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Do to an unfortunate incident I find myself in need of a new phone. If we go with a Verizon family plan we will get a discount on the monthly service through my wife's employer and they will pay a portion of the bill so picking the carrier is a no brainer.

 

That leaves picking the phone and the plan. I have to say, after abou two hours trying to figure things out my head is about to explode.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations on what to get? Or should I just stick to a basic phone and keep the 60Cx and antique Handspring Visor PDA set up for caching.

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hi i'm a verizon customer and i went with the palm centro cause u can go paperless with it but now i'm whating for the palm pre to come out i heard verizon gets it in janurary. i went with palm cause i had to carry a gps. phone and pda now i just carry a gps and phone, hope that helps iclight0

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As a long time Pal user, you can not go wrong with Palm, except....

 

About 2 years ago Palm had an issue with there access to the web from the Treo. It was all over the forums and it seemed to be some issue with Verizon. Every time I talked with Verizon, they said they did not have any customers other than me with the issue. When they finally came out with a fix, you had to do it at the store. Four stores later, I finally found someone that knew about it and they put the patch in.

 

Windows Mobile was/is fairly buggy (No, I am not an anti-MS guy) so I stuck with the Treo Palm OS as long as I could. About 7 months ago I switched to the Blackberry, realizing that they just did not know how to support the Palm. I felt like I was going to the dark side but now I am happily converted. Be aware Verizon now has a policy that says you HAVE to take the data plan with any PDA you purchase. I am under the older plan so I only pay $15 a month, my business partners was more but I can't remember how much. With the Palm I think the plan is $49 now, but you would need to check.

 

With Verizon, no matter what product you choose, you will still need a GPS as they lock theirs to all but their own software. Now I have the Garmin Colorado, I don't use my Cacheberry any longer, but it was an excellent program. The PDA is great since it has a high resolution camera and, oh yea, you can make calls with it.

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If you are thinking of getting a GPS enabled phone and using it to replace your 60CX forget it. The GPS units in these phones aren't that great.

 

As a geocacher what I was looking for was a durable phone. I tried the G'zOne Boulder which is billed as waterproof and shock proof, but I returned it because the sound was so bad. I wound up with the Motorola Motorola Adventure V750 which is advertized as a rugged phone. It's a decent phone. It has some issues, but overall I'm pretty happy with it.

Edited by briansnat
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Thank you. I got my hands on an old phone to hold me over. I was worried I was going to have to make a snap decision on what to get but that is now not the case. So now I actually have the time to research and consider the options.

 

So, any more advice, testimony, experience, will be quite useful. Thanks for any and all.

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FYI, I was in Leominster, MA last week and had no trouble using my Verizon service while those with other providers couldn't. Two weeks ago I was in another area and my friends were unable to use their cell phone. They have T Mobile. I think Verizion has the best coverage in New England. So, no matter what cell phone you choose it might be good to stick with Verizon.

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Verizon "locks" the GPSr on many of their Blackberrys. You can still use something like Cacheberry but it will require a separate GPSr. Currently both the Blackberry Tour and Storm have unlocked GPSrs on Verizon and could be used as complete paperless geocaching devices. I've heard that phones are not the best GPSrs but I don't have enough experience to comment on that. The Storm 2 is rumored to be released in October and is a big improvement over the current version.

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In October-or-so Verizon will be releasing several new phones including the Storm II which has a much better touch screen than the original as well as the Motorola Sholes - an Android based device.

 

Verizon is also busy testing their 4G "LTE" network (with download speeds of 7Mbps to 12Mbps) and could launch it first quarter 2010. So if you're not in a hurry it might be worth waiting to see how that shapes up.

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Thanks again, everyone, for all the helpful information.

 

If you are thinking of getting a GPS enabled phone and using it to replace your 60CX forget it. The GPS units in these phones aren't that great.

 

As a geocacher what I was looking for was a durable phone. I tried the G'zOne Boulder which is billed as waterproof and shock proof, but I returned it because the sound was so bad. I wound up with the Motorola Motorola Adventure V750 which is advertized as a rugged phone. It's a decent phone. It has some issues, but overall I'm pretty happy with it.

 

I am not looking to replace the 60cx just yet. I am looking at what a phone can add to my caching experience. If anything it will replace the antique Handspring Visor I have been using for paperless caching. Or it may not. In the end I could just stick to a basic phone. I've never used my cell for more than a phone before. Ring, answer, talk, hang up. There are two people I text to. But seldom and only because they don't answer if you just call 'em.

 

It seems like I should hold off for a while yet as most are saying better things are just around the corner for Verizon customers. I think I'll try to find someone who uses their phone for caching and see if they will give me a tour.

 

Thanks again.

