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MobiPocket Support (or lack therof)


Jeremy

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I'm still just not happy with the whole way this matter has been and is managed by GC - they seem to be just have a don't care attitude even if we are paying members or not!!! I know there is other tools out there but I really like that it was emailed to me and that I could just use it on my Blackberry.

 

I sincerely hope that they get their act together - is there anyone else than Elias that can comment - or is he the only person in GC?

 

Thought for such a big company they would have better Public Relations and Customer Service .......

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I am disappointed as well as with the loss of the mobipocket files, and I also do not want to try time consuming workaround fixes. I paid for the premium service for both the .loc and the .prc files.

 

Yes I will find and use a workaround but I may also cancel my premium service as well. Why would I pay for something if I can get a workaround to work for free, or if I have to pay for the workaround then why would I want to pay for a service that isn't working for me????

 

 

FULLY with you on this!

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Hmmm....

Not happy.

It was actually the ebook that was a bigger selling point for me than the PQ's. I don't pay Premium for ME to have to go find a workaround.

I don't care how "easy" it is to work around it. My time is very scarce, so I pay for the info I need to arrive in a form I can use basically straight away.

If it's any work on my part, well i don't need any extra work, I work insane hours as it is.

Will be watching with great interest.

 

 

FULLY with you on this!

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Have just had a trip away from home and took a sheaf of printed pages on the journey north to cache and break the journey but because of roadworks came back another way. The caches were all in the GPS but although I tried a couple of them it just proved to me how useless caching is without the paper or the information in some machine or other.

 

I was really hoping that this MobiPocket busines would have been sorted by now as I tried downloading the various fixes to get the information into my Sony Ericsson 900 but to no avail.

 

I see that some people are recommending buying a Palm Pilot to hold the information. Is there anything else? I suppose what I would really like is a GPS and log reader combined. More expense...

 

I have no problem with spending a modest amount to get my Caching back to where it was. The ability to download the PQ's for an area and then Cache if I had the time spare was wonderful. To have to spend time reading on screen, printing pages just 'in case' before I go and sometimes very last minute is really frustrating. I look forward to reading a fix that I can use soon.

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Have just had a trip away from home and took a sheaf of printed pages on the journey north to cache and break the journey but because of roadworks came back another way. The caches were all in the GPS but although I tried a couple of them it just proved to me how useless caching is without the paper or the information in some machine or other.

 

I was really hoping that this MobiPocket busines would have been sorted by now as I tried downloading the various fixes to get the information into my Sony Ericsson 900 but to no avail.

 

I see that some people are recommending buying a Palm Pilot to hold the information. Is there anything else? I suppose what I would really like is a GPS and log reader combined. More expense...

 

I have no problem with spending a modest amount to get my Caching back to where it was. The ability to download the PQ's for an area and then Cache if I had the time spare was wonderful. To have to spend time reading on screen, printing pages just 'in case' before I go and sometimes very last minute is really frustrating. I look forward to reading a fix that I can use soon.

 

This web page may help you. They mention the Sony 900 phone as one of the ones supported. You might want to check into it to see if it can do what you need.

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I have to agree with soooooooo many other people on here that if I am a premium member (the second reason for paying, the first was to SUPPORT GEOCACHING.COM) I would appreciate not a workaround, but a solution to this problem. I feel that GC will be losing alot of premium members in the next few months which will result in $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ lost and the site will suffer.

 

I hope you at GC really look into this and come up with a solution, as for when my membership renews I will not be as generous if a solution is not available.

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Let me voice my opinion here:

 

When Groundspeak dropped Mobipocket support without so much as a notification email, I was one of their biggest critics. Many users (like me!) were left in the lurch as we had no paperless caching alternative given our choice of PDA/smartphone (in my case, a Blackberry). Groundspeak showed a devil-may-care attitude, pointing fingers at Mobipocket and saying 'we warned our users a year ago that eventually mobipocket support would go away' and washing their hands of the problem.

 

Since then, it's been shown that there is indeed an alternative (a command line driven program called mobigen) that Groundspeak could use to restore mobipocket functionality; however Groundspeak has said it would be "too much work" for them to rewrite the system to support this tool. Whether or not you agree with their assessment, I think it's pretty clear from this statement that regardless of user demand, Groundspeak will not be providing this functionality anytime in the short to medium term.

