Best PDA for paperless caching?

[+ccleland1219]

Hi all- I would call myself an experienced cacher who is fed up with all the paper!! I am trying to go paperless. I have downloaded MacCaching (as I have a new Macbook). I have tried to download waypoints and all info to my iPod, but am a little nervous about using it in the woods. I think I would like to get a cheaper Palm device and need advice. In your opinion- What device do you suggest? I want to use it for caching mainly- but I think I would also use its calendar/scheduling features as well as the address book. What programs would it need? Will it be easy?!? I am a fairly knowledgeable computer user, but some of this more technical stuff goes way over my head. HELP!

Edited August 3, 2008 by ccleland1219

[+Cowboyatheart]

I use a Handspring visor,I picked up at a yard sale for $25.00 It is GREAT.That said any palm or palm clone with the palm operating system will work. mine is the black and white screen No proplem reading in bright daylight, the backlight for night use is not that great. Ther are newer color models out there but some are more diffacult to read in bright sunlight than others. a search will turn a the best color one to use ,BUT I don't feel that color is neeeded. Mine also uses 2 AA's the newer ones have buitin rechargable batts. Get one that connects to your computer with a USB con. not a serial port (newer puters have a few Usb ports and no extra serial ports and USB is faster )

[+ccleland1219]

Good point about getting one with a USB connection. I am definitely going to keep that in mind. Do you use any specific programs for organizing cache data for your device? Thanks for the reply!

[+Cowboyatheart]

I use cachmate (sorry I don't know how to make a hyper link) I think its at smitteyware .com. it's

$8.00 to buy and worth much more.

[+Cardinal Red]

I use cachmate (sorry I don't know how to make a hyper link) I think its at smitteyware .com. it's

$8.00 to buy and worth much more.

CacheMate Link

[+ccleland1219]

Thanks!

 

Cardinal- What PDA or similar device do you use? Thx

[+Cowboyatheart]

I don't know if you have found this yet ,up at the top of the main page of this forum section is a faq topic about halfway down is paperless caching with a mac.

[+Cardinal Red]

Thanks!

 

Cardinal- What PDA or similar device do you use? Thx

I use a Palm m500 with CacheMate of course. To get caches on the GPS, EasyGPS suits me just fine. I realize there are MANY more features in GSAK, but there is also a steeper learning curve. The m500 is mono (brown text only). I can read it in direct sunlight and I can read it while night caching using the backlight. Including the shipping, you should expect to pay $30 to $35 (ebay) for it. Should include software, cradle/charger, and protective soft case (hard cases are available). A full charge can last through a weekend of hard Geocaching. When the PDA started dying prematurely, I bought another battery (about $12 shipped, ebay) and it's awesome again. It can be recharged from a 110 outlet on the cradle, or easily recharged from a USB port with an optional Sync cable. I like the optional cable with a built in HotSync button. The optional cable is much less bulky than the cradle, and allows you to easily access info on the PDA while it is charging off your computers USB port.

 

Palm m505 and m515 units are newer, color, perhaps a little faster, and probably burn through the battery charge just a little quicker. Users seem to like them just fine, but I have never seen one. I have only used mine on Windows 2000 and XP. Have not tried it personally on Vista.

[+Prime Suspect]

Cachemate is a text-only application. If you want the equivalent of having the actual cache page in your PDA, along with text styles and images, you'll need something like Spinner and the free Plucker Viewer loaded on your PDA.

[+Scaber]

You most likely don't want an expensive PALM to take into the woods with you. I have bought two PALMS off of ebay for about $20 each and used them to cache with. A PALM 500 series or higher is fine. Anything that has at least 8MB memory should be OK. Of course you will have to purchase CacheMate to put on your PALM. Here is a good article with screen shots about paperless caching. It is from the Florida Geocaching Association Forums.

