ROYALLY confused now

[+BaybeShell]

Hey ya'll. Ok, I am totally confused. I'm a teacher, and paper is now gold to me. I want to get involved in paperless caching. I don't have any of the equipment as of yet.

 

Obviously my first decision is.... laptop, pda, or pocket pc.

Laptop is out of the question right now due to expense.

 

I JUST purchased Garmin GPSmap 76CSX. I would like to have the option of connecting GPSr to whatever I end up getting eventually, but it is not necessary and probably not feasible right now.

 

So that leaves me with PDA or PPC.

 

Realistically speaking, I will probably only use whatever I get for paperless caching. I'd like to say I'll use it for other stuff, but I know me. However, it is quite possible that I might use it if I have it.

I like to travel.. no LOVE to travel...

 

I would like for PDA/PPC to have the ability to get me online when I am out of town. We often make surprise excursions so that I either don't have time to get the info before we leave, or we branch off and go somewhere else while we're gone. For instance, the 2nd week of July we are going to Gatlinburg. We are heading over to Stone Mountain and to a braves game that weekend. Who knows which way we are going when we come back home? It just depends on what tickles our fancy at the time. Who knows where else we may go during the trip? It just depends.

 

My cellphone (motorola krzr) (grr don't get me started there) can get online, but it's not reliable, and it is just a good old fashioned pain in the.. oh yeah.

Is it possible to hook a pda or something to the phone to access the brew (internet) or would I have to have a dialup type connection?

I think WiFi would be better because of the unreliability of cellularsouth's internet connection, and most places have free WiFi at hotels and/or various points within the city.

 

Ok let me think what else we may need to help me make a decision....

battery stuff (rechargable or get new ones) doesn't really matter to me. I can live either way. Rechargable would be nice but ... doesn't really matter. Lets go with cost here.

 

Ok sorry if I have rambled. I'm generally fairly electronically gifted, I guess I'm tired or just not "with it" lately. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[+stepshep]

If you decide to get a Plam this Palm® Wi-Fi Card: works with

Treo 700wx

Treo 700w

Tungsten E2

Tungsten T3

Tungsten T5

Zire 72

http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1853744

 

But you're a teacher: http://web.palm.com/education/treo_agreement.jhtml

 

Tada!: http://partnerstore.palm.com/searchHandler...p;keywords=wifi

 

So you get cheaper prices.

 

Edit: Typo

Edited June 24, 2007 by stepshep

[+BaybeShell]

Thanks for that info. I wonder if I get even more of a discount for working inner city..hmmm... just kidding. Thank you very much for those links though!

[+Miragee]

Both the Palm Tx and the Palm Lifedrive have built in WiFi. The Lifedrive has a lot of memory and also has the slot for a memory card. You might find some good deals on either of those Palm models on eBay.

[+BaybeShell]

So ya'll think Palm is probably the way I should go?

I'm inclined to agree now that I'm finally learning a little bit about it.

Thanks for the info. I'm heading to ebay to see what I can see. I have no idea about ballpark prices.

[+NightPilot]

The Palm OS is the most bulletproof, and the TX has built-in wifi, and can connect to a bluetooth GPS. You can connect to the 76 also, with the proper cable. A PPC will also work for you, and you may be more familiar with Windows anyway. Either the Palm TX or a PPC can also connect via your cell phone in a pinch, using bluetooth.

[+stepshep]

You should be able to get a decent Palm, and some USB connection to the PC for under 30 bucks. I use a docking cradle but the cord will also work.

[+Renegade Knight]

...I JUST purchased Garmin GPSmap 76CSX. I would like to have the option of connecting GPSr to whatever I end up getting eventually, but it is not necessary and probably not feasible right now....

 

It's not worth the trouble to hook your GPS to your PDA. IF your pda could transfer to the GPS (Cachemate may do this) then you could store more waypoints on the PDA than you could have in the GPS. But it's only worth it if you actually would travel enough to burn through more than your 1000 waypoints.

 

A crappy Win 95 laptop will do the job insofar as laptops. Asf or PDA, any old Palm will work. 35 bucks on eBay and some palm users can tell you which one.

 

Palm has the advantage of being cheap. PPC will work but their are more prone to operating system issues. By that I mean you will need one with Windows Mobile 2003 on it to run GPX Sonar. Windows Mobile 2002 may run GPX view. Anything older won't run anything that you are going to want to run.

[+NightPilot]

Those old models won't do wifi, though, and are a PITA to use to connect to a phone. A TX costs more, of course, but it does lots more. For what the OP wants to do, an old Palm or PPC just won't do the job, and a newer model with bluetooth and wifi would probably be worth the extra money.

[+stepshep]

Yep, WiFi compatible will steepen the cost. I use an m125 and got it with the docking cradle shipped for 25 bucks. I'm just curious as to why you want to hook up the GPS to the PDA, if it's for navigation then I must tell you a GPS itself is much more accurate than a Palm with a GPS hooked to it.

[+NightPilot]

Huh?? The Palm gets the position information directly from the GPS, so it's exactly as accurate as the GPS it's getting the position from. I connect a GPS to my Palm all the time, and it's as accurate as you can get.

