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GPX software for dell axim


geojake-kc

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What is the easiest software to use for gpx files with a Dell Axim PDA?

 

right now i have 4 caching apps loaded on my axim, i am trying to figure out which one i like the best.

 

so far, the leader is gpx sonar. its free, it has a cool icon, but that is just the surface. it does just about everything i think i want in a ppc caching program, but it is lacking in some areas. filtering results is convoluted. not as easy as one would like, but you can do it... i just think it takes too many taps. i like how the first info column is the waypoint name, the GC number. that is how i refer to caches because it is simple and not confusing as a long cache name. and, that is what shows up on my garmin gpsr. another really great thing about it is that when you view the cache info, if there are pictures in the cache listing, you get to see those pictures. it does use internet explorer to display this, which is kind of annoying. i like to look at my caches and my web pages with two different sets of display preferences, so i might have to change back and forth. the hints are not encrypted, but they are hidden with white text on a white back ground. you have to highlight the area to read them. nice. can do updating if you put your geocaching.com user name in the program. it will search for logs written by you and automatically tag those as found. i wish it had an option to add a voice recording, as it is a pain to enter lots of characters on the ppc, but i can use the built in voice recorder for that.

there are a few other minor gripes, but so far, i thing gpxsonar is the best for me.

 

gpxview is great for viewing, but only for viewing. good, simple, nice layout, easy to use, but... the hints are not encrypted or hidden, and there is no way to make logs, or mark caches as found. there also seem to be no filtering options.

 

cachemate is nice, and my second choice so far. there are a lot of things i like about it, simple 2 tap built in filters (all, benchmarks, found, not found, other, owned, saved, unfiled). i like the record view. it is part of the app, and not in a browser. it is nice and clean and "crisp." easy to use too. however, it doesnt have pictures... at least not in the caches it auto loads for the demo. ill have to build a set or caches that i know have pictures in them to be sure though. cachemate can be used with a bluetooth gpsr, to show general location info, bearing, distance, stuff like that. also has a good search. and built in conversion calculator.

 

also, for some reason at startup, i get a warning about a "VGA workaround." that is all i can read on the dialogue before it disappears. as the x51v i have is VGA, i imagine it has an issue, which could explain some of the highlight ghosting i see. anyone know what this dialogue says?

 

the last one i have loaded is cachedragon, well the demo of it at least. it is really complicated, and i havent had time to mess with it. i hear it can do everything though. displays caches on a map and your current location, etc. from what i have seen, cache mate has some great potential, but its implementation is a bit messy. there seems to be no good way to show caches listed by their GC number. i dont like this. you can display cache names with the GC number in parenthesis at the end... but that is really hard to look at, and not well organized if you go by waypoint names or short names rather than the full cache name. the filter seems to be borked. i cant get it to work, maybe a limitation of a demo, maybe just not functional. cache info is displayed nice enough, but i dont like how logs or notes are handled. or descriptions for that matter. everything is locked inside a window. you cant get full screen text, and i t is really hard to read all the info for the cache. the window works great for hints though. it shows up as encrypted, you click decrypt, and it does exactly that. despite the handling of cache names, and other flaws, i might drop the 20 bucks just to try it out with a BT GPSr. im curious to see just how it works.

 

i also have mobipocket reader, but it looks as though geocaching.com and mobipocket reader arent getting along at the moment. i need to do more research into this though. :/

 

there are others i probably missed, and i would like to demo them. so far, i am not completely happy with any of the solutions i have found. perhaps i am too picky? :) and despite my inability to program anything more complicated than a VCR, i am stuck using what i can find, and so far, i find gpxsonar to be the most useable.

 

hope this helps. hope we can get some more choices to demo. hope you all find many caches! :)

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I'm going to echo everything KE5FJZ wrote.

GPXSonar definitely.

I've used GPXView. Does OK but the notes is a definite plus for GPXSonar. Still have it on my PDA but don't use it all that often.

I've used Cachemate on both Palm and PPC. It's OK but GPXSonar gives a much cleaner view for me since it's pretty much the page you see on Geocaching site. Don't even have Cachemate on my PDAs anymore. After using GPXSonar I won't be going back to Cachemate.

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What is the easiest software to use for gpx files with a Dell Axim PDA?

 

right now i have 4 caching apps loaded on my axim, i am trying to figure out which one i like the best.

 

so far, the leader is gpx sonar. its free, it has a cool icon, but that is just the surface. it does just about everything i think i want in a ppc caching program, but it is lacking in some areas. filtering results is convoluted. not as easy as one would like, but you can do it... i just think it takes too many taps. i like how the first info column is the waypoint name, the GC number. that is how i refer to caches because it is simple and not confusing as a long cache name. and, that is what shows up on my garmin gpsr. another really great thing about it is that when you view the cache info, if there are pictures in the cache listing, you get to see those pictures. it does use internet explorer to display this, which is kind of annoying. i like to look at my caches and my web pages with two different sets of display preferences, so i might have to change back and forth. the hints are not encrypted, but they are hidden with white text on a white back ground. you have to highlight the area to read them. nice. can do updating if you put your geocaching.com user name in the program. it will search for logs written by you and automatically tag those as found. i wish it had an option to add a voice recording, as it is a pain to enter lots of characters on the ppc, but i can use the built in voice recorder for that.

there are a few other minor gripes, but so far, i thing gpxsonar is the best for me.

