Need paperless basics

[+busternfruss]

What is the simplest way to go paperless for a non-tech person? I've browsed the forums, but the Q&A's there are very technical. I've never used paperless caching and don't really know where to begin.

 

I have a Nuvi 350 for the car, but the paperless directions for that are way beyond my level, and I don't want to bring the Nuvi into the woods anyway. I recently bought an eTrex Venture HC to use for caching so that I wouldn't kill the Nuvi or drown it.

 

If I become a premium member and get the Pocket Queries, how much info will display on the eTrex? I am guessing not a lot, but I don't know. I've gotten by fine so far just jotting down a few paper notes for the important info on a cache, but when our GNOC* group is going for 10 or more caches at a time, that's a good bit of reading and jotting down ahead of time. I'm wondering if there is a cheap and easy way to go paperless. I don't really want to invest a lot of time or money. I don't need to do anything fancy, just to have the cache info, hints, and maybe some of the logs for reference without printing out a bunch of stuff.

 

I'm thinking of buying a Palm z22 as they are inexpensive, but I need more info first. Would that model work for downloading and using detailed cache info? If so, which programs do I need? GC University suggests Spinner and Plucker for Palms, but those directions seem a little complicated, just reading through them. I've also seen GSAK mentioned a lot and have been told it is the best program. I read through the GSAK 101 tutorial, which seemed easy to use, but it didn't give info on using with Palms and such. So much stuff out there--

 

Help!!

 

Any suggestions for something cheap and very very easy? Or am I even headed in the right direction? (Geocaching was so simple when I began in April using the Nuvi I already had, now I'm adding more gadgets!!) Maybe the Pocket Queries are all I need, or maybe I don't even need them? Should I just stick with the pen and little notebook?

 

Thanks for any help for us newbies--

 

*Girls' Night Out Caching

[+clan_Barron]

What is the simplest way to go paperless for a non-tech person? I've browsed the forums, but the Q&A's there are very technical. I've never used paperless caching and don't really know where to begin.

 

The article is a little old and the writer's style is a little quirky (but I like it ) but THIS ARTICLE is still a pretty good introduction to GSAK and Cachemate on the Palm platform

[+Timpat]

What is the simplest way to go paperless for a non-tech person? ..... I'm thinking of buying a Palm z22 as they are inexpensive, but I need more info first. Would that model work for downloading and using detailed cache info? If so, which programs do I need? ...... I've also seen GSAK mentioned a lot and have been told it is the best program. I read through the GSAK 101 tutorial, which seemed easy to use, but it didn't give info on using with Palms and such. So much stuff out there--

I would highly recommend using this Paperless Caching Tutorial from the Florida Geocaching Assoc. This got me going a few yrs ago and it is still a great guide to go paperless on the cheap.

 

[edit] Still asleep....now I see clan_Barron already linked this

Edited July 21, 2008 by Timpat

[+busternfruss]

Sounds like GSAK and Cachemate are the two programs needed, thanks!

Is the Palm z22 an OK pda for this?

[+Timpat]

Sounds like GSAK and Cachemate are the two programs needed, thanks!

Is the Palm z22 an OK pda for this?

I think that would be awesome. I went with an old Palm IIIxe that I got on eBay for $15 and that works great! The z22 can only be better.

[+busternfruss]

Sounds like GSAK and Cachemate are the two programs needed, thanks!

Is the Palm z22 an OK pda for this?

I think that would be awesome. I went with an old Palm IIIxe that I got on eBay for $15 and that works great! The z22 can only be better.

 

Thanks! I might check out the Palm IIIxe too. The used or refurbished z22's are around $70 for "Buy it now" at ebay, don't know what winning bids wind up being yet. I've never bought used or refurbished electronics, though. It's around $94 new. Any thoughts on that or any problems buying such from ebay?

Hubby would say "Get a new one," but I am adding TOO much stuff to my new addiction as it is!!!

 

All suggestions or comments are appreciated!

[+Miragee]

Sounds like GSAK and Cachemate are the two programs needed, thanks!

Is the Palm z22 an OK pda for this?

I think that would be awesome. I went with an old Palm IIIxe that I got on eBay for $15 and that works great! The z22 can only be better.

 

Thanks! I might check out the Palm IIIxe too. The used or refurbished z22's are around $70 for "Buy it now" at ebay, don't know what winning bids wind up being yet. I've never bought used or refurbished electronics, though. It's around $94 new. Any thoughts on that or any problems buying such from ebay?

Hubby would say "Get a new one," but I am adding TOO much stuff to my new addiction as it is!!!