 

Overall, I think Groundspeak's response to this problem has been pretty poor, as all they've done is point fingers at Mobipocket, saying "lets wait for the user community to solve the problem". I think I speak for many in saying this is a pretty poor way to treat paying customers. (In fairness, Elias did post a short note acknowledging that Groundspeak could have done a better job notifying users rather than just dropping the functionality without a word.)

 

That all being said, I think it's time to move on. The user community has indeed responded, and there are now a number of solutions that provide equal if not better ebook functionality than before.

 

For example, the quickest and simplest solution I know of to create Mobipocket ebooks from GPX files is to simply use GPSbabel to convert your pocket query GPX file into an HTML file. You can then load this HTML into Mobipocket reader, and then you can send it to you PDA just like you used to. This process takes at most 60 seconds longer than the prior process, and for most people this should be a satisfactory solution.

 

There are other solutions, such as using GPX2HTML or GSAK, as well as non-ebook solutions such as cachemate. The GSAK solution is particularly nice, as I can now generate a new ebook on the fly without having to re-run a pocket query just to get an updated ebook. I've started documenting these solutions here and here, but I think Groundspeak needs to pick up the ball as well and provide some support pages of their own; it's not surprising that many people are not aware of these alternative solutions as Groundspeak has not done anything at all to document them.

 

This is the crux of the current problem: We need to get something on the main geocaching.com pages documenting the basics of how to do paperless geocaching. People shouldn't be expecting to dig through a 200+ post thread to dig out the nuggets of information.

 

In closing, I hope someone from Groundspeak is reading this and can take action.

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We were among the rest of the caching community that paid for the premium service just for this feature and now were not sure if we will renew next year. We are saving the pdf file as text and then copying it onto our notes on our Palm Desktop, when we perform a Hot Sync it downloads it into our Palm but this is a lot of work since we have to clean up a lot of the text and manually enter the cache size/difficulty information but it works. We can do this without the Premuim membership however so unless things change by the time our membership is due we will just become regular members and do it this way. We really hope that doesn't end up being the situation.

 

TKW 98

Tim and Kathy

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We were among the rest of the caching community that paid for the premium service just for this feature and now were not sure if we will renew next year. We are saving the pdf file as text and then copying it onto our notes on our Palm Desktop, when we perform a Hot Sync it downloads it into our Palm but this is a lot of work since we have to clean up a lot of the text and manually enter the cache size/difficulty information but it works. We can do this without the Premuim membership however so unless things change by the time our membership is due we will just become regular members and do it this way. We really hope that doesn't end up being the situation.

 

TKW 98

Tim and Kathy

If you are using a Palm, why not look at Cachemate as the alternative. I have used that software on my Palm for more than two years. It is an excellent program and well worth the paltry $8.00 registration fee. I use GSAK to Export the .pdb file, but Cachemate comes with its own program for converting the .gpx files in case you don't use GSAK.

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If you are using a Palm, why not look at Cachemate as the alternative. I have used that software on my Palm for more than two years. It is an excellent program and well worth the paltry $8.00 registration fee. I use GSAK to Export the .pdb file, but Cachemate comes with its own program for converting the .gpx files in case you don't use GSAK.

 

Since it is such a paltry fee perhaps you could offer to buy us all a copy.

 

I myself am very disappointed as well. Many people in the geocaching community are NOT technically savvy. It was a huge jump for many to actually hold a GPS for the 1st time, then a bigger step to learn how to make pocket queries. Many of us, being people that love the outdoors and the trees thought the huge binder of printouts that weighed 5lbs in your backpack was just not very environmentally friendly, let alone convenient. Then with PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP came the advent of paperless caching. My two staples since this wonderful discovery has been EASYGPS and MOBIPOCKET. Both are free and very SIMPLE to use.

 

I have tried GSAK and other programs just to be baffled and confused trying to figure out how to make the very complicated programs to work. I was very comfortable in a point and click method of quickly getting the WPts in my GPS and palm M125 so I could maximize my time CACHING, not trying to figure out how I was going to get out caching.