Duane

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"That leaves picking the phone and the plan. I have to say, after abou two hours trying to figure things out my head is about to explode."

 

I hear you. What I'm trying to figure out is what works with what and how and can I get something else?

 

I have:

 

Blackberry 8330

Cacheberry

 

And I bought a subscription to

VZ Navigator.

 

Is VZ Navigator the only software that will work on a Blackberry with a Verizon subscription?

 

Thanks,

 

Leslie

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We too had Verizon due to an employee discount program. We shopped around for no reason and found out Sprint offered the same discount, only it was a bigger discount to what Verizon offered. So we went that route. I had the Palm Centro with Verizon and had nothing but trouble with that phone. When we went to Sprint I got the BB Curve 8330 and love it. Verizon should carry both phones, and if given the choice, I would go with the Blackberry over and over again.

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Check out Trimble navigator for Blackberry. A friend of mine in San Diego has it and we cached all over Fiesta Island with it and it was right on the spot each time and the cache description was excelent. The only thing I didnt like was there was no map showoing all nearby caches as there is on Iphone. Just my 2pennies worth.

 

Trimble will not work with Verizon Blackberry.

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We too had Verizon due to an employee discount program. We shopped around for no reason and found out Sprint offered the same discount, only it was a bigger discount to what Verizon offered. So we went that route. I had the Palm Centro with Verizon and had nothing but trouble with that phone. When we went to Sprint I got the BB Curve 8330 and love it. Verizon should carry both phones, and if given the choice, I would go with the Blackberry over and over again.

 

We actually had sprint at one time. After repeated problems with their billing, and their unwillingness to fix the problems, I told them if they wanted one more dime from me they would need to take me to court. Never heard another word from them. That was about four months into a one year contract. I suspect that if they didn't know I was right it would have shown up on my credit and been turned over to a collector at the least. So sprint is out of the question.

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My friend Thurmdog has one its the one we cached with when I visited in San Diego last month. The cache pages were real good and the GPS was right on we used his storm and also my E-trex legend Cx and we got to the caches with both. Like I said in an earlier post the only thing I didnt like was the inability to look at a map and see all nearby caches like you can on an I-phone.

 

You can contact Thurmdog for further description and or help. http://www.geocaching.com/profile/Default....17-bd61a9416821

 

Thanks Joe :(

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Not sure if this was meant as a response to my post, however...

 

Trimble

 

"Please note, only BlackBerry Storm is supported on the Verizon Wireless network at this time."

 

I'm confused but then, I don't have the patience to read pages and pages of info on the Trimble and GC websites.

 

GC says Trimble Navigator will not work on Verizon.

 

Trimble says their software will only work on Verizon's Blackberry Storm.

 

Can someone clarify this please? Has anyone used Trimble Navigator with a Verizon phone?

 

Thanks.

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My friend Thurmdog has one its the one we cached with when I visited in San Diego last month. The cache pages were real good and the GPS was right on we used his storm and also my E-trex legend Cx and we got to the caches with both. Like I said in an earlier post the only thing I didnt like was the inability to look at a map and see all nearby caches like you can on an I-phone.

 

You can contact Thurmdog for further description and or help. http://www.geocaching.com/profile/Default....17-bd61a9416821

 

Thanks Joe

 

Trimble Navigator works with VERIZON BLACKBERRY STORM.

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My friend Thurmdog has one its the one we cached with when I visited in San Diego last month. The cache pages were real good and the GPS was right on we used his storm and also my E-trex legend Cx and we got to the caches with both. Like I said in an earlier post the only thing I didnt like was the inability to look at a map and see all nearby caches like you can on an I-phone.

 

You can contact Thurmdog for further description and or help. http://www.geocaching.com/profile/Default....17-bd61a9416821

 

Thanks Joe

 

Trimble Navigator works with VERIZON BLACKBERRY STORM.

 

Have you used it? Has anyone out there used it in New England?

Edited by Nerves
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I have the LG Dare and have the VZ Navigator. While it works GREAT for road trips. VZ does not have capibilities to use Lat-Long #s. I emailed VZ about this.

 

BOTH my IL's have the BB Storm. Mom likes it, Dad does not. So I guess if you know and use the features, then you might get used to it.

 

ETA: Back when we had Sprint-nextel, we always lost calls. We couldnt get reception in a Texas State Park. No phone calls. We were in a VERY bad car accident and thank god for Verizon, because we could get in touch with the rest of our family still in the state park. We've only lost about 2 calls in the past 2 years. Their Customer service is great and friendly. And when I have had problems, they were able to help me and knew their phones.

Edited by BlessedMommy
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I have the LG Dare and have the VZ Navigator. While it works GREAT for road trips. VZ does not have capibilities to use Lat-Long #s. I emailed VZ about this.