 

All suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Unless you already have a Z22, I don't recommend one of those. They are hard to read in bright sunlight compared to the less-expensive Palm m500 or m515. I wouldn't get an old Palm because those connect with the Serial Port.

 

I have bought many things on eBay since 1999 and have very rarely been disappointed. Just check the Feedback of the seller and make sure they have 100% Positive Feedback (or close to it.) Also, make sure the shipping isn't outrageous. Some sellers charge way more than necessary.

[Wintertime]

I went over to Palm and bought a Z22 last year after my old Zire 71 started acting up. The Z22 is not as fast, and the screen is not as bright, but for an entry-level PDA, it does the job just fine.

 

I just returned from a week in Yosemite with some benchmark-hunter friends, and we mostly relied on PDAs rather than printouts to look for marks. For example, I have all the benchmarks for Tuolumne and Mariposa counties (plus some counties in the Bay Area) loaded in Cachemate on my Z22, and used that information to figure out where to look.

 

Personally, I would spring for the extra $25 and get a new one, but do what you think is best. If you do want a cheaper refurb, can you buy it directly from Palm? I'd feel safer about that than buying from some random person on eBay.

 

Patty

[+busternfruss]

Sounds like GSAK and Cachemate are the two programs needed, thanks!

Is the Palm z22 an OK pda for this?

I think that would be awesome. I went with an old Palm IIIxe that I got on eBay for $15 and that works great! The z22 can only be better.

 

Thanks! I might check out the Palm IIIxe too. The used or refurbished z22's are around $70 for "Buy it now" at ebay, don't know what winning bids wind up being yet. I've never bought used or refurbished electronics, though. It's around $94 new. Any thoughts on that or any problems buying such from ebay?

Hubby would say "Get a new one," but I am adding TOO much stuff to my new addiction as it is!!!

 

All suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Unless you already have a Z22, I don't recommend one of those. They are hard to read in bright sunlight compared to the less-expensive Palm m500 or m515. I wouldn't get an old Palm because those connect with the Serial Port.

 

I have bought many things on eBay since 1999 and have very rarely been disappointed. Just check the Feedback of the seller and make sure they have 100% Positive Feedback (or close to it.) Also, make sure the shipping isn't outrageous. Some sellers charge way more than necessary.

 

Thanks. I'll take a look at those models. I looked at the IIIxe but my laptop doesn't have a serial port. Also thanks for the tips about ebay. I'm the only person in the US who's never bought anything there!

[+busternfruss]

I went over to Palm and bought a Z22 last year after my old Zire 71 started acting up. The Z22 is not as fast, and the screen is not as bright, but for an entry-level PDA, it does the job just fine.

 

I just returned from a week in Yosemite with some benchmark-hunter friends, and we mostly relied on PDAs rather than printouts to look for marks. For example, I have all the benchmarks for Tuolumne and Mariposa counties (plus some counties in the Bay Area) loaded in Cachemate on my Z22, and used that information to figure out where to look.

 

Personally, I would spring for the extra $25 and get a new one, but do what you think is best. If you do want a cheaper refurb, can you buy it directly from Palm? I'd feel safer about that than buying from some random person on eBay.

 

Patty

 

Do you also use GSAK with Cachemate? The earlier replies to my post seem to indicate that those two programs are the only ones I would need, and would be very easy to use.

 

I've never bought anything on ebay (I know, I'm the only one), but I did already make a bid of $31 on a z22 a little while ago. I doubt I get it because they seem to be going for a good bit more than that on ebay. I'm not about to pay much more than that, though, when a new one is only about $94. And, there is a very cheap warranty you can buy, apparently. I guess I need to check out those other two models just mentioned, too. We'll see. . .

 

I expected them to be much cheaper than they are on ebay. At this point, I'm thinking I was correct in my opinion that amazon is a really good place for electronics!

 

I did go to the Palm site, but they didn't have any discounted z22's, only the two higher-priced models. Only three models currently listed there, even new.

 

Thanks so much for your reply!

[+busternfruss]

I went over to Palm and bought a Z22 last year after my old Zire 71 started acting up. The Z22 is not as fast, and the screen is not as bright, but for an entry-level PDA, it does the job just fine.

 

I just returned from a week in Yosemite with some benchmark-hunter friends, and we mostly relied on PDAs rather than printouts to look for marks. For example, I have all the benchmarks for Tuolumne and Mariposa counties (plus some counties in the Bay Area) loaded in Cachemate on my Z22, and used that information to figure out where to look.

 

Personally, I would spring for the extra $25 and get a new one, but do what you think is best. If you do want a cheaper refurb, can you buy it directly from Palm? I'd feel safer about that than buying from some random person on eBay.