 

A friend recently asked me if paperless caching and premium membership was worth it and easy. I reassured him that it was. I now regret that decision.

 

Not only am I disappointed about the loss of such an easy way to go paperless but I am disgusted in the way GC.COM dropped the service, or was unable to continue with it.

 

What ever the case may be, but why not notify their PAYING CUSTOMERS and supporters?

 

Why not respond to this post about what is going on, why not have a simplistic solution on their web site on EXACTLY how to go paperless with step by step instructions so the NON-TECH-SAAVY individuals can do it with out using 3-5 programs to spin, convert, sort, arrange and export the cache pages to a devise?

 

Why are they so silent on the subject?

 

Why do we have to read so many posts and still be lost on what is the easy and FREE way to go paperless?

 

Why does a membership to GC.COM not alredy include everything you need?

 

Arghhhhh, I see my premium membership expiring and not getting renewed like thousands of others out there.

 

I AM DISGUSTED. Until this day I have done nothing but spread the word of how valuable and important it was for everyone to go Premium. I have now removed all premium designations from my caches and do not see me promoting Premium in the near future until GC.COM finds a solution, posts it here, AND puts the Paperless info on the MAIN website for all cachers to see.

 

We hunt for caches, not solutions to programming issues. That is their job and what we pay for.

Edited by CasheKicker
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CasheKicker, I agree with your assessment about how Groundspeak handled this - I think they could have done a much better job, and I think they've lost a lot of goodwill in the process

 

That being said, here is the simplest free way to create mobi books to use as before. It requires one new program. I've listed the steps in gory detail; in reality it really is much easier than it looks.

 

1. Download and install GPSBabel from http://www.gpsbabel.org/ (This is a one-time step). Note the folder you've installed it to.

2. Save your pocket query gpx file to a folder on your computer (e.g, \caching)

3. Start the program GPSBabelGUI.exe from your GPSBabel folder.

4. Under input, select a source type of "GPX XML", and choose the gpx file you downloaded as input.

5. Under output, select an output type of HTML, and choose an output filename for where you want to save it (e.g, \caching\caches.html)

6. click 'lets go' and it will create your html file

7. Start up Mobipocket reader on your PC (the assumption is you had this installed already) and load the HTML file you just created. Mobipocket reader will convert the html file into an ebook, and you can transfer it to your PDA.

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If you are using a Palm, why not look at Cachemate as the alternative. I have used that software on my Palm for more than two years. It is an excellent program and well worth the paltry $8.00 registration fee. I use GSAK to Export the .pdb file, but Cachemate comes with its own program for converting the .gpx files in case you don't use GSAK.

Since it is such a paltry fee perhaps you could offer to buy us all a copy.

 

<snip>

 

Why does a membership to GC.COM not alredy include everything you need?

 

Arghhhhh, I see my premium membership expiring and not getting renewed like thousands of others out there.

 

I AM DISGUSTED. Until this day I have done nothing but spread the word of how valuable and important it was for everyone to go Premium. I have now removed all premium designations from my caches and do not see me promoting Premium in the near future until GC.COM finds a solution, posts it here, AND puts the Paperless info on the MAIN website for all cachers to see.

 

We hunt for caches, not solutions to programming issues. That is their job and what we pay for.

Wow, that is sure a lot of angst over something for which there are alternative solutions . . . :unsure:

 

I guess I should feel very fortunate to have understood from the beginning that my Premium Membership in GC.com only gave me access to Pocket Queries and the other Premium Features, and supported this site.

 

I purchased Cachemate and never once thought GC.com should include a third-party program with my membership. I also registered GSAK, and never once thought GC.com should have given me that program with my membership.

 

I also feel fortunate to have used Cachemate from the beginning because it is so much better, and much easier to use than MobiPocket. :unsure:

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If you are using a Palm, why not look at Cachemate as the alternative. I have used that software on my Palm for more than two years. It is an excellent program and well worth the paltry $8.00 registration fee. I use GSAK to Export the .pdb file, but Cachemate comes with its own program for converting the .gpx files in case you don't use GSAK.

