Geomate.jr Owners Report

[+TeamLannom]

As we got out of the car this afternoon to start searching for a nearby cache, my 7-year old grabbed his Geomate.jr and turned it on. Within about 30 seconds he was off following the arrow. I was still playing around with my iPhone App and looking at all the nice satellite images, compass direction, cache description, ect. when he yelled out that he had found it. It's simple, it's user friendly and it's a great value.

[Dragonfly85307]

As we got out of the car this afternoon to start searching for a nearby cache, my 7-year old grabbed his Geomate.jr and turned it on. Within about 30 seconds he was off following the arrow. I was still playing around with my iPhone App and looking at all the nice satellite images, compass direction, cache description, ect. when he yelled out that he had found it. It's simple, it's user friendly and it's a great value.

 

 

You make me think of my kids. I take forever to do a text message and it takes them seconds. Talk about feeling all thumbs. Sometimes I feel that the fancier stuff doesn't alway make it better than the most simple things.

[+paulherman]

It seems like every review of the Geomate Jr. I read concludes that it is a "great GPS device for kids". That's true, but with support for more software upload functions, it could really be a useful, professional quality device. Does Apisphere have any plans of releasing a "software development kit" or API technical details so that programmers can write their own programs to interface to the Geomate? If they did, I'm sure the open source community would develop a host of applications to support more flexible upload schemes - surely a win-win situation for users and Apisphere alike. I'm a professional programmer - and if I had the details about how to communicate with the USB serial port on the device and the format of the upload file, it wouldn't be that hard to develop software to upload information with just the caches I want on the device.

[+paulherman]

Is anyone from Apisphere still monitoring this topic?

[+hofy67]

Is anyone from Apisphere still monitoring this topic?

 

I was wondering the same thing so I just emailed Warren and he replied right away.

 

warren@apisphere.com

[TravelingGeoTrio]

We bought one. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it. My basic review is this: Before we even found our first cache, we had decided it was time for an upgrade.

 

While waiting for the product to arrive, we had been looking at local caches. We picked one at the park right up the street. We often walk our dog up there, so he can play in their leash free area. As we are walking, we turn on the unit. For some reason, it keeps pointing us to a cache .7 miles the OTHER direction. As we get closer to the park, the directions keep pointing away. I have the print out in my hands, and this cache has been there since 2005. Thanks, that's really handy.

 

Eventually, we finish walking the dog and head home. The crew loads up in the truck (TravelingTreo, plus 1) and we head to another interesting looking cache on the list. Also, not in the Geomate.jr. This cache is newer, from November 2009. Well, now we know the unit wasn't flashed with recent caches when it was sent to us. Luckily, I did manage to find the screen that shows us our CURRENT coordinates....well, half of them at a time. With a LOT of toggling back and forth, and a lot of walking back and forth, we finally manage to find the cache without any help from the geomate.

 

We will be ordering a Garmin next week.

 

Justin.

Edited February 5, 2010 by TravelingGeoTrio

[+ROOKIE49]

We bought one. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it. My basic review is this: Before we even found our first cache, we had decided it was time for an upgrade.

 

While waiting for the product to arrive, we had been looking at local caches. We picked one at the park right up the street. We often walk our dog up there, so he can play in their leash free area. As we are walking, we turn on the unit. For some reason, it keeps pointing us to a cache .7 miles the OTHER direction. As we get closer to the park, the directions keep pointing away. I have the print out in my hands, and this cache has been there since 2005. Thanks, that's really handy.

 

Eventually, we finish walking the dog and head home. The crew loads up in the truck (TravelingTreo, plus 1) and we head to another interesting looking cache on the list. Also, not in the Geomate.jr. This cache is newer, from November 2009. Well, now we know the unit wasn't flashed with recent caches when it was sent to us. Luckily, I did manage to find the screen that shows us our CURRENT coordinates....well, half of them at a time. With a LOT of toggling back and forth, and a lot of walking back and forth, we finally manage to find the cache without any help from the geomate.

 

We will be ordering a Garmin next week.

 

Justin.

 

Did you look on the site to see when the last time those cached were found? I think it only shows caches found within the last 6 months or so.

