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My GPS


Guanajuato

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Not sure about the real usefulness of the 'My GPS' feature. But there is an issue with this. What about users who have a GPS not listed - e.g. PocketPC or Palm-based system (wired, CF or SD Card or Bluetooth), Holux, Alan etc? I realise that most will have one of the listed makes, but maybe it should include 'Other'

 

Not sure whether I should post this in the new release discussion where it would get lost or a new topic - I'm sure a friendly reviewer will move it.

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I'm not sure how people are missing the link on the dialog where you select your GPS from. It actually says:

 

"Don't see your device here? Email us and let us know. "

 

And links to a new email.. :blink:

 

Maybe because it aint there? :D

Screen1.png

Screen2.png

 

However, I have since noticed that if you select a manufacturer, then the email message DOES appear.

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I'm not sure how people are missing the link on the dialog where you select your GPS from. It actually says:

 

"Don't see your device here? Email us and let us know. "

 

And links to a new email.. :D

I still can't find that link.

 

I made screenshots. Can you show me where that link is supposed to be?

 

1.jpg

 

2.jpg

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I got to the page and made my selections, but absolutely nothing when I click the "submit" button.

 

I have to click my browsers back button to get out of that page. I use 2 different GPSr's and would like the option to select more than 1.

 

Yup, IE 6.xxx. No way will I go to IE7 or firefox.

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I question the real usefulness of this feature.

Reason 1. Folks only write about their current GPS, which is most likely going to skew the numbers to the high side.

Reason 2. You can only write about your current GPS, not the dogs you've used in the past.

Reason 3. Short ratings that say things like 'Greatest GPS out there'. These don't really provide any insight into the capabilities.

Reason 4. I just skimmed through the ratings for my GPS. An hour later, I finally got through them all. There's got to be a way to filter.

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When I am geocaching I have a Garmin iQue in a holster, a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx in my hand on on the belt clip, my Blackberry curve in my cell phone holder. How do I register that? I tried but when I select a second one, the first one disappears. Virtually all geocachers that I know are packing at least two devices with GPSr functionality. With the proliferation of GPS chips in cars, PCs etc, and many cachers packing several handheld GPSrs, phones and PDAs it might make more sense to make this a "my GPSrs" feature.

 

I do believe that there is usefulness in a rating system particularly for the specialty-use of GPSrs for geocaching. We have all seen and heard of some very mediocre devices and companies abusing us with bad service. If a certain product gets 1 star rather than 4 or 5, then that will affect sales for that company and put a little pressure on the company to fix things. Maybe it would be good to expand the rating system to probe for more than just overall ratings. And why not have users rate some other stuff too, like software, coin manufacturers, etc.

 

It might also be good to have some sort of ability to identify the firmware level that accompanies the rating. I know that for a number of units that Garmin introduced, the unit today is much better with today's firmware than it was when initially released, because they responded to suggestions and fixed issues. If we are going to be impacting these companies, then we would not want to discourage this evolutionary process. If a company is stuck with a terrible rating after an initial release, then this might force them to prioritize their efforts away from fixing the problems.

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How do we submit corrections for GPSr descriptions?

 

The Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx is said to have an SD card slot. That's incorrect. It has a micro-SD card slot. There's no way to get an SD card into this machine.

It also says "Built-in Americas basemap", which maybe true if you have a US model, but mine has a European base map. Besides, I know this, so why would I want be told it?

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If you select any manufacturer, the email link will then show.

The problem is if your manufacturer isn't on the list, then you won't select a manufacturer.

Correct, which is why I said *any* manufacturer. You do get the special email address to send your request to. Just be specific in your request, as in the Trimble issue. If you click the email link, you will see that it pre-addresses the email, adds in a subject line and adds text in the text box area. All you have to do is simply change out the text, something you have to do in every case.

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You know, if the list didn't have the person's manufacturer, then it should have a selection that says "Not Listed." Why should someone have to select a manufacturer that is not theirs? Bad user interface.