Since it is such a paltry fee perhaps you could offer to buy us all a copy.

 

<snip>

 

Why does a membership to GC.COM not alredy include everything you need?

 

Arghhhhh, I see my premium membership expiring and not getting renewed like thousands of others out there.

 

I AM DISGUSTED. Until this day I have done nothing but spread the word of how valuable and important it was for everyone to go Premium. I have now removed all premium designations from my caches and do not see me promoting Premium in the near future until GC.COM finds a solution, posts it here, AND puts the Paperless info on the MAIN website for all cachers to see.

 

We hunt for caches, not solutions to programming issues. That is their job and what we pay for.

Wow, that is sure a lot of angst over something for which there are alternative solutions . . . :o

 

I guess I should feel very fortunate to have understood from the beginning that my Premium Membership in GC.com only gave me access to Pocket Queries and the other Premium Features, and supported this site.

 

I purchased Cachemate and never once thought GC.com should include a third-party program with my membership. I also registered GSAK, and never once thought GC.com should have given me that program with my membership.

 

I also feel fortunate to have used Cachemate from the beginning because it is so much better, and much easier to use than MobiPocket. :D

Well said Miragee. I was stunned by the post, especially the part I highlighted in bold. It comes off sounding like GC.com should buy gas for their car and provide trade items for them too.

 

In this world, one thing I know is that we as humans must adapt to changes. How many people still prefer betamax tapes and VCR's over DVD's? Now here comes Blu-ray discs. What about TV's? Now we have widescreen and high definition TV's. You now also have HDTV programming, etc. I welcome change myself. If people can improve things and make them better and easier to use, I am all for it. Think of Mobipocket as betamax tapes and other programs as VCR tapes. There are betamax players out there (news organizations stuck with beta), but most everyone went to VCR instead. For another example, I would much rather be riding around in a car that in a horse and buggy. While Mobi may be easy to use (like a horse and buggy), other programs are far more efficient, have more features but require a small learning curve (just like learning to drive a car). You can either move forward with the times or not.

 

(Clarified my sleep deprived posts.)

Edited by mtn-man
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Well said Miragee. I was stunned by the post, especially the part I highlighted in bold. It comes off sounding like GC.com should buy gas for their car and provide trade items for them too.

 

In this world, one thing I know is that we as humans must adapt to changes. How many people still prefer betamax tapes and VCR's over DVD's? Now here comes Blu-ray discs. What about TV's? Now we have widescreen and high definition TV's. You now also have HDTV programming, etc. I welcome change myself. If people can improve things and make them better and easier to use, I am all for it. Think of Mobipocket as betamax tapes and other programs as VCR tapes. There are betamax players out there (news organizations stuck with beta), but most everyone went to VCR instead. For another example, I would much rather be riding around in a car that in a horse and buggy. While Mobi may be easy to use (like a horse and buggy), other programs are far more efficient, have more features but require a small learning curve (just like learning to drive a car). You can either move forward with the times or not.

 

(Clarified my sleep deprived posts.)

You are still missing the point - people are upset because they had an expectation that something would continue to be provided. They don't feel as though they received proper warning of the change. It is good customer service that is the primary complaint.

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I too was very dissapointed when my ebooks stopped showing up with my pocket queries.

I used this file so I would have all the information I needed when I was just out winging it. I dont usually plan my caching day. I carry my stuff with me and when I get time, I geocach. This information is so important to make a choice if you want to proceed or not. It will tell you if its virtual or micro, terrain, difficulty etc, then you can decide before you look for a hour if its a cache you want to attempt.

So after looking through this forum I tried a couple of the suggestions but recently downloaded the cache mate since I typically use my smart phone for my ebook reader. I am taking it out today but looked it over last night and it is even better than ebook. It has many tools for things like calculation of distance and logging capability.

I was able to do a export from GSAK, put it on my mini SD card and pop it in my phone.

Ya it wasnt free but $8 is nothing.

Im looking forward to trying it out today.

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If you are using a Palm, why not look at Cachemate as the alternative. I have used that software on my Palm for more than two years. It is an excellent program and well worth the paltry $8.00 registration fee. I use GSAK to Export the .pdb file, but Cachemate comes with its own program for converting the .gpx files in case you don't use GSAK.

