Paperless with Aspire One net book and Garmin 60csx

[+mtngr1]

I went Geocaching today with my new Aspire Netbook, and Garmin 60 csx and it all worked perfect! Installed nroute on netbook, along with city navigator and GSAK, and I have to admit I really liked the screen size on the Aspire One. I feel the 10 inch screen on the new netbooks are perfect, not too big and not too small. I'm still learning, but feel like I'm finding my perfect paperless geocaching setup. I have a 15 inch Acer laptop, but felt it was too big and bulky to carry around.

[+embra]

I'm thinking a netbook is my future...is there anything in particular that drew you to the Aspire One?

 

Also, can you say a little how you take advantage of GSAK being active on a cache run?

[+pigpen4x4]

Would/could you carry it with you from the car to a cache site?

I have a paranoia about leaving anything of value in the car, and wonder if it is portable enough to carry. And to maybe, well, sneak a peek at the hints, but only if needed of course!

Or would you maintain a Palm to carry with you?

PP

[+mtngr1]

Well, I did alot of research and I wanted a netbook that had XP and the others only had Linux, plus I had read how happy the Aspire One users were, so as soon as I saw this for sale at Costco,(it's like a Sams club), I had to buy it. Actually, it's wanting to take GSAK with me, that had me looking for other solutions besides my ppc. I feel GSAK encompasses everything about Geocaching, and I felt lost without it, not being able to take it with me on my ppc.

[+mtngr1]

I can't believe how small it is and yes, you can put it in a backpack or purse. I take it to work and don't even realize I have it when I'm carrying it. So far, since I'm farily new to this, I've been looking in places where my car is somewhat near by, but I just left it under some newspapers and no one was the wiser,and it also fits underneath the seat perfect!. It was sweet looking at the hints on GSAK, and using nroute and have a bigger screen than my 60csx. I plan on making a perfect geocaching backpack for those times where I have to go further from my car.

[MtnHermit]

How easy is it to read the screen in daylight? I have a glossy screen Dell, I find it unreadable under a bright or blue sky.

 

BTW, do you have a GPS dongle attached via USB?

 

Thanks

[+mtngr1]

I don't have any problems reading it in the daylight at all, but I used it in my car. I will try to take it outside and see how it does. I use the usb cable from my 60 csx to my netbook to use nroute. I also have had S&T, but still playing with that one on using as an auto route, but so far, nroute is pretty good!

[+nicolo]

Well, I did alot of research and I wanted a netbook that had XP and the others only had Linux, plus I had read how happy the Aspire One users were, so as soon as I saw this for sale at Costco,(it's like a Sams club), I had to buy it. Actually, it's wanting to take GSAK with me, that had me looking for other solutions besides my ppc. I feel GSAK encompasses everything about Geocaching, and I felt lost without it, not being able to take it with me on my ppc.

I have purchased three over the last few months. The one that I'm keeping ( two I'm giving to my kids ) runs XP Home Edition, with 160gb hard drive and 1gb of ram ( I upgraded it to 1.5gb of ram ... that was scary ). Plus it's a cool black color,

 

Very small yet the keyboard is OK to type with ( and I have stubby fingers ), ~9 inch ( diagonal ) screen.

 

I bought mine at Walmart ( mail-ordered, they don't carry them in the stores ) for $350, that's a sweet deal.

 

Note that with the standard Acer Aspire One netbook, the battery life is supposed to be only about 2 1/2 hours - my first Acer Aspire One runs Linux ( Linpus ) and has an extended battery ( supposed to run 7 hours unplugged ). However, if you're caching you can always toss an inverter in your car and battery life is not an issue.

 

I love the thing and have installed all the apps that my Sony Vaio laptop has installed. I don't plan on using it for caching as I have a Garmin Oregon and an iPhone ( SMS -> Textmarks -> Field Notes ) but I plan on using it for overnight trips or "meetings" where portability and lightness are issues.

[+Airmapper]

I seen one in my local Wal-Mart and started drooling. I have a 14" screen Acer laptop and it has been a great computer so I like the brand.

 

Still not sure yet, I might consider it if I can get one cheaper than $300, it is after all going to be at higher risk of theft or damage going everywhere with me.

[+fryguy42]

I also got the little Aspire and love it! Have figured how to get the .gpx files on computer after a pocket query. How can I load the waypoints on the GPS as a large file like I got the pocket query info on the computer?

Thanks, fryguy42

[+mtngr1]

Well, after I unzip the pq, I open it up in GSAK and filter out what I want for the immediate caches, then I load them into my 60csx from GSAK. You didn't mention what software you had, and what type of gps?

[+fryguy42]

Well, after I unzip the pq, I open it up in GSAK and filter out what I want for the immediate caches, then I load them into my 60csx from GSAK. You didn't mention what software you had, and what type of gps?

 

GPS is a Garmin 60 CSx. I use gpx Spinner to format and then unzip to load on computer. I want to be able to load all the waypoints on the GPS as easily which I'm sure can be done. At this point I'm loading each one individually.

Edited November 12, 2008 by fryguy42

[+mtngr1]

I'm sorry, I'm sure there is, but I've only been using GSAK to load them to my 60csx and it is able to load more than one at a time.

[+JSWilson64]

GPS is a Garmin 60 CSx. I use gpx Spinner to format and then unzip to load on computer. I want to be able to load all the waypoints on the GPS as easily which I'm sure can be done. At this point I'm loading each one individually.

 

You can use EasyGPS, ExpertGPS, or even good ol' Mapsource to upload your waypoints to the GPS receiver. You can select individual ones, or a set, and upload all at once.

[+PDOP's]

Well, after I unzip the pq, I open it up in GSAK and filter out what I want for the immediate caches, then I load them into my 60csx from GSAK. ...

 

No need to unzip as GSAK will do that automatically. From the help file (link):

Drag a ZIP file onto the GSAK desktop icon

or you can open it via the File menu.