[TravelingGeoTrio]

We bought one. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it. My basic review is this: Before we even found our first cache, we had decided it was time for an upgrade.

 

While waiting for the product to arrive, we had been looking at local caches. We picked one at the park right up the street. We often walk our dog up there, so he can play in their leash free area. As we are walking, we turn on the unit. For some reason, it keeps pointing us to a cache .7 miles the OTHER direction. As we get closer to the park, the directions keep pointing away. I have the print out in my hands, and this cache has been there since 2005. Thanks, that's really handy.

 

Eventually, we finish walking the dog and head home. The crew loads up in the truck (TravelingTreo, plus 1) and we head to another interesting looking cache on the list. Also, not in the Geomate.jr. This cache is newer, from November 2009. Well, now we know the unit wasn't flashed with recent caches when it was sent to us. Luckily, I did manage to find the screen that shows us our CURRENT coordinates....well, half of them at a time. With a LOT of toggling back and forth, and a lot of walking back and forth, we finally manage to find the cache without any help from the geomate.

 

We will be ordering a Garmin next week.

 

Justin.

 

Did you look on the site to see when the last time those cached were found? I think it only shows caches found within the last 6 months or so.

I had actually. I looked to make sure there weren't a ton of people that couldn't find it, before I went out. Both had been found within a month.

 

I was, however, unaware of that feature.

 

Justin.

[+OH Team]

We bought one. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it. My basic review is this: Before we even found our first cache, we had decided it was time for an upgrade.

 

While waiting for the product to arrive, we had been looking at local caches. We picked one at the park right up the street. We often walk our dog up there, so he can play in their leash free area. As we are walking, we turn on the unit. For some reason, it keeps pointing us to a cache .7 miles the OTHER direction. As we get closer to the park, the directions keep pointing away. I have the print out in my hands, and this cache has been there since 2005. Thanks, that's really handy.

 

Eventually, we finish walking the dog and head home. The crew loads up in the truck (TravelingTreo, plus 1) and we head to another interesting looking cache on the list. Also, not in the Geomate.jr. This cache is newer, from November 2009. Well, now we know the unit wasn't flashed with recent caches when it was sent to us. Luckily, I did manage to find the screen that shows us our CURRENT coordinates....well, half of them at a time. With a LOT of toggling back and forth, and a lot of walking back and forth, we finally manage to find the cache without any help from the geomate.

 

We will be ordering a Garmin next week.

 

Justin.

 

Did you look on the site to see when the last time those cached were found? I think it only shows caches found within the last 6 months or so.

I had actually. I looked to make sure there weren't a ton of people that couldn't find it, before I went out. Both had been found within a month.

 

I was, however, unaware of that feature.

 

Justin.

 

They also have to have a size listed and not higher than a 4 difficulty. Multi's and mystery caches are not loaded on Jr (only traditional caches). I recommend getting the update kit. Problem solved. []

[TravelingGeoTrio]

They also have to have a size listed and not higher than a 4 difficulty. Multi's and mystery caches are not loaded on Jr (only traditional caches). I recommend getting the update kit. Problem solved. []

I did see the sizes listed on the unit, but nowhere on the page that sells it, or the paperwork that comes with it, are all these limitations spelled out. I bought something being told I'd be able to locate all the caches close to me, and it hardly does that. More accurately, it will locate all the caches closest to you, that it decides to load.

 

I also have no desire in investing further into a device, that won't allow me to do stage 5 caches, multis, etc. I'll ante up and get a higher featured model at this point.

[+Geomate.jr]

Is anyone from Apisphere still monitoring this topic?

 

Yep!

[+humboldt flier]

They also have to have a size listed and not higher than a 4 difficulty. Multi's and mystery caches are not loaded on Jr (only traditional caches). I recommend getting the update kit. Problem solved. []

I did see the sizes listed on the unit, but nowhere on the page that sells it, or the paperwork that comes with it, are all these limitations spelled out. I bought something being told I'd be able to locate all the caches close to me, and it hardly does that. More accurately, it will locate all the caches closest to you, that it decides to load.