 

Since it is such a paltry fee perhaps you could offer to buy us all a copy.

 

I myself am very disappointed as well. Many people in the geocaching community are NOT technically savvy. It was a huge jump for many to actually hold a GPS for the 1st time, then a bigger step to learn how to make pocket queries. Many of us, being people that love the outdoors and the trees thought the huge binder of printouts that weighed 5lbs in your backpack was just not very environmentally friendly, let alone convenient. Then with PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP came the advent of paperless caching. My two staples since this wonderful discovery has been EASYGPS and MOBIPOCKET. Both are free and very SIMPLE to use.

 

I have tried GSAK and other programs just to be baffled and confused trying to figure out how to make the very complicated programs to work. I was very comfortable in a point and click method of quickly getting the WPts in my GPS and palm M125 so I could maximize my time CACHING, not trying to figure out how I was going to get out caching.

 

A friend recently asked me if paperless caching and premium membership was worth it and easy. I reassured him that it was. I now regret that decision.

 

Not only am I disappointed about the loss of such an easy way to go paperless but I am disgusted in the way GC.COM dropped the service, or was unable to continue with it.

 

What ever the case may be, but why not notify their PAYING CUSTOMERS and supporters?

 

Why not respond to this post about what is going on, why not have a simplistic solution on their web site on EXACTLY how to go paperless with step by step instructions so the NON-TECH-SAAVY individuals can do it with out using 3-5 programs to spin, convert, sort, arrange and export the cache pages to a devise?

 

Why are they so silent on the subject?

 

Why do we have to read so many posts and still be lost on what is the easy and FREE way to go paperless?

 

Why does a membership to GC.COM not alredy include everything you need?

 

Arghhhhh, I see my premium membership expiring and not getting renewed like thousands of others out there.

 

I AM DISGUSTED. Until this day I have done nothing but spread the word of how valuable and important it was for everyone to go Premium. I have now removed all premium designations from my caches and do not see me promoting Premium in the near future until GC.COM finds a solution, posts it here, AND puts the Paperless info on the MAIN website for all cachers to see.

 

We hunt for caches, not solutions to programming issues. That is their job and what we pay for.

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Wow, the drama in this thread is nothing short of embarrasing. Once again I see nothing but a sense of entitlement being shown here. C'mon people, get off the bandwagon and the "cause of the moment" that has you up in arms and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I swear, it's like dealing with my child - I tell her the same thing: either do something to fix the problem, or stop complaining about it.

 

 

A variety of options have been provided to everybody here, some of which are FREE. Detailed instructions have been provided for a variety of solutions and still there are complaints. It's easy to jump on the "bash <insert group here>" bandwagon, but is it really that much harder to accept the fact that some things change?

 

 

Some of my favorites:

 

Since it is such a paltry fee perhaps you could offer to buy us all a copy.

 

Totally uncalled for. This is what, 3 gallons of gas (in the US)? A one-time $8.00 fee to keep doing something you love is really too much to ask? And really, an over-the-top response to somebody trying to offer help.

 

 

A friend recently asked me if paperless caching and premium membership was worth it and easy. I reassured him that it was. I now regret that decision.

 

Why? Because Groundspeak no longer supports something that they said would go away over a year ago? What about everything else this site does for you? Shows you where caches are, maps caches for you, keeps track of your finds, provides forums, etc. - all for FREE already. Isn't the enjoyment you get from this sport worth $3.00 a month even if the data you want is in a new format and you have to spend a little time learning how to use it?

 

 

Why does a membership to GC.COM not alredy include everything you need?

 

You get EVERYTHING that you need for FREE already. If you want to do things "advanced" (like paperless) then yes, it's $3.00/month. What more do you want?

 

Arghhhhh, I see my premium membership expiring and not getting renewed like thousands of others out there.

Really? Thousands? I don't see the hoardes coming in to say that they are cancelling. I see a few vocal people who are unwilling to accept change and accept the help that MANY folks are trying to provide. You have options, use them. You may even find (like most others) that the new solutions are better than what you used in the past.