 

http://www.floridacaching.com/index.php?op...20&Itemid=9

[+Scaber]

You most likely don't want an expensive PALM to take into the woods with you. I have bought two PALMS off of ebay for about $20 each and used them to cache with. A PALM 500 series or higher is fine. Anything that has at least 8MB memory should be OK. Of course you will have to purchase CacheMate to put on your PALM. Here is a good article with screen shots about paperless caching. It is from the Florida Geocaching Association Forums.

 

http://www.floridacaching.com/index.php?op...20&Itemid=9

[Voyageurs60]

Best - matter of preference... there are some great options out there... chances

are if you are an experienced cacher you have one of the other tech devices...

I will know list the ones I know of... there are probably more...

 

PSP

IPod

Palm phone or PDA

Windows phone or PDA

Garmin Nuvi

Garmin Colorado

Magellan Triton

TomTom

 

Like I said probably more... So which do you have?

Of the above there are multiple methods for each...

I am sure folks will be able/willing to help...

 

voyageurs60 (Dan)

[+ccleland1219]

I don't know if you have found this yet ,up at the top of the main page of this forum section is a faq topic about halfway down is paperless caching with a mac.

 

Didn't see that before. Great info! Thank you

[+ccleland1219]

Best - matter of preference... there are some great options out there... chances

are if you are an experienced cacher you have one of the other tech devices...

I will know list the ones I know of... there are probably more...

 

PSP

IPod

Palm phone or PDA

Windows phone or PDA

Garmin Nuvi

Garmin Colorado

Magellan Triton

TomTom

 

Like I said probably more... So which do you have?

Of the above there are multiple methods for each...

I am sure folks will be able/willing to help...

 

voyageurs60 (Dan)

[+ccleland1219]

Best - matter of preference... there are some great options out there... chances

are if you are an experienced cacher you have one of the other tech devices...

I will know list the ones I know of... there are probably more...

 

PSP

IPod

Palm phone or PDA

Windows phone or PDA

Garmin Nuvi

Garmin Colorado

Magellan Triton

TomTom

 

Like I said probably more... So which do you have?

Of the above there are multiple methods for each...

I am sure folks will be able/willing to help...

 

voyageurs60 (Dan)

 

I have tried my ipod. Too many kinks- Downloaded to addresses and got all info except waypoints and logs. Downloaded to notes and got waypoints and descriptions, but no hints or logs...AND I'm scared to death of losing it or banging it up. Too expensive! I use a Garmin eTrex legend. I've been loading points by hand and am tired of it! Just ordered a serial to USB cable. Hopefully that will help until I can afford a bigger and better model. Thanks for the help!

[xxgg]

I personally use my Samsung P2 Portable Media Player. It is 3" touch screen based.

It natively support for reading of plain TEXT file (*.txt). You can change the font size within the unit, display vertically or horizonally too.

 

At same time you can listen to music or watch a video while you take a break and have a snack

[Wintertime]

Cachemate is a text-only application. If you want the equivalent of having the actual cache page in your PDA, along with text styles and images, you'll need something like Spinner and the free Plucker Viewer loaded on your PDA.

Or, since he's got a Mac, he can PDF whichever pages he wants from Geocaching.com and view them with a PDF viewer on the Palm. It's been a while since I've done this, so I can't recall whether the PDFs need any kind of conversion in between.

 

Patty

[+karools123]

HI

 

What do you think about the Nokia N or E service. I want a option that shows me the caches on the device and then I can download the info. I am going on vacation and dont know which route I will take, so I dont know what to download before hand. Does Nokia support Geocaching?

 

I am a bit in the dark about all of this.

 

What do you need to get a setup like this working?

[+ccleland1219]

Thanks to all who replied. I am currently trying to get one off ebay!!

[+Cache Liberation Front]

HI

 

What do you think about the Nokia N or E service. I want a option that shows me the caches on the device and then I can download the info. I am going on vacation and dont know which route I will take, so I dont know what to download before hand. Does Nokia support Geocaching?

 

I am a bit in the dark about all of this.

 

What do you need to get a setup like this working?