 

That and not being able to remove a rating. Again, should I simply change it to something random?

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I like the "Not Listed" idea. When selected it gives the email address and would be more intuitive. Maybe they will add that in a future release.

 

Just curious, why would you remove a rating? In case you made a mistake or changed your mind or something? You can update your rating if you change your mind about the GPS.

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Click the "My Profile" button/tab on the left menu. On the right side, scroll down to the "Account Options" box and click on "View My Account Details" new2.gif That will take you to the new "My Account" page. On the right, you can choose your GPS device. For now, you can only review one GPS.

 

The direct link to the new "My Account" page is below...

http://www.geocaching.com/account/default.aspx

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If you select any manufacturer, the email link will then show.

The problem is if your manufacturer isn't on the list, then you won't select a manufacturer.

Correct, which is why I said *any* manufacturer. You do get the special email address to send your request to. Just be specific in your request, as in the Trimble issue. If you click the email link, you will see that it pre-addresses the email, adds in a subject line and adds text in the text box area. All you have to do is simply change out the text, something you have to do in every case.

If you don't see the manufacturer of your device, you'll assume that its not listed and will just cancel - why would I decide to click on Garmin if I don't have a garmin? I guess its the user's stupidity not thinking in the same way as the developers. :laughing:

 

WHY can't that email link be on that first dialog - seems simple enough to me. :laughing:

 

Smacks of one of those geeky 'hey this'll be cool' ideas that hasn't been thought through properly.

Edited by Guanajuato
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Considering that the feature has been available for a very short time, I am sure that they will take suggestions you make into account. While they may not have thought of every possibility, I think it is cool that they continue to enhance the site. I am sure they are making notes and will make changes that make sense.

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I haven't yet chosen a GPS on the site. What does this feature do? Show on your profile?

 

If we choose a GPS now and then later decide not to use that feature, is there a way to remove a listed GPS?

 

Also, can more than one GPS be chosen, like if you use a iPhone and a Garmin?

Edited by Skippermark
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I guess its the user's stupidity not thinking in the same way as the developers. :laughing:

As a software developer I can say that yes it is the user's stupidity. No matter how hard you try there is always one user who will think in a way that was completely unanticipated - and then they will insist that their way of thinking is so obvious the developer must have been stupid to miss it. Of course this is what we have beta testers for :laughing:

 

Now that the update is for the most part well in hand, I'd like take a moment to thank the reviewers for their help in testing the release.

 

Since Friday we made available a test site which allowed the volunteer reviewers to dig around and try to break things, and a number of bugs were caught which may have slipped by us. Based on the success of this trial run, we'd like to make this a regular part of the pre-release procedures, and I believe we'll all benefit greatly as a result.

 

Their service to Groundspeak and Geocaching.com never ceases to amaze, and all of us here are enormously grateful for it. Thank you!

Thank you to the beta testers. After a few more rounds of this they will be as good at beta testing as they are at cache reviewing. And who better than the reviewers to know how users think in unanticipated ways. :laughing:

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I haven't yet chosen a GPS on the site. What does this feature do? Show on your profile?

 

If we choose a GPS now and then later decide not to use that feature, is there a way to remove a listed GPS?

 

Also, can more than one GPS be chosen, like if you use a iPhone and a Garmin?

Does not show on your profile. At this point, I think it is just for coolness factor. You can surf ratings though, which is pretty coolness.

 

From what I see, once you choose a GPS, you cannot remove it. You can change it, but once you pick one you must have one. It is only on your my account page though, so if you really really really want an iPhone, you would think you had one. :laughing: Virtually speaking I guess. :laughing:

 

Only one device at a time at this time.

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How about a change to the review feature so that it is not possible to give a ZERO stars?

 

I've got a Vista HCX which most reviews have put as 5 or 4 stars, but because there are a few blank review entries where people have either just made a mistake or been too dumb to realise what to do and left the stars blank, the average has been pulled down to a 3*.