 

I AM DISGUSTED. Until this day I have done nothing but spread the word of how valuable and important it was for everyone to go Premium. I have now removed all premium designations from my caches and do not see me promoting Premium in the near future until GC.COM finds a solution, posts it here, AND puts the Paperless info on the MAIN website for all cachers to see.

 

Would you like for them to find the caches and bring them to your doorstep to sign, too? Sorry, snarky I realize, but c'mon....

 

We hunt for caches, not solutions to programming issues. That is their job and what we pay for.

 

And they provide a LISTING service. Everything that you get above and beyond that is gravy. They do a LOT of things for FREE or for a small fee and yet they continue to get bashed when technology gets in the way.

 

 

Seriously......would I be upset if they stopped sending me GPX files and I had to use a new format? Sure. Would I start a crusade against them or would I spend my time figuring out how I was going to continuing caching in the manner in which I've become accustomed? The latter.

 

 

In the end, the same data is provided just in a new format (to you). Take advantage of the people in here that are trying to help.

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OK. Let's throw something else out there. I was initially happy when I thought there would be MobiPocket support, as I already have that on my phone. Am I upset that it is not available now? Not really. It would be nice, but oh well. I do have one dilemma though, how do you get cachemate to run on Windows Mobile 5? I downloaded the PocketPC version, thinking that would do it, but it would not install. Upon further review on the cm website, there currently is not a version for windows smartphones. Does anyone have an alternative solution for that?

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OK. Let's throw something else out there. I was initially happy when I thought there would be MobiPocket support, as I already have that on my phone. Am I upset that it is not available now? Not really. It would be nice, but oh well. I do have one dilemma though, how do you get cachemate to run on Windows Mobile 5? I downloaded the PocketPC version, thinking that would do it, but it would not install. Upon further review on the cm website, there currently is not a version for windows smartphones. Does anyone have an alternative solution for that?

 

GPXview. I use it on my windows mobile 5 Ipaq. I can not promise it works on your phone but its worth a try and its free. it reads the GPX file directly. No conversion needed. I used it to replace E-books 3 years ago IIRC.

 

Its worth a shot.

Edited by Michael
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...how do you get cachemate to run on Windows Mobile 5? I downloaded the PocketPC version, thinking that would do it, but it would not install. Upon further review on the cm website, there currently is not a version for windows smartphones. Does anyone have an alternative solution for that?

 

Cachemate runs on my iMate JasJam, and that is definitely running WM5 as I've just checked the about screen to make absolutely sure.

Not sure why it wouldn't be running on your smartphone, though many websites I've downloaded stuff for the iMate from, list smartphones as a seperate OS, are you sure it's actually using WM5 ?

 

And quite frankly, to those knockers, I wanted a solution that was cheap, and almost as easy as the mobipocket system, instead I got one that was cheap, just as easy as mobipocket, and a HELL of a lot BETTER than mobipocket ever was!!!!

Yeah I was peeved too, but if you can move on past that and go try cachemate, you will find it blows mobipocket out of the water, and hell, if I can afford the $10 or $11 Australian that the $8.00 fee converted to, then almost anyone can afford it, cause I'm sure as hell not wealthy in any way make shape or form.

 

For me it's as easy as sending the gpx file from the PQ over to my phone, and opening it right there on the phone with cachemate. That is definitely as easy as mobipocket was, and nothing like some of the complex solutions posted up here. Searching through for a specific cache, decrypting hint, etc etc are all a million times easier. I just wish I'd found cachemate ages ago, and now am THANKING geocaching.com for forcing me to go try it out.

Edited by Super-T
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Why? Well way back when we started building Pocket Queries we found MobiPocket - then a very small site - and started using their publishing software to make the files. Unfortunately since then they no longer release their publishing software so we can build the eBooks on the fly.

 

 

I'm confused. Was the publishing software different then? I downloaded a free version of the Mobipocket publishing software recently. I'm perhaps not nerd enough to know how it is different now.

 

I'm a big fan of the ebook format since it allows me to download all the caches in an area without having to print them out. Having only the gpx info is rarely enough, especially with multicaches and when going to an unfamiliar area. I'm really hoping that fixing this will be a priority.