[+Klatch]

Both the Palm Tx and the Palm Lifedrive have built in WiFi. The Lifedrive has a lot of memory and also has the slot for a memory card. You might find some good deals on either of those Palm models on eBay.

The Lifedrive is discontinued and I would not recommend spending the money for one. It's hard drive proved to be very unreliable over its short time on the market. Palm only lists the TX, E2, and Z22 in their handheld lineup. As stated, the TX has built-in wi-fi, the E2 can take a wi-fi card. Wi-fi is not an option for the Z22.

[+the pooks]

You should be able to get a decent Palm, and some USB connection to the PC for under 30 bucks. I use a docking cradle but the cord will also work.

 

I am really unfamiliar with PDA's. What do you have in mind when you say around $30?

 

I have been looking at the Z22. The Palm III must be an older and less expensive - will it work as well, or should I spend the extra for the Z22.

 

Thanks

[CoyoteRed]

A crappy Win 95 laptop will do the job insofar as laptops. Asf or PDA, any old Palm will work. 35 bucks on eBay and some palm users can tell you which one.

For the longest time we ran paperless on a 333mHz laptop and a Palm m105. It got the job done.

 

By carefully shopping you should be able to pick up both for the price of a new high-end Palm. Heck, you might even get hand-me-downs from friends and relatives.

 

IMHO, this combo is far superior in situations where you might have to switch out waypoints with your GPS and log remotely. For me, using a laptop to log and surf is always easier than a PDA. We even now have a Palm TX and still prefer the laptop.

[+The Leprechauns]

Like Coyote Red, I converted from Palm Pilot to using a laptop. I'm happy as could be and will likely never use my Palm Tungsten E again. It was extra software and extra work. I waited until a good notebook went on sale with a $100 rebate and then bought a pair of them for my geocaching and my daughter's schoolwork. The cost wasn't too different than a top of the line GPS. Unlike a Palm Pilot, I use the notebook for other stuff. I'm typing on it right now from a park bench (my city's downtown has free wireless access). When I'm caching, I store all the cache info. in GSAK on the laptop for easy lookup and I can track my car's position in real time on a map with all the caches so it's easy to autoroute to where I want to go next. Sometimes I need a map or some other information to complete a cache, and it's easy to borrow a wifi connection while driving around in most developed areas. I can dump photos onto the laptop during a long trip when my camera card gets full.

 

With this setup, and PQ's covering a 150 mile radius of unfound caches around my home, I can literally cache anywhere on a moment's notice, with no planning until I get in the car and pick a spot on the map. Yesterday I chose the Youngstown Ohio area and drove up there from Pittsburgh after church to grab 35 caches and then came back home for dinner. My time looking stuff up on a Palm, and doing autorouting on the tiny GPS screen, would have dragged down my find count and fun factor.

[+Mudfrog]

While were asking, has anyone ever used the Nokia 770 or NEC 900c?

 

I'm looking for something in a size inbetween your standard pda and laptop. Something with say a 5 to 8 inch screen. Main thing is to be able to wifi the internet but i also want it to work with various caching programs like my palm does. In otherwords, something with a bigger display than the palm, wifi capable (preferably built in), and can run programs that will get me cache information stored in it. Right now i'm using isilo as the e-book reader and really like it.

 

By the way, i have a small laptop with 11" screen that i use gsak and other programs in but i really want something even smaller and starts up quickly like a pda does.

 

Any recommendations would be helpful,,, Thanks!

Edited June 25, 2007 by Mudfrog

[+stepshep]

Huh?? The Palm gets the position information directly from the GPS, so it's exactly as accurate as the GPS it's getting the position from. I connect a GPS to my Palm all the time, and it's as accurate as you can get.

Apologies, I read my information online when deciding if I should get a custom cable for my Palm. If I can find the review I'll send you the link. Sorry again.

 

You should be able to get a decent Palm, and some USB connection to the PC for under 30 bucks. I use a docking cradle but the cord will also work.

 

I am really unfamiliar with PDA's. What do you have in mind when you say around $30?

 

I have been looking at the Z22. The Palm III must be an older and less expensive - will it work as well, or should I spend the extra for the Z22.

 

Thanks

When I said $30 I was thinking something along the lines of the m100 or m500 series. I bought the m125 and docking cradle together for 25 dollars. The m500 should be about 30 dollars shipped. Those models are also easy to use in sunlight, something difficult to do with the Z22, just something to keep in mind. I have read reports about people using the IIIxe for paperless caching.

 

On a side note I have tried both the GPX Spinner+Plucker and CacheMate on my Palm. May I recommend CacheMate? You can upload 10 caches at a time for free, or pay the 8 dollars and upload as much as your Palm can handle. It's a much faster and smoother process than using GPX and Plucker.

[+dew cache]

A crappy Win 95 laptop will do the job insofar as laptops. Asf or PDA, any old Palm will work. 35 bucks on eBay and some palm users can tell you which one.

For the longest time we ran paperless on a 333mHz laptop and a Palm m105. It got the job done.

