+fallidar Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Well, I already own an axim x51v. This monster is still, after 2 years, one of the best pda's on the market. My question is: I dont own a gps yet. Should i get a unit for my axim or a standalone one? With my axim the posibilities seem endless. I could use satellite maps in place of topo maps, or switch to topo when i need it. i would have access to my history on geocaching.com and be able to bring up all the pages i had visited... hence easy paperless. I could easily switch to driving directions too.... but could I? I see how these things could work but do the programs to do so really exist? If anyone has any ideas please lend a hand. Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Since you already have the PDA, you could try using it as your GPS unit. Several people do that and I'm sure they will come along to recommend software such as BeelineGPS. The disadvantages to using a PDA, instead of a handheld GPS unit, include the shorter battery life and its fragility. I have been out on caching adventures hiking for more than ten hours using my Garmin Vista HCx and have not had to change batteries. I also don't have to worry about it if the weather changes and I get caught in rain. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Since you already have the PDA, you could try using it as your GPS unit. Several people do that and I'm sure they will come along to recommend software such as BeelineGPS. The disadvantages to using a PDA, instead of a handheld GPS unit, include the shorter battery life and its fragility. I have been out on caching adventures hiking for more than ten hours using my Garmin Vista HCx and have not had to change batteries. I also don't have to worry about it if the weather changes and I get caught in rain. Yes, you have to cache in a different way if you are hiking to conserve battery life and to reduce the chance of damaging the unit. If you are urban caching then you can plug it into your cigarette lighter in between caches. Quote Link to comment
phern47 Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 If it does rain, you can just store the PDA in a transparent plastique bag. I'm sure you can find a good transparent holster that will allow you to activate all the buttons on your PDA. Quote Link to comment
+KMTB Cachers Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I have the Dell AXIM X51v and use VisualGPS' BeeLineGPS (www.visualgps.net) and love it. I use it with the Holux M-1200 Bluetooth GPS I bought from eBay. This configuration will get me within a couple of feet of the cache. Only downside is that BeeLineGPS does not have any maps (hopefully this will change in the next release). I also use BackCountry Navigator when caching in the US, which supports downloading of Topo and satellite maps from the US only, and not Canada . Battery life was an issue so I went and bought an extended battery from eBay which lets me use my AXIM for a full day of caching, and using it for work for over 12 hours. The GPS unit is said to last over 22 hours on a single charge. The nice thing with this configuration is that I can load all my cache info into BeeLineGPS and I use TomTom 6 to guide me as close as possible to the cache by car. The cost for the extended battery, Bluetooth receiver, and BeeLineGPS was less than $100 which is much less then a decent handheld GPS unit. Hope this helps, KMTB Cachers Quote Link to comment
+fallidar Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks KMTB Cachers, You've made my decision for me. Quote Link to comment
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