 

Patty

 

Do you also use GSAK with Cachemate? The earlier replies to my post seem to indicate that those two programs are the only ones I would need, and would be very easy to use.

 

I've never bought anything on ebay (I know, I'm the only one), but I did already make a bid of $31 on a z22 a little while ago. I doubt I get it because they seem to be going for a good bit more than that on ebay. I'm not about to pay much more than that, though, when a new one is only about $94. And, there is a very cheap warranty you can buy, apparently. I guess I need to check out those other two models just mentioned, too. We'll see. . .

 

I expected them to be much cheaper than they are on ebay. At this point, I'm thinking I was correct in my opinion that amazon is a really good place for electronics!

 

I did go to the Palm site, but they didn't have any discounted z22's, only the two higher-priced models. Only three models currently listed there, even new.

 

Thanks so much for your reply!

[+busternfruss]

I went over to Palm and bought a Z22 last year after my old Zire 71 started acting up. The Z22 is not as fast, and the screen is not as bright, but for an entry-level PDA, it does the job just fine.

 

I just returned from a week in Yosemite with some benchmark-hunter friends, and we mostly relied on PDAs rather than printouts to look for marks. For example, I have all the benchmarks for Tuolumne and Mariposa counties (plus some counties in the Bay Area) loaded in Cachemate on my Z22, and used that information to figure out where to look.

 

Personally, I would spring for the extra $25 and get a new one, but do what you think is best. If you do want a cheaper refurb, can you buy it directly from Palm? I'd feel safer about that than buying from some random person on eBay.

 

Patty

 

Do you also use GSAK with Cachemate? The earlier replies to my post seem to indicate that those two programs are the only ones I would need, and would be very easy to use.

 

I've never bought anything on ebay (I know, I'm the only one), but I did already make a bid of $31 on a z22 a little while ago. I doubt I get it because they seem to be going for a good bit more than that on ebay. I'm not about to pay much more than that, though, when a new one is only about $94. And, there is a very cheap warranty you can buy, apparently. I guess I need to check out those other two models just mentioned, too. We'll see. . .

 

I expected them to be much cheaper than they are on ebay. At this point, I'm thinking I was correct in my opinion that amazon is a really good place for electronics!

 

I did go to the Palm site, but they didn't have any discounted z22's, only the two higher-priced models. Only three models currently listed there, even new.

 

Thanks so much for your reply!

 

Sorry for the duplicate post--I got a message that the first one had failed.

[+jimbofish]

Sounds like GSAK and Cachemate are the two programs needed, thanks!

Is the Palm z22 an OK pda for this?

I think that would be awesome. I went with an old Palm IIIxe that I got on eBay for $15 and that works great! The z22 can only be better.

 

Thanks! I might check out the Palm IIIxe too. The used or refurbished z22's are around $70 for "Buy it now" at ebay, don't know what winning bids wind up being yet. I've never bought used or refurbished electronics, though. It's around $94 new. Any thoughts on that or any problems buying such from ebay?

Hubby would say "Get a new one," but I am adding TOO much stuff to my new addiction as it is!!!

 

All suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Unless you already have a Z22, I don't recommend one of those. They are hard to read in bright sunlight compared to the less-expensive Palm m500 or m515. I wouldn't get an old Palm because those connect with the Serial Port.

 

I have bought many things on eBay since 1999 and have very rarely been disappointed. Just check the Feedback of the seller and make sure they have 100% Positive Feedback (or close to it.) Also, make sure the shipping isn't outrageous. Some sellers charge way more than necessary.

 

Thanks. I'll take a look at those models. I looked at the IIIxe but my laptop doesn't have a serial port. Also thanks for the tips about ebay. I'm the only person in the US who's never bought anything there!

I've got two Handspring Visors that I picked up for under $10. They aren't color, but they work fine with GSAK and Cachemate. The cradle is USB.

[Matt7591]

I saw this the other day so thanks to whoever posted it. This is my blackberry solution for paperless. http://wap.geocaching.com/. If'n you ain't in the boonies that is.

[Wintertime]

Sorry for the duplicate post--I got a message that the first one had failed.

Yeah, that happens a lot on these forums. :-( FYI, although you can't delete the duplicate post, you can edit it to remove all the duplicate text, then put a notation, "Sorry, dupe" or some minimal text like that. Also, when you're replying to someone else's posting, you can trim out everything except the part(s) you're directly replying to.

 

To answer your original question, no, I've never felt the need for GSAK. I manage all my waypoints with MacGPS Pro, which lets me display them on topo maps. (And also to create waypoints on topos and transfer to them to my GPSr, which I often want to do when looking for benchmarks.)

 

Patty