 

I also have no desire in investing further into a device, that won't allow me to do stage 5 caches, multis, etc. I'll ante up and get a higher featured model at this point.

Sooooooooooooooo, want to sell it to me? I can use another.

[+humboldt flier]

They also have to have a size listed and not higher than a 4 difficulty. Multi's and mystery caches are not loaded on Jr (only traditional caches). I recommend getting the update kit. Problem solved. []

I did see the sizes listed on the unit, but nowhere on the page that sells it, or the paperwork that comes with it, are all these limitations spelled out. I bought something being told I'd be able to locate all the caches close to me, and it hardly does that. More accurately, it will locate all the caches closest to you, that it decides to load.

 

I also have no desire in investing further into a device, that won't allow me to do stage 5 caches, multis, etc. I'll ante up and get a higher featured model at this point.

Sooooooooooooooo, want to sell it to me? I can use another.

I agree that some things might be "better spelled out" and perhaps there could be benefit to a factory sponsored forum and FAQ's posted. I am still trying to rec-o-member how to unfind a cache inadvertantly logged as found.

Annnnnywaaaay to my earlier question, do you want to sell it to me? I can utilize a third unit --- don't ask.

[+Geomate.jr]

We bought one. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it. My basic review is this: Before we even found our first cache, we had decided it was time for an upgrade.

 

While waiting for the product to arrive, we had been looking at local caches. We picked one at the park right up the street. We often walk our dog up there, so he can play in their leash free area. As we are walking, we turn on the unit. For some reason, it keeps pointing us to a cache .7 miles the OTHER direction. As we get closer to the park, the directions keep pointing away. I have the print out in my hands, and this cache has been there since 2005. Thanks, that's really handy.

 

Eventually, we finish walking the dog and head home. The crew loads up in the truck (TravelingTreo, plus 1) and we head to another interesting looking cache on the list. Also, not in the Geomate.jr. This cache is newer, from November 2009. Well, now we know the unit wasn't flashed with recent caches when it was sent to us. Luckily, I did manage to find the screen that shows us our CURRENT coordinates....well, half of them at a time. With a LOT of toggling back and forth, and a lot of walking back and forth, we finally manage to find the cache without any help from the geomate.

 

We will be ordering a Garmin next week.

 

Justin.

 

G'day TravelingGeoTrio

 

Waz here - I work for the company that makes the Geomate.jr. I noticed your initial comments (and the responses) and I thought I would jump in just to clarify our thinking and what's going on.

 

As you know, the Geomate.jr comes preloaded with about 250,000 traditional geocache locations. This is both a great thing, and also a problem. It's great in the sense you have a ready to go, all in one solution - you can be out geocaching in no time! However, caches change and go missing. As such, we are very careful about what we preload the unit the with. The criteria we came up with goes something like this: we only include caches that have been in place for about 6 months (for some staying power), we only include difficulty 1 micros (to give the newbies a fighting chance), and only up to a difficulty 3 for everything else (for some family friendliness). We also do a quick sanity check to ensure the cache has been found relatively recently.

 

For someone who wants to get up and running straight out of the box, this works really well. But if you are seeking out specific caches, then the factory default list may not include the ones you are looking for. And it looks like this is what you have experienced.

 

Now if you get access to the Update Kit, then you can load a different version of the list that includes all of the latest and greatest traditional caches and does not have the "time since placed" etc filtering applied. You can also then view the GC code to select the cache you are after.

 

The focus of the Geomate.jr is really to create something that is affordable, fun, and awesomely easy to use - so you and the kids can head off down the park for a bit of geocaching fun together, or just go geocaching on a whim anywhere in the US. Personally, I love how I can be just anywhere, switch on the Geomate.jr and just go. It's even better when you throw some kids in the mix and watch them take the lead with Geomate.jrs in hand.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to convince you that this is the unit for you - far from it. We know the Geomate.jr is not the right tool for everyone. After all, isn't that why we have 857 types of lip balm to choose from??

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+Geomate.jr]

I did see the sizes listed on the unit, but nowhere on the page that sells it, or the paperwork that comes with it, are all these limitations spelled out. I bought something being told I'd be able to locate all the caches close to me, and it hardly does that. More accurately, it will locate all the caches closest to you, that it decides to load.