 

I have the Nokia N700 tablet, and though I love it for basic web surfing while traveling, and most importantly for reading ebooks, I really don't see it as a geocaching PDA. It's too fragile and expensive (to take on higher terrain ventures), and you have to convert the gpx files into html and then move them over to the Nokia (which seems to take an inordinate amount of time). Once the caches are in the tablet, the device takes too long to boot and drains batteries too fast for any kind of quantity in your searching.

 

My two copper,

MrW.

[+Jedi Cacher]

You most likely don't want an expensive PALM to take into the woods with you. I have bought two PALMS off of ebay for about $20 each and used them to cache with. A PALM 500 series or higher is fine. Anything that has at least 8MB memory should be OK. Of course you will have to purchase CacheMate to put on your PALM. Here is a good article with screen shots about paperless caching. It is from the Florida Geocaching Association Forums.

 

http://www.floridacaching.com/index.php?op...20&Itemid=9

 

Thanks Scaber for posting the link on this subject. I too am wanting to go paperless and have been researching this subject for the past few weeks and this by far is the best article I have read so far. Sometimes it gets kind of confusing on what combination of programs to use. I have not purchased a PDA yet but am looking into the palm 500 series and possibly a Sony Clie TJ25 or TJ27.

 

I do have a question though and hoping somebody can help me with this. If I purchase a palm 500 unit and get cachemate and GSAK, what is the best way to load all of my waypoints to my Garmin Vista HCX? As of now I just use the send to my Garmin feature and it loads it up, but this could take time if I need to load 100 caches or so.

[+Cherokee Bill]

Cachemate is a text-only application. If you want the equivalent of having the actual cache page in your PDA, along with text styles and images, you'll need something like Spinner and the free Plucker Viewer loaded on your PDA.

 

Where do I get Spiner & Plucker Viewer???

 

THANKS

[+padlk]

Cachemate is a text-only application. If you want the equivalent of having the actual cache page in your PDA, along with text styles and images, you'll need something like Spinner and the free Plucker Viewer loaded on your PDA.

 

Where do I get Spiner & Plucker Viewer???

 

THANKS

In that link I gave you in your other thread there are links to download those directly.

[+storm180]

Before I got my colorado I used an HP IPAQ 2795. Plenty of internal memory, fast processor, hard plastic cover and in my opinion pretty durable.

 

The hard plastic cover that goes across screen is a great feature and its pretty rugged around the edges. I have dropped it several times and it has held up. Waterproof probably not IPX 7 rated but I have had it in the rain and nothing has happened to it.

 

It does have a hefty price tag of $400.00+. I also use it for business to so its the best of both worlds.

[+BetaMan]

Get the Garmin Oregon. It is the best all-around GPS WITH paperless caching!

[+ccleland1219]

Betaman- Can you load cache infor right onto the GPS itself? How much do those run? If so, it sounds great!!

[+johnling]

Just in case you have a Blackberry cellphone - Cacheberry works great and you have the added option to view the location in Google Maps. I use Cachemate also on a Palm TX and E2.

[+BetaMan]

Betaman- Can you load cache infor right onto the GPS itself? How much do those run? If so, it sounds great!!

 

Yes, you can load the .gpx file right to the Oregon via USB cable, OR you can load up to 2000 caches in ONE file via GSAK.

 

I have the Oregon 400t and bought it locally for $565.00 (retail is $639.00)

[Pacific NW]

I do have a question though and hoping somebody can help me with this. If I purchase a palm 500 unit and get cachemate and GSAK, what is the best way to load all of my waypoints to my Garmin Vista HCX? As of now I just use the send to my Garmin feature and it loads it up, but this could take time if I need to load 100 caches or so.

Install Cachemate on your computer and PDA.

Run Pocket Queries on GC website and get GPX file with caches in it.

Use Mapsource, G7toWin, etc. to open GPS file & send the caches to your GPS.

Open GPX file in Cachemate program on PC.

Sync the file with your PDA.

Now your GPS has the waypoints and your PDA is loaded with cache info.