 

I mean, one entry actually says "Easy to use and has always been accurate. . ." but because they then didn't award any stars, that very positive comment has a negative effect on the overall rating.

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I guess its the user's stupidity not thinking in the same way as the developers. :laughing:

As a software developer I can say that yes it is the user's stupidity. No matter how hard you try there is always one user who will think in a way that was completely unanticipated - and then they will insist that their way of thinking is so obvious the developer must have been stupid to miss it. Of course this is what we have beta testers for :laughing:

Thanks Toz, for saying what I was thinking. As a software developer I've always liked the phrase "You can make it fool-proof, but you can't make it damned-fool-proof!"

 

Now that the update is for the most part well in hand, I'd like take a moment to thank the reviewers for their help in testing the release.

 

Since Friday we made available a test site which allowed the volunteer reviewers to dig around and try to break things, and a number of bugs were caught which may have slipped by us. Based on the success of this trial run, we'd like to make this a regular part of the pre-release procedures, and I believe we'll all benefit greatly as a result.

 

Their service to Groundspeak and Geocaching.com never ceases to amaze, and all of us here are enormously grateful for it. Thank you!

Thank you to the beta testers. After a few more rounds of this they will be as good at beta testing as they are at cache reviewing. And who better than the reviewers to know how users think in unanticipated ways. :laughing:

As one of the beta-testers for the site last week, I'll say that we did find a heckuva lot of "unanticipated" ways to use the site and the developers did a great job of listening and improving. But we're not exactly average geocachers (obviously or we wouldn't be reviewers :laughing: ) so we didn't try to use every feature in every "unanticipated" way so we didn't find all the problems. Hopefully next time they'll give us more than just a few days to do the testing and we (the beta-testers and the developers) will do a better job.

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Looks to be an interesting new thing but i just tried to register my unit, let me choose the manufacturer then let me choose the unit but then refused to let me click the submit button. Kept flicking back to the manufacturer and leaving the rest of the screen grey shaded, might be something I did but I don't think so.

 

Cheers

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My requests for this feature are 1) an option to remove the GPS unit completely and 2) an option to add additional units.

 

Thanks, Groundspeak.

 

Seconded.

 

And can the description of installed basemaps, if the unit has them, be changed to "Regional basemaps installed."

 

I'm in the UK and the description of my Garmin says "Built-in basemap of North & South America;"

Afraid not on my unit, it's UK and Europe. :laughing:

 

Nice effort though, keep up the work.

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I guess its the user's stupidity not thinking in the same way as the developers. :)

As a software developer I can say that yes it is the user's stupidity. ;)

 

 

How many MS software developers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

 

None... They just declare darkness the standard.

:(:D:D

Edited by geode hunter
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Looks to be an interesting new thing but i just tried to register my unit, let me choose the manufacturer then let me choose the unit but then refused to let me click the submit button. Kept flicking back to the manufacturer and leaving the rest of the screen grey shaded, might be something I did but I don't think so.

 

Cheers

It does the same for me. :D

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Just curious, why would you remove a rating?

Because after playing with the feature I decided I did not want to participate in the aggregation of geocacher opinions of their GPS units. There are a lot of features of this site I enjoy and then there are a lot of features I don't. I shouldn't be forced to participate in something I don't find useful.

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A user over on the UK forum was banned for use of the word you chose to address me as.

Incorrect. Never happened. It would take much more than that, multiple issues in fact.

 

He wasn't talking about you specifically either. Please drop it, and please move on. Let's keep it to specifics.

Edited by mtn-man
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Someone else asked this question already, but I could not find an answer. I selected my GPS, but when I hit the submit button nothing happens. I had to close the popup. I have tried it a couple of times now and it doesn't seem to be working.

 

I have been able to answer my own question. After selecting my GPS and the screen truned gray I used the Tab button until a saw the submit button twitch , then I hit enter. That worked.

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