for the info!

[+Genoist]

The Samsung i730 is a nice phone, but it is considered EOL (end of life). I had the Q on two different occasions, and I really liked it, but as far as Windows Mobile goes, I prefer the Pocket PC (now called Windows Mobile Professional) more than I like the smartphone (now called Windows Mobile Standard). Even though the Pocket PC's use a stylus, you can still use most of the functions of the device without ever having to get they stylus out.

 

Anyway, I assume you're with Verizon Wireless (which I will shamelessly plug since I work for them), so make sure you take advantage of the 30 day return/exchange period with whichever device you get, and if you don't like it, get a different one.

 

As far as the data plan, it is great to log caches, but sometimes it's nice (and a lot more convenient) to have the cache data that you need stored locally instead of depending on the GC.com mobile site (you'll see what I mean when you go to use it). You can use MobiPocket reader on the Q to look at your PQ's (just make sure you check the ebook option when you create the PQ). On the Pocket PC side, I'll agree with what everyone else was saying and strongly suggest dropping a few bucks to pick up a copy of Cache Mate.

 

Good luck, and enjoy your paperless caching / mobile logging.