 

I also have no desire in investing further into a device, that won't allow me to do stage 5 caches, multis, etc. I'll ante up and get a higher featured model at this point.

 

You bring up a good point here. Now that the Geomate.jr has been out for a little, we have a sizable list of things we could do better - including better communication about what the unit comes with etc.

 

If anyone has any suggestions or comments, I would love to hear them! Feel free to email me direct at warren@apisphere.com

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+WebiG]

Thanks for this thread and for Warren's participation. This unit sounds like the perfect birthday gift for our soon to be 11-year old son who enjoys caching very much. We have a Nuvi 500 and it seems to be the perfect combo. I will get the upgrade kit with the purchase. This thread was very helpful.

[+PointLobos]

Hello,

Reading the thread with interest.

I have a question I can not ascertain the answer to.

While embracing this new activity, my goal is to make my son more versed on coordinates/maps/topography.

Can you get current coordinates on the Geomate Jr?

Also, does it list the coordinates for caches you are on the hunt for?

 

Sound like a great caching device, but I don't want to "dumb" down a thinking activity for my son.

 

Thanks!

[+reconstructed]

First, let me take a second to say Hello to everyone. I am new to Geocaching, as of this writing, I have 11 caches under my belt. Looking forward to increasing my count.

 

I had been looking for an activity that would be family freindly, and also fill my need for "adventure". Well, I think I have found it here!! I had been looking at GPSr's for other stuff (riding motorcycles), and I saw that some were "geocaching friendly", so I got distracted and started checking out Geocaching. Whilst gaining information about this little game, I saw the geomate jr advertisement, and eventually decided "Well heck, I won't be doing any multi-state, multi-day, or multi-week tours anytime soon, not solo anyway, and not on the bike, so I decided to get a geomate jr and the update kit, which brings me around to my questions.

 

Assuming I turn on the unit at my house each time, what happens after the first twenty caches have been marked found? Do I need to power up the unit at a different location to get new caches, or is the unit "smart" enough to not include those that have been marked as found? Is there a "next twenty" option?

 

The reason I ask, is because I would like to start close to the house, then work progressively further out, aside from when new ones are added closer.

 

Thanks in advance.

[+Tson]

I bought one at REI yesterday and returned it within an hour. Probably should have listened to the little voice in my head that told me if the demo won't work, even after two battery changes, why risk the unopened version. But the other little voice in my head was urging me to use that REI dividend....

 

Anyway, brand new Duracell batteries couldn't get the unit to power on. The REI customer service person also couldn't get it to power on.

 

Too bad because I'd read some good reviews and was looking forward to a successful afternoon of geocaching.

[+doug4566]

I bought 1 about 3 weeks ago. I have duracell batteries in mine.

 

Grandson LOVES it..

[malanon]

Can anyone help me?! I just purchased the geomate jr 2 days ago. we had a blast with it yesterday but then i decided to go ahead and try to do the update. I followed the troubeshooting instructions that tell me to go to the manage add ons of the internet explorer and I am unable to locate anything that says apisphere under the add ons. I uninstallled and reinstalled several times on 2 different computers both running vista and i am still unable to get anything but bad dbase load on the greomate. the website does recognize my geomate but when it tries to do the update it reads. Flash Programming fail and Device write fail. my daughter is going to be so disappointed if i can't fix this by the weekend

Edited April 2, 2010 by malanon

[+Geomate.jr]

Can anyone help me?! I just purchased the geomate jr 2 days ago. we had a blast with it yesterday but then i decided to go ahead and try to do the update. I followed the troubeshooting instructions that tell me to go to the manage add ons of the internet explorer and I am unable to locate anything that says apisphere under the add ons. I uninstallled and reinstalled several times on 2 different computers both running vista and i am still unable to get anything but bad dbase load on the greomate. the website does recognize my geomate but when it tries to do the update it reads. Flash Programming fail and Device write fail. my daughter is going to be so disappointed if i can't fix this by the weekend

 

Hi

 

This is Waz from Apisphere (the company that makes the Geomate.jr). Feel free to email me directly at warren@apisphere.com and I'll be more than happy to get you back up and running any way we can.