 

By carefully shopping you should be able to pick up both for the price of a new high-end Palm. Heck, you might even get hand-me-downs from friends and relatives.

 

IMHO, this combo is far superior in situations where you might have to switch out waypoints with your GPS and log remotely. For me, using a laptop to log and surf is always easier than a PDA. We even now have a Palm TX and still prefer the laptop.

 

Do you carry the laptop in the field with you or do you leave it in the car? That seems like it would be too heavy to lug around much less the chance of dropping it or it getting wet. I might take off in an area that has 20 caches in it and not know which one I am going to until I see the area.

[+Renegade Knight]

...Do you carry the laptop in the field with you or do you leave it in the car? That seems like it would be too heavy to lug around much less the chance of dropping it or it getting wet. I might take off in an area that has 20 caches in it and not know which one I am going to until I see the area.

The laptop is for car use. The PDA is what you cary. You just refer to the PDA when looking up cache info. The laptop is for maps while driving, extra pocket queries, loading them onto your PDA/GPS when you need them etc.

[CoyoteRed]

...Do you carry the laptop in the field with you or do you leave it in the car? That seems like it would be too heavy to lug around much less the chance of dropping it or it getting wet. I might take off in an area that has 20 caches in it and not know which one I am going to until I see the area.

The laptop is for car use. The PDA is what you cary. You just refer to the PDA when looking up cache info. The laptop is for maps while driving, extra pocket queries, loading them onto your PDA/GPS when you need them etc.

Same here.

 

Each time we get in the vehicle we fire up the laptop to read what's next and see how to get there. It's just easier to do that with the gear we have.

[+BlackRok]

I use the Palm TX that I originally bought for work!

It has Wi-Fi, and the external memory card.

The Wi-Fi is usable but will never beat the real estate of a laptop screen!

I mainly use it along with cachemate to hold a number of caches, along with the descriptions, hints, co-ords, and the ablity to edit in the field what items were taken or left! (handy if you do multiple caches per day!)

(The older you get, the more you forget! )

 

It also will allow you to use DeLorme Street Atlas Portable to get street level maps for any areas you can load to your external card!

It will also read the Topo maps from DeLorme as well!

I currently have the Topo map to the Morristown, Tn. area loaded, along with the caches in the area, and they show up on the maps as well!

 

Also have purchased and use GSAK as well! (Great little program)

GSAK is used to convert pocket queries to a form that DeLorme can read!

 

Hope this helps!

 

BlAcKrOk

[+jkersh]

We use a Dell X50v pocket pc with GPXSonar. works great. If you do queries then all you have to do is drop that file on the sd card and go. Fast and easy.

[+BaybeShell]

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the advice and info! The only reason I want to hook my GPSr to anything is to be able to transfer waypoints and not have to manually put them in. WiFi is so that I can either update my info as to what's around a particular location OR so that I can get initial info as to what's around a location (in the instance that we end up going somewhere that we hadn't planned).

[+Trucker Lee]

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the advice and info! The only reason I want to hook my GPSr to anything is to be able to transfer waypoints and not have to manually put them in. WiFi is so that I can either update my info as to what's around a particular location OR so that I can get initial info as to what's around a location (in the instance that we end up going somewhere that we hadn't planned).

 

If you are getting a pocket query, and load this to a laptop, a program like EasyGPS or GSAK can load the waypoints right into you GPS if you have the cable.

[+tomfuller & Quill]

I don't own a PDA or a laptop. I don't even use GSAK. I manually enter every GC waypoint and the coordinates. When I don't have internet access and want to find a cache in an unfamiliar area, I use my NEXTEL/Sprint cellphone with Geocache Navigator by Trimble. I recently had a layover between trains in Chicago. Twenty minutes after I got off the train, I found my first Illinois cache. Ten days later I was back in Chicago and found "One End of Route 66". As soon as I did this, before I got back to the train station, I called my buddy with my walkie talkie. He was in Bend, Oregon.

Where you have good cell service it works well and you can log a found it or a DNF.

Just another option. Once in a while I fat finger a coordinate, but I'm getting better.

Tom Fuller

Crescent, Oregon

[+BaybeShell]

I don't own a PDA or a laptop. I don't even use GSAK. I manually enter every GC waypoint and the coordinates. When I don't have internet access and want to find a cache in an unfamiliar area, I use my NEXTEL/Sprint cellphone with Geocache Navigator by Trimble. I recently had a layover between trains in Chicago. Twenty minutes after I got off the train, I found my first Illinois cache. Ten days later I was back in Chicago and found "One End of Route 66". As soon as I did this, before I got back to the train station, I called my buddy with my walkie talkie. He was in Bend, Oregon.

Where you have good cell service it works well and you can log a found it or a DNF.

Just another option. Once in a while I fat finger a coordinate, but I'm getting better.

Tom Fuller

Crescent, Oregon

 

 

My cell's internet doesn't work very well. I usually just end up getting very irritated. I did figure out how to load with GSAK to put the hint in the gpsr. For a while, I guess I"ll just have to keep planning ahead.