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After weeks of agonizing and researching my Mobi replacement, I finally gave up and bought Cachemate. To those who are reluctant to make the jump, Cachemate is well worth the $8. Even though it requires an extra conversion, it is a MUCH better program. Once you set it up the first time, it's fairly simple to use. If you follow the "Quick Start" document on the website, it will make the learning curve much easier. Using my Treo while caching is enjoyable again.

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...I'm a big fan of the ebook format since it allows me to download all the caches in an area without having to print them out. Having only the gpx info is rarely enough...

 

Cachemate will get more than enough info from the gpx file, in fact it gets more info from it than mobipocket did.

Not only does it get more info from the gpx file than Mobipocket did, it also lets you filter that info on the fly.

In other words, you can get it to show you all the closest caches, all caches of a particular type, all the caches of a particular difficulty, particular terrain, particular container, etc etc etc.

It's like having every cache page with you printed out, but able to be sorted instantly into any order you want.

Believe me, I was peeved at losing mobipocket, but I'm a new found convert to cachemate. It blows mobipocket away. In fairness Mobipocket was designed for reading books, not for caching. It managed to handle caching in a sort of a way, but it can't hold a candle to software built just for caching alone.

 

Though after having cachemate do it's own read of a new gpx file today ON THE DEVICE ITSELF, it would appear I may need to use a method that does the reading of the gpx file on the computer, and sends cachemate the info like many here have recommended, because whilst it did handle the conversion within the unit itself, importing 499 caches from the gpx file, on a small PDA itself, took several minutes. I think it could be quicker if done on the computer and sent to the PDA.

Otherwise it's awesome, and can handle it if need be, you just have to have a few spare minutes to wait.

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I have yet to see any thing that will load on my Casio Be-300. I bought it just to use caching because Mobipocket was offered as part of the PQs. Has anyone found a way of loading & using Cachemate with it, or any other reasonable work around?

Edited by rldill
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I have yet to see any thing that will load on my Casio Be-300. I bought it just to use caching because Mobipocket was offered as part of the PQs. Has anyone found a way of loading & using Cachemate with it, or any other reasonable work around?

 

If you want, you can generate your own Mobipocket ebooks using the GPX file from your pocket queries. See this page http://cacheopedia.com/wiki/Mobipocket for more information.

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After weeks of agonizing and researching my Mobi replacement, I finally gave up and bought Cachemate. To those who are reluctant to make the jump, Cachemate is well worth the $8. Even though it requires an extra conversion, it is a MUCH better program. Once you set it up the first time, it's fairly simple to use. If you follow the "Quick Start" document on the website, it will make the learning curve much easier. Using my Treo while caching is enjoyable again.

 

I'd just like to add my pennyworth; As above, not impressed when Mobipocket disappeared but have now registered cachemate and GSAK. Up and running in 30 minutes on a Palm Tungsten T5 and Garmin Etrex Legend C. What a superb combination, should have done it ages ago.

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:) After all this exhausting chatter about what works and what doesn't, I'm wondering what could be easier than double-clicking a .prc provided by email and then sync-ing. THAT'S what I loved about the Mobi solution and I want to see something like that come back ASAP. Thanks Groundspeak for all you do but please keep looking for a soultion as easy as that. Edited by sowelch
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:) After all this exhausting chatter about what works and what doesn't, I'm wondering what could be easier than double-clicking a .prc provided by email and then sync-ing. THAT'S what I loved about the Mobi solution and I want to see something like that come back ASAP. Thanks Groundspeak for all you do but please keep looking for a soultion as easy as that.

What type of PDA do you have?

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:ph34r: After all this exhausting chatter about what works and what doesn't, I'm wondering what could be easier than double-clicking a .prc provided by email and then sync-ing. THAT'S what I loved about the Mobi solution and I want to see something like that come back ASAP. Thanks Groundspeak for all you do but please keep looking for a soultion as easy as that.

What type of PDA do you have?

Thanks for the reply! I have a Zire 71, 72, Tungsten E2.

