PDA

[+alexan44]

I've tried searching the forums for PDA, but I keep getting the message "One or all of your search keywords were below 5 characters or you searched for words which are not allowed" so I'm just gonna ask about it here.

 

I'm currently carrying in my geocaching bag a 2" three ring binder in which I have all of my "seeks" filed in order of their proximity to my home coordinates. So far there are over 200 of them so you can imagine how much paper and ink I've used printing out these pages.

 

I'm desperate to go paperless and would love to find a PDA that is under $100 and that is compatible with GSAK so I can store not only the coordinates, but also the full text of the description including decrypted hints.

 

I'm relatively new to this game and am so far loving it, but it sure would be nice not to have to carry that cumbersome binder with me on all of my searches...and yes, I do pull out only the pages that I will need for what I'm looking for, but it's still a pain to juggle the E-trex,the pages, and all the goodies in the bag and still look halfway inconspicuous.

 

Liz

[+apereira]

I've tried searching the forums for PDA, but I keep getting the message "One or all of your search keywords were below 5 characters or you searched for words which are not allowed" so I'm just gonna ask about it here.

 

I'm currently carrying in my geocaching bag a 2" three ring binder in which I have all of my "seeks" filed in order of their proximity to my home coordinates. So far there are over 200 of them so you can imagine how much paper and ink I've used printing out these pages.

 

I'm desperate to go paperless and would love to find a PDA that is under $100 and that is compatible with GSAK so I can store not only the coordinates, but also the full text of the description including decrypted hints.

 

I'm relatively new to this game and am so far loving it, but it sure would be nice not to have to carry that cumbersome binder with me on all of my searches...and yes, I do pull out only the pages that I will need for what I'm looking for, but it's still a pain to juggle the E-trex,the pages, and all the goodies in the bag and still look halfway inconspicuous.

 

Liz

 

 

I bought a old PocketPC on ebay for $1.50 . I am playing with it so I don't have a good review yet. But I was able to install chachemate and dump a regular gpx file and it worked. I am not sure why do I need gsak. I don't have a cable to sync but this pocketpc has a regular SD card that I am using for transfer.

 

For 1.50 to go paperless this work great , plus the cachemate software.

[jholly]

A palm M500 is a good solution and they are pretty cheap on e-bay. If you go this route get the hard aluminum case also. With cachemate you can write your logs in the field and use the cachematelogging macro to log your finds when you get home.

 

Jim

Edited July 4, 2009 by jholly

[+Geobiker3613]

I also have a CSx 60 and have been looking at a Palm m515. Would that be a better opion? Pro's / Con's

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Palm Zire

[+Chewy_06]

hmm..

 

we have a palm TX and an M105 that are gathering dust (along with a an IIIxe and an E that both went kinof flaky which is whythe were replaced), would either of these work & if so, can anyone point me to some directions on how to do it?

 

I'd love to go paperless too - conveniently even would be nice. I have an iPhone and have pulled caches up directly from the site, but, it's not exactly a fast way to do it... now if the folks who run geocaching wanted to make a mobile website that would be awesome.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

GSAK is the fastest way to send cachemate files to your PDA

[+ventura_kids]

This may sound off topic....

but I had a pda and broke it.

Now I have a Garmin Nuvi, and that's my choice.

I use it as a pda, AND I get the added advantage of seeing the caches on the map.

Plus you can use it as a car gps with turn by turn directions.

I wouldn't get a pda anymore.

[+BackpacknJack]

Think you are confused now? Well just wait until I answer your question with my real time experience.

I have an HP iPAQ and a Palm VIIx and a Palm Tungsten E

The good the bad and the ugly???

(I use GSAK on all of these)

 

HP iPAQ: [The Good] You don’t need plucker or spinner or cachemate or anything else except the Explorer that is already on it. Just use GSAK to export the files as HTML to your sync folder on your PC. [The Bad] It may take some work on your part to transfer the files to a folder on your iPAQ that you can find with Explorer but once you do it will return to that file each time you turn it back on so just turn it on and select the cache you want from the index or find it in the file explorer. [The Ugly] It does not have removable batteries and you are supposed to keep it plugged in when not using it. If you are traveling and didn’t bring the charger you may loose the data you've added and the unit is alive only as long as that built in battery last (not replaceable??).

 

Palm VIIx: [The Good] Almost everything. It is cheap cheap cheap on eBay and it will last a very long time on 2 quality AAA batteries (I use rechargeable) [The Bad] Almost nothing but you/I need cachemate installed on it and don't take all day changing the batteries on it or be prepared to maybe reinstall cachemate. [The Ugly] It will not work with the Vista that came on my laptop. There is a patch at Palm but they developed it to work only on the newer versions, Tungsten E’s and above/newer. Also, for connection to your computer it uses a serial port that NO computer comes with anymore.

{This may have changed by now and a patch for older versions may have been released but I’ve already bought so I haven’t gone back to check. }

 

Palm Tungsten E: [The Good] Almost everything, it is a useful tool and a fun toy and you don’t lose everything if you don‘t keep it plugged in.

[The Bad] Almost nothing except more expensive then the VIIx and again you/I need cachemate installed on it. [The Ugly] Built in rechargeable battery.

-----------

There are some smaller differences between these of course but I Hope I've somehow demystified the main differences (as I see them) in 1,000 words or less.

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**The mileage of others here may vary greatly but that’s my story/experience and I’m sticking to it. After all it is just one man's opinion, not the last word. **

Edited July 5, 2009 by backpacknjack

[+todd300]

I don't have an actual GPSr.

 

I use my Dell Axim x30 PDA running WinMobile 2003 loaded with the Smache software and a bluetooth GPSr.

 

I'm paperless for the most part as Smache is an awesome caching software - and it's free. I doubt I'll ever get a traditional GPSr like an Etrex or Lowrance.

 

I also use GSAK to organize my cache files and send my caches to Smache.

[+Chrysalides]

Now I have a Garmin Nuvi, and that's my choice.

I use it as a pda, AND I get the added advantage of seeing the caches on the map.

Plus you can use it as a car gps with turn by turn directions.

I wouldn't get a pda anymore.

Well, I use both a Nuvi (wouldn't give it up for anything - esp. with PilotSnipe's GSAK macro) as well as a PDA. The PDA starts up much faster (instantaneous) and I can take notes on it, something the Nuvi doesn't allow me to do.

 

I use a Palm Vx. Ancient, but works well if you have a serial port. Transfer is very, very slow, however.

[+Neos 1]

One thing no one has mentioned is your computer's OS. I have a fairly new machine and it has 64 bit Vista. Palm doesn't have 64 bit drivers for their older handhelds. 32 bit is okay. I have a Zire 31 and let the battery run down. I no longer have Cachemate. In order to get it back on my PDA, I have to find someone that has a Palm device w/Cachemate on it and have it beamed to me. I have to load the caches onto an SD card from my computer since it won't HotSync and it's a bit of a pain but it doesn't matter since I don't have an app to open the files anyymore. I now use my IPod Touch w/ the AirShare app. and it's working out well.

[+Headhardhat]

Not sure if they are cheap or not but my favorite is the Palm TX.