 

BOTH my IL's have the BB Storm. Mom likes it, Dad does not. So I guess if you know and use the features, then you might get used to it.

 

ETA: Back when we had Sprint-nextel, we always lost calls. We couldnt get reception in a Texas State Park. No phone calls. We were in a VERY bad car accident and thank god for Verizon, because we could get in touch with the rest of our family still in the state park. We've only lost about 2 calls in the past 2 years. Their Customer service is great and friendly. And when I have had problems, they were able to help me and knew their phones.

 

Verizon *saved* me too when I broke my leg while way out in the woods alone. In New England, I wouldn't go with any other carrier. I'm thinking I'll wait till they come out with a better Blackberry as the Storm hasn't gotten good reviews. I want to be able to use Trimble gc navigator.

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I used GN on a Storm from Verizon... nice software but I gave the Storm back after 2 days. Dreadful phone. I came from a Verizon Blackberry Curve, so the Storm felt slow, kept crashing and typing was abysmal on the cramped keyboards. I traded it in for a Blackberry Tour. The GPS is unlocked on the Tour as far as I can tell...Google Maps and cacheberry all report the GPS is fine with an accuracy of 5-10feet. I havent yet tried GN.

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Thank you. I got my hands on an old phone to hold me over. I was worried I was going to have to make a snap decision on what to get but that is now not the case. So now I actually have the time to research and consider the options.

 

So, any more advice, testimony, experience, will be quite useful. Thanks for any and all.

 

Windows Mobile has good apps, but I'd wait for 6.5 to officially roll out so the are competative with what's out there. WM at present is kludgy and buggy as has been noted. That said I'm using a Samsung smartphone (old plan so I didn't have to take the 30.00 data option now required for smart phone users). I find the phone handy but the sreen too small to be as handy as my orginal WinMo PDA's were.

 

If you wait long enough the Palm Pre will come out on Verizon. I'm tempted, except for the Verizon Data plan. Verizon has problems with the concept of unlmited but maybe I'm thinking of their "old ways" and the new 30.00 plan is great.

 

Capacative touch screens beat the snot out of resistive (iPhone and Palm Pre are capacative) for ease of use, but aren't quite as precise so applications can't have as many visible details (hard to describe this, but looking at old school Windows Mobile and Palm apps vs the iPod touch and iPhone apps shows you what I mean.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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Just and FYI Blackberry/Verizon fixed many of the problems with the Storm on the last software upgrade. No more lock ups...much easier to edit text etc. . I really like the phone now..

 

Yeh, I had the upgrade on it..this was just 2 weeks ago I returned it. Loved the tactile screen, but I love the one handed use of their other models better (coming from a Curve). I still had a number of lockups and it was slow to respond. As the Verizon rep commented when I gave it back.."Yeh, a lot of people return these". The Tour is very fast and memory-packed.

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If you wait long enough the Palm Pre will come out on Verizon. I'm tempted, except for the Verizon Data plan. Verizon has problems with the concept of unlmited but maybe I'm thinking of their "old ways" and the new 30.00 plan is great.

 

 

Agreed, but I must admit I've had no problems whatsoever with their Blackberry $30 unlimited plan. The one annoying gps-lock "scam" they had going on has been relzed as well for the last two blackberry models.

 

I'm a huge Palm freak with a Pro in 1998, but they lost me with the Treo. I would love to try the Pre out.

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If you wait long enough the Palm Pre will come out on Verizon. I'm tempted, except for the Verizon Data plan. Verizon has problems with the concept of unlmited but maybe I'm thinking of their "old ways" and the new 30.00 plan is great.

I think $30 is pretty reasonable compared to how much they used to charge (same price as the iPhone 3G at least). Also, pretty much everyone AFAIK "caps" their "unlimited" data at 5GB. Whether or not they care if you go over is another story.

 

Anyhow, just ordered a HTC Touch Pro2 for about $150 (as low as $100 with NE2). Not sure how it'll perform with geocaching, but it does have its own GPS chip and can get a fix in 5-30 seconds with QuickGPS (downloads the ephemeris and finds the satellites). 800x480 WVGA is nice too, if anything supports it.

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Anyhow, just ordered a HTC Touch Pro2 for about $150 (as low as $100 with NE2). Not sure how it'll perform with geocaching, but it does have its own GPS chip and can get a fix in 5-30 seconds with QuickGPS (downloads the ephemeris and finds the satellites). 800x480 WVGA is nice too, if anything supports it.

 

The GPS in the Toucn Pro 2 works great with Google Maps. I still use an Oregon when caching, but the TP2 is good for looking up caches, logging, etc.

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I havent yet tried GN.