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+OSeaMs]

We got the GeomateJr summer 2009 after stumbling into Geocaching via a Boxcar Children book called The Box That Watch Found. We are still neocachers, but it does seem to engage the children in some outdoor activity, embracing CITO, gets them moving. Fun to combine it with biking (now that everyone is up on two wheels). We've had fun introducing several friend-families to geocaching.

 

TechnoFriend gave us some reviews of various GPSrs and despite a hint of wariness, we opted for the GeomateJr. We are quite happy with the out-of-the-box, turn-it-on-and-go mode. It does need to be turned off and then on in a new location in order to find the "nearest 20" - - great for spontaneous mode.

Q - Is there a way to update while on?

 

I look forward to update - and appreciate Warren's offer to email him if technical difficulties ensue.

 

Toward other end of spectrum, and also thanks to monitoring of available technology from TechnoFriend, I'd been eyeing the DeLorme EarthmatePN40 which arrived at Christmastime. We love having both for various reasons. Newer caches we can load, but many are on both. They do usually mostly agree - and when they don't, the coordinates have changed according to the logs. I am hoping the update will help with this, as well.

 

I am considering adding an additional GeomateJr just for the engagement factor (3 children).

 

Relevant to a different thread - I will put some plastic bags in film canisters and add a CITO logo - for placing in caches. We do try to bring along bags, usually - but how nice to have a reminder and help in the cache, itself.

[+pappy jaypee]

Hi I am pappy jaypee from Longueuil Quebec Canada I bought a geomate jr in 09 and used it for the firt time in march

2010. I did caches from calf: to verginia workes very well.I should be reciving my up grade kit next week.So I can use it in Canada.

[+humboldt flier]

I bought one at REI yesterday and returned it within an hour. Probably should have listened to the little voice in my head that told me if the demo won't work, even after two battery changes, why risk the unopened version. But the other little voice in my head was urging me to use that REI dividend....

 

Anyway, brand new Duracell batteries couldn't get the unit to power on. The REI customer service person also couldn't get it to power on.

 

Too bad because I'd read some good reviews and was looking forward to a successful afternoon of geocaching.

>>> Me thinks the batteries were close to dead. Both of my units get quirky when batteries are low. Have to take them out and re-install. Then it fires up just fine. Yes, I know, why didn't you just put fresh batteries in. Hey I am old and cheap there was still some juice left in the old ones. ( Depression Era parents )

[me_dory]

is the geomate going to be made for the isolated island of Australia any time soon?

[+ThePonce]

I'm a bit confused about something. It says it preloaded w/ points on it. Does that mean you can't upload any new points from geocaching.com to it? I wanna buy it for my kids, but if I upload a cache to mine, I want to be able to upload the same one to their's so we're looking for the same thing.

 

P.S. I'm a newbie so guess everything confuses me

[+AF Bmet]

I don't know if I missed this, but has the ability to add premuim caches to the update list been added?

[+AF Bmet]

Do you download the update file to your computer or is it a direct download from the website to the device?

 

If you could download the cache update file to the PC how hard would it be to manualy edit the file to add some premium caches or create a script to have GSAK export a cache file in a geomate Jr. format???

[+hofy67]

Is Geomate / Apisphere still there?

I have emailed since Monday and tried calling.

No answers at either end.

 

I bought a Jr and upgrade kit. But can not get the update software to install on one of my systems.

The other system installs but when I try to load the updates I get an error message on the screen saying dbase bad load. This has left the Jr. unable to be used at all.

[+Rygel]

Is the Geomate jr able to add Pocket Queries yet?

 

Their website has basically been the same since launch and is not real informative.

[+Steph2472]

Is the Geomate jr able to add Pocket Queries yet?

 

Their website has basically been the same since launch and is not real informative.

 

And I am wondering when the MAC support will be out....

[+wgdyer]

Hello:

 

I have a GeoJr and have used it some.....like it when out somewhere and think...."Hmmmm, wonder if I am near a cache?" (I keep it in my purse) lol. I get wihtin 3 meters and have found all.

