+CindyMay Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I'm a newbie to caching and I love it. I want to go paperless but am overwhelmed by the details. Can someone recommend which device and software package I should get? I have a Garmin 76 CSx GPS. I was thinking I might be able to use a Blackberry but I don't see any mention of using one in the forums... Thanks for your thoughts and insights... CindyMay Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I use and recommend a Dell axim PDA with GPX Sonar (free) software. I have seen used Dell Amin's on ebay for as low as $20 and they work great. 2nd choice for software would be cachemate for the PPC. Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Welcome to the Forums! I have a Palm M500 that I have had for more than five years. I use Cachemate on my Palm and GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) on my PC. I got an inexpensive hard case for the Palm and a data card so it can hold even more caches. This is great if you are traveling. You can create different databases for the different areas your are traveling through. Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 (edited) Any cheap PDA from eBay. I recommend a cheap one because I've broken two so far in the field. I'm a bit of a klutz. I've also put the thing in my back pocket "for just a second" and forgotten and sat on a rock. It makes a horrible crunching sound.......... You can use Cachemate ($8 to register) on the unit which will allow you to send your caches directly from GSAK (A WONDERFUL PROGRAM FOR THE PC!!!!!) to your PDA or, you can use a combination of Spinner and Plucker which will give you an actual copy of the cache page on your PDA. I've used the Plucker/Spinner combination for a couple of years now but I've just paid for Cachemate and am going to give it a whirl. I love the way that Plucker presents the info to me but sometimes Spinner can choke on a huge file and I'm interested in the ease/convenience of sending info directly from GSAK to my Palm. Lots of folks use the Palm m500 and I use the Palm Vx. Both can be purchased very cheaply on eBay and either one will do everything you need for paperless caching. The Vx only has 8MB of memory but that is enough to hold many thousands of caches so it isn't a problem. The Dell Axim is supposed to be a fine unit for this use as well and I believe it can also be purchased pretty cheaply from eBay. Paperless caching is great. Having the cache description and some of the past logs (not to mention the hint if needed) is an invaluable aid in the field and being able to have all that info for thousands of caches without the hassle of printing and carrying all those pages is great. A cheap PDA will cost you less than a single ink cartridge so there is really no monetary reason not to go paperless. [Edit] When I said "cheap" above I was talking about the $25 - $30 range, including shipping. You can get the Palm m500 and Palm Vx in this range. The Dell Axim is still reasonably cheap but I believe it will likely be more in the $80 range. I'm not sure but I don't want to mislead you into thinking that all of the "cheap" PDA choices are in the same range of cheapness. Edited July 25, 2007 by Thrak Quote Link to comment
GPS treasuredragon Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Trax ever think of attaching a string on you pda and wear it around your neck? Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Just checked and found Dell Axim x3's going for as low as $16.80 on ebay...... Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Just checked and found Dell Axim x3's going for as low as $16.80 on ebay...... Cool. I'll put a watch on that one and, if it doesn't get too high, I just might buy it myself. Quote Link to comment
+CindyMay Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 Just checked and found Dell Axim x3's going for as low as $16.80 on ebay...... Cool. I'll put a watch on that one and, if it doesn't get too high, I just might buy it myself. Thanks, I will check it out. Thanks to all of you for your helpful suggestions Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Just checked and found Dell Axim x3's going for as low as $16.80 on ebay...... That one closed for $51.00 + $12.20 shipping (to my address) Total: $63.50 As I said above, more than the Vx and m500 units go for. Still a good deal though. Quote Link to comment
mtbikernate Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I just got a Dell Axim X5 shipped for $99. A little more than some, but I would like to get a CF WiFi card for it, and I like to be able to put a big memory chip in it (I have a 4gig SD chip I can use...this thing has both a CF and SD slot). This thing is almost as functional as my wife's old laptop, so for a lot of things, I think this pocketpc is going to replace the laptop. But hey, I can check cache info and listen to some tunes at the same time, and when I go to Starbucks for a chai afterwards, I can log my finds on gc.com. Oh, and when I get into grad school, I can use it to cart around files, take notes, or many other things, eliminating a significant amount of paper altogether. Quote Link to comment
+verano Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 Cannot get the maps to display on a Palm Vx when using Spinner/Plucker. Anyone else get this to work? What are the settings? If this does not work, would cachemate dispaly the maps? -Verano Quote Link to comment
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