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A few points:

 

- The mobi pocket ebook provided by Groundspeak was terrible

- What about blackberry users??? Cachemate looks to be a great product but does not offer any support for Blackberry

- What tyes of documents can a Blackberry display? I'd like to come up with a solution that would allow me to email a file to my BB so I don't have to connect my BB to my PC (which I do now with my ebooks)

 

I've written a GSAK macro that creates a very good ebook but you can't email to yourself.

 

Gotta find a solution that is good for everyone!

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I have an older PDA a Sony Clie .. .I found that Mobi pockes was very easy to use and I really enjoyed it , cachemate leaves me flat , its a bit more difficult to use and you have to jump through hoops to get all the conversion stuff done just to upload to your pda , then the formating of cache mate is rather difficult to adjust to as well .....

 

Please bring back the mobi pocket support !!

 

 

Star

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My two cents - I never really used the MobiPocket option (noting that it was going to be a non-supported feature in the future)...

 

After using EasyGPS and printing all my caches for the day (while using a borrowed eTrex yellow) for my first ~250 or so caches, I have now gone to:

 

Garmin 60cx, Palm E2, Garmin Legend and a Palm Z22

 

I use GSAK and Cachemate for all units and I have to say that they are the best. Sure GSAK does have some of a learning curve but it is an extremely powerful application. I am not 'limited' to the 500 limit on queries from GC.com anymore. I currently have 8 pocket queries running at the end of the week to get all the active caches for NH that I have not done. Then I use GSAK combine them together and to run my own 'queries' to narrow them down to workable chunks (1000 limit on the 60cx and 500 on the Legend) depending on where in NH I am caching. I just dump the whole database of 2400 or so caches to Cachemate on both Palms.

 

If anything I wished changed was the 500 cache limit on PQs (and the number of queries you can do in a 24hour period).

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I have an older PDA a Sony Clie .. .I found that Mobi pockes was very easy to use and I really enjoyed it , cachemate leaves me flat , its a bit more difficult to use and you have to jump through hoops to get all the conversion stuff done just to upload to your pda , then the formating of cache mate is rather difficult to adjust to as well .....

 

Please bring back the mobi pocket support !!

 

 

Star

No one likes change . . . but, many have posted how much they prefer Cachemate over MobiPocket. As I have already posted, I'm glad I never used MobiPocket, because when I did, using a friend's PDA, I found it to be very cumbersome. :laughing: Give Cachemate a longer try and you will like it just like this person does. :laughing:

 

After filtering, slicing, and dicing the data from your Pocket Queries, the Export from GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) is quick.

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I have given cachemate about a month now ... and it is just not working well for me ...

 

I really do miss mobi pockets guess I will have to keep looking for an alternative ... or worse on my budget figure out how to purchase a new pda ...

 

prolly not going to happen anytime soon ... thus I have resorted to going back to pen and paper as it ALWAYS works unless I get the info screwed up LOL !

 

Star

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I agree w/Tigger. I still don't see how the Cachemate/GSAK solution is better or easier than double-clicking a .prc and syncing--2 seconds with no filtering needed and FREE. I hear lots of people saying that Mobi is not a good solution but IMHO it worked awesome! I WANT MOBI BACK!! (waaaaaa:-) :laughing:

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I have given cachemate about a month now ... and it is just not working well for me ...

 

I really do miss mobi pockets guess I will have to keep looking for an alternative ... or worse on my budget figure out how to purchase a new pda ...

 

prolly not going to happen anytime soon ... thus I have resorted to going back to pen and paper as it ALWAYS works unless I get the info screwed up LOL !

 

Star

What problems are you having with Cachemate? It works very well for me, and the programs (GSAK and Cachemate) were brand new to me when I started with them. :laughing:

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Switched to Cachemate yesterday, paid for the full version. :huh: I been playing around with the program yesterday and all day today. WOW!! :D This program rocks!!! Mobi was a good step going into paperless, but it was limited to a read only application. Cachemate does so much more, it's not as pretty as Mobi, but with all it's applications, it's an awsome tool. ;):P I'm not using GSAK, I use CM CONVERT ( free program obtained from cachemates website ). SOOOO...overall it cost me the $8.00. :D

Edited by Roaming Empire
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