 

Today I went to see if there were any new updates and everytime I would click on updates it would lock my computer up, then close IE down. Any suggestions? This does not happen on any other sites, so is not a virus.

 

Thanks,

 

wgdyer

[+humboldt flier]

Hello:

 

I have a GeoJr and have used it some.....like it when out somewhere and think...."Hmmmm, wonder if I am near a cache?" (I keep it in my purse) lol. I get wihtin 3 meters and have found all.

 

Today I went to see if there were any new updates and everytime I would click on updates it would lock my computer up, then close IE down. Any suggestions? This does not happen on any other sites, so is not a virus.

 

Thanks,

 

wgdyer

Are you certain you are in IE. My computer locked up when trying to update via Google Chrome. Fortunately it demonstrated this behavior while it was in for repair. Computer guru thinks that there is something about Google Chrome that ...

 

My updater has the habit of not wanting to play unless I treat it as a new download each and every time. Perhaps the above clues may help you either isolate the issues.

Edited May 8, 2010 by humboldt flier

[+IndyJpr]

Anybody know whether this,

 

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Ap...ort-1157801.htm

 

is going to be something the average Joe can take advantage of? It's presented as something for groups... I don't want (or need) my own "geocaching network" but it would be nice to upload a set of custom points.

[+Geomate.jr]

Sorry guys, been out and about. Back in the game now. Answers coming for all.

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+Geomate.jr]

is the geomate going to be made for the isolated island of Australia any time soon?

 

You better believe it mate. We've got the hooks in place for the Aussie database and metric, just looking or the right distributor! Soon mate, very soon...

[+Geomate.jr]

I'm a bit confused about something. It says it preloaded w/ points on it. Does that mean you can't upload any new points from geocaching.com to it? I wanna buy it for my kids, but if I upload a cache to mine, I want to be able to upload the same one to their's so we're looking for the same thing.

 

P.S. I'm a newbie so guess everything confuses me

 

G'day ThePonce

 

Good question. The preloaded list is definitely filtered to make it easy for newbies. So there's no guarantee that the caches on a fresh unit will be the same as yours. But with an Update Kit, you can load caches as new as about 24 hrs ago. So all should be good!

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+Geomate.jr]

I don't know if I missed this, but has the ability to add premuim caches to the update list been added?

 

Sorry mate, not support for premium caches yet. A bit of a sticky one, as some premium members don't want them on the Geomate.jr! We're trying to figure out what the best way forward with this is. Perhaps pocket query support???

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+Geomate.jr]

Is Geomate / Apisphere still there?

I have emailed since Monday and tried calling.

No answers at either end.

 

I bought a Jr and upgrade kit. But can not get the update software to install on one of my systems.

The other system installs but when I try to load the updates I get an error message on the screen saying dbase bad load. This has left the Jr. unable to be used at all.

 

G'day Hofy

 

Yep, we're still here!! I think we may have already got you up and running. But if not, please send an email to me direct at warren@apisphere.com. But for those who are curious, all you need to do is use the "Select an Update" option and you should be good to go.

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+Geomate.jr]

Is the Geomate jr able to add Pocket Queries yet?

 

Their website has basically been the same since launch and is not real informative.

 

Yea, I hear you load and clear. Small team = web site lags. But yes, pocket queries is something we want to support. Working on it!!

[+Geomate.jr]

Is the Geomate jr able to add Pocket Queries yet?

 

Their website has basically been the same since launch and is not real informative.

 

And I am wondering when the MAC support will be out....

 

Close, very close. Thanks for your patience! I've now got a Mac myself, so even I'm banging on doors to get Mac support in place...

[+Geomate.jr]

Hello:

 

I have a GeoJr and have used it some.....like it when out somewhere and think...."Hmmmm, wonder if I am near a cache?" (I keep it in my purse) lol. I get wihtin 3 meters and have found all.

 

Today I went to see if there were any new updates and everytime I would click on updates it would lock my computer up, then close IE down. Any suggestions? This does not happen on any other sites, so is not a virus.

 

Thanks,

 

wgdyer

 

Mate, I have two words for you. Norton Anti-virus. Make sure Norton (or specifically the anti-phishing part of it) is disabled. You should be good!