 

gpxview is great for viewing, but only for viewing. good, simple, nice layout, easy to use, but... the hints are not encrypted or hidden, and there is no way to make logs, or mark caches as found. there also seem to be no filtering options.

 

cachemate is nice, and my second choice so far. there are a lot of things i like about it, simple 2 tap built in filters (all, benchmarks, found, not found, other, owned, saved, unfiled). i like the record view. it is part of the app, and not in a browser. it is nice and clean and "crisp." easy to use too. however, it doesnt have pictures... at least not in the caches it auto loads for the demo. ill have to build a set or caches that i know have pictures in them to be sure though. cachemate can be used with a bluetooth gpsr, to show general location info, bearing, distance, stuff like that. also has a good search. and built in conversion calculator.

 

also, for some reason at startup, i get a warning about a "VGA workaround." that is all i can read on the dialogue before it disappears. as the x51v i have is VGA, i imagine it has an issue, which could explain some of the highlight ghosting i see. anyone know what this dialogue says?

 

the last one i have loaded is cachedragon, well the demo of it at least. it is really complicated, and i havent had time to mess with it. i hear it can do everything though. displays caches on a map and your current location, etc. from what i have seen, cache mate has some great potential, but its implementation is a bit messy. there seems to be no good way to show caches listed by their GC number. i dont like this. you can display cache names with the GC number in parenthesis at the end... but that is really hard to look at, and not well organized if you go by waypoint names or short names rather than the full cache name. the filter seems to be borked. i cant get it to work, maybe a limitation of a demo, maybe just not functional. cache info is displayed nice enough, but i dont like how logs or notes are handled. or descriptions for that matter. everything is locked inside a window. you cant get full screen text, and i t is really hard to read all the info for the cache. the window works great for hints though. it shows up as encrypted, you click decrypt, and it does exactly that. despite the handling of cache names, and other flaws, i might drop the 20 bucks just to try it out with a BT GPSr. im curious to see just how it works.

 

i also have mobipocket reader, but it looks as though geocaching.com and mobipocket reader arent getting along at the moment. i need to do more research into this though. :/

 

there are others i probably missed, and i would like to demo them. so far, i am not completely happy with any of the solutions i have found. perhaps i am too picky? :) and despite my inability to program anything more complicated than a VCR, i am stuck using what i can find, and so far, i find gpxsonar to be the most useable.

 

hope this helps. hope we can get some more choices to demo. hope you all find many caches! :)

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GPX Sonar could not find for a download.

http://home.comcast.net/~fabienroyer/

I also have a zipped file of GPXSonar V1.5 that I could send you if you send me your email address.

 

You might also take a look at GPXView http://strandberg.org/gpxview/ . The main difference between GPXSonar and GPXView is with GPXSonar there's a place for entering your notes. Otherwise they look a lot alike with a few minor differences.

 

At both links above there are pictures of what the programs look like.

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Here's my deal:

 

I want to buy a compact flash gps receiver unit for my dell axim x51v. Yes...I'm saying that I want to use my Axim as a gps unit. Along with this though, I would need maps to be able to see the caches. Also would like to use cachemate for paperless caching with. Is this setup possible? Is anyone doing it now? I could use some help!

 

Thank you!!

 

-Mooka520

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I don't think you're going to get the desired results. I don't know of any application that will give you a direction and distance pointer. I'd also assume that the CF GPS unit will not have a magnetic compass, which means it relies on motion to determine direction - not very good for geocaching.

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I don't think you're going to get the desired results. I don't know of any application that will give you a direction and distance pointer. I'd also assume that the CF GPS unit will not have a magnetic compass, which means it relies on motion to determine direction - not very good for geocaching.

This app would work: http://www.basicgps.co.uk/

 

Also :unsure: speak for yourself on the "magnet/electronic" compass - I can't stand them and don't use them and I've cached for a long time.....

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I don't think you're going to get the desired results. I don't know of any application that will give you a direction and distance pointer. I'd also assume that the CF GPS unit will not have a magnetic compass, which means it relies on motion to determine direction - not very good for geocaching.

This app would work: http://www.basicgps.co.uk/

 

Also :unsure: speak for yourself on the "magnet/electronic" compass - I can't stand them and don't use them and I've cached for a long time.....

 

That does look like a nice app! Thank you!! I really wouldn't use my pda as a GPSr for geocaching, but money has been tight. My wife and I had our first child and she isn't going back to work yet. I need a cheap GPS unit and getting a CF GPS receiver is the only thing I can think of. And besides...I have this PDA sitting around, I might as well use it for something!

 

-Mooka520

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