[+milehighwelch]

Is the Geomate jr able to add Pocket Queries yet?

 

Their website has basically been the same since launch and is not real informative.

 

Yea, I hear you load and clear. Small team = web site lags. But yes, pocket queries is something we want to support. Working on it!!

 

I've been kinda waiting for the pocket queries feature. If I purchase a JR now would I loose out on that...have to buy a new unit when pocket queries are ready? Should I wait for the "Next" version? or will older units be able to incorporate new features via OS Flash of some sort?

 

Thanks for watching this forum, it helps those of us on the fence about buying new gear.

[+g-o-cashers]

Has anyone tried the Geomate.jr Manager/Updater firefox plugins (1.0.0.7) with Firefox 3.6.3? When they are enabled Firefox will not start for me.

 

GO$Rs

[Tahoe Skier5000]

Sorry guys, been out and about. Back in the game now. Answers coming for all.

 

Cheers

 

Waz

 

Warren,

 

I have been seriously contemplating getting the Geomate for my girlfriend who is very new to caching. I bought her an Etrex Legend last year, but she thinks it is too complicated for her and, therefore, never ends up using it.

 

Anyway, my only major hesitation with the Geomate is its proprietary way of updating the database of caches. I don't like the idea of being forced to go through third party websites to update the cache list. Now I understand that you can't update 250,000 caches using the geocaching.com website, but it would be nice to be able to transfer waypoints to and from the unit via gpx or loc files. This would give everyone greater flexibility and make it more "open" architecture.

 

I really want to buy it, but if I can't transfer waypoints to and from the unit manually, without the need of going through your website, I'm afraid its just not worth it to me.

 

Aside from that though, your product sounds great.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Tahoe Skier5000

[+mahini]

I just wanted to say "congrats" to the apisphere/geomate jr guys... I saw the little guy hanging in the GPS aisle at target the other day!! w00t!! (In my world, if its at target, its worth buying!). I was so proud, it made me wanna buy a 2nd one! (and since I was alone, i had nobody to share my joy with!)

 

Way to make it to yet another market!!

[+Geomate.jr]

Sorry guys, been out and about. Back in the game now. Answers coming for all.

 

Cheers

 

Waz

 

Warren,

 

I have been seriously contemplating getting the Geomate for my girlfriend who is very new to caching. I bought her an Etrex Legend last year, but she thinks it is too complicated for her and, therefore, never ends up using it.

 

Anyway, my only major hesitation with the Geomate is its proprietary way of updating the database of caches. I don't like the idea of being forced to go through third party websites to update the cache list. Now I understand that you can't update 250,000 caches using the geocaching.com website, but it would be nice to be able to transfer waypoints to and from the unit via gpx or loc files. This would give everyone greater flexibility and make it more "open" architecture.

 

I really want to buy it, but if I can't transfer waypoints to and from the unit manually, without the need of going through your website, I'm afraid its just not worth it to me.

 

Aside from that though, your product sounds great.

 

Thanks Tahoe Skier5000

 

All comments and feedback on the Geomate.jr are greatly appreciated! I can't promise anything, but I like what you are saying and it is definitely a possibility.

 

Cheers

 

Waz

[+Geomate.jr]

I just wanted to say "congrats" to the apisphere/geomate jr guys... I saw the little guy hanging in the GPS aisle at target the other day!! w00t!! (In my world, if its at target, its worth buying!). I was so proud, it made me wanna buy a 2nd one! (and since I was alone, i had nobody to share my joy with!)

 

Way to make it to yet another market!!

 

Thanks Mahini!! We're pretty proud as well - brings tears to our eyes! We've got a lot of awesome stuff planned and can't wait to start sharing it all with you guys...

[+paulherman]

Has anyone tried the Geomate.jr Manager/Updater firefox plugins (1.0.0.7) with Firefox 3.6.3? When they are enabled Firefox will not start for me.

 

GO$Rs

 

I get the same result with FireFox. If the GeoMate Updater add on is enabled, FireFox won't start the next time you try to open it. You have to start it in safe mode and disable the add on before it works properly again.