 

Geocache Navigator works on a VERIZON Tour. Here http://geocachenavigator.com/Forums/tabid/...ts/Default.aspx and I just confirmed it as well.

 

I just checked it out at blackberry app store. It's $19, anyone know if the monthly fee applies after that? Or for $19 do I get to use it for as long as I want. I'll buy it for $19, but $6 a month or $40 a year not for me.

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I'm a huge Palm freak with a Pro in 1998, but they lost me with the Treo. I would love to try the Pre out.

 

Cachemate works fine on the Centro but Verizon doesn't even sell them any more it appears.

 

I can see a paperless-enabled GPS upgrade, or alterately going to an iPod Touch pseudo-pda is my best bet, given that Verizon always has the worst phones compared to its competitors in terms of features.

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Contacted Trimble and here is the email I got back:

 

Thank you for contacting Trimble Outdoors,

 

Currently we are unable to support the Blackberry-TOUR phones due to compatibility issues. Ideally we would like to support them, however we do not know if and when a fix will be available.

 

If you would like to test the software, please point your BlackBerry browser to www.trimbleoutdoors.com/rim/get and install the software.

 

The $19.99 price is a one-time charge and the application is valid for lifetime.

 

We certainly appreciate your interest and please feel free to check back.

 

I used the browser on my blackberry to go to the link. Downloaded on my tour and seems to work fine. Now I just need to try and find a cache with it.

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This was reading like a Verizon thread. A few months ago when searching for plan and phone it appeared that Vz had coverage but locked down the phones to much and geocaching was limited. So we selected ATT and I picked a BB Bold. At that time Trimble looked like $40 a yr, and cacheberry did the job nicely for a one time nominal fee. Cacheberry does the full deal except show those nearby on a map. After the last post I may need to check out Trimble again. The garmin still goes when we are caching. Maybe the new garmin phone will be an option down the road.

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If you wait long enough the Palm Pre will come out on Verizon. I'm tempted, except for the Verizon Data plan. Verizon has problems with the concept of unlmited but maybe I'm thinking of their "old ways" and the new 30.00 plan is great.

I think $30 is pretty reasonable compared to how much they used to charge (same price as the iPhone 3G at least). Also, pretty much everyone AFAIK "caps" their "unlimited" data at 5GB. Whether or not they care if you go over is another story.

 

Anyhow, just ordered a HTC Touch Pro2 for about $150 (as low as $100 with NE2). Not sure how it'll perform with geocaching, but it does have its own GPS chip and can get a fix in 5-30 seconds with QuickGPS (downloads the ephemeris and finds the satellites). 800x480 WVGA is nice too, if anything supports it.

 

I just upgraded from the Touch Pro to the Touch Pro II and have found the GPS much more reliable for Geocaching. I'm using a great freeware program called GCZ from nicque. I've used this program on other windows mobile phones too. FYI - Verizon has NOT locked the GPS on their most recent WM phones. this program allows you to download all the nearby caches once you have a fix on your GPS; it will then plot them on the google map program, allows you to log your caches, as well as work with travel bugs etc. It is GREAT!

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Trimble still lists the Geocache Navigator as $39.95 per year, and no reference to a $19.95 one time charge. I will check it out when I get a chance.

I use it with my Verizon BB Storm. I got a 15% discount when I registered at their forum. I did that before buying (subscribing) to the app. It works pretty well but updating as you move along is slow sometimes. And at least every couple weeks I get a message saying I'm not licensed or that the trial period is over. Total BS and very frustrating at times. Apparently they are authenticating each time you launch the app. Anyway, it works for now.

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This was reading like a Verizon thread. A few months ago when searching for plan and phone it appeared that Vz had coverage but locked down the phones to much and geocaching was limited. So we selected ATT and I picked a BB Bold. At that time Trimble looked like $40 a yr, and cacheberry did the job nicely for a one time nominal fee. Cacheberry does the full deal except show those nearby on a map. After the last post I may need to check out Trimble again. The garmin still goes when we are caching. Maybe the new garmin phone will be an option down the road.

Does Cacheberry load caches on the fly (find caches near me) or do you have preload them? The Trimble app will find caches near me whereever I am. That's awesome and I can cache anywhere I am. Having to preload is no real benefit over a typical handheld GPS.

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For some reason, I ran across this thread while searching for answers on Windows 7 compatibility.

To get to the this thread. I did a comparision earlier this month between a BB tour (Verizon) vs. a Garmin 60CSx.

 

The notation in the photo, "D300" is a Nikon camera teathered to the Garmin. After taking a photo with the Nikon, and not moving, other than my arms, I took a GPS tagged photo with the Tour. When I returned home, I ran them both through PhotoME, and into Google Earth and noted their positions. As you can see in the first Google Earth screen captre, they are very close.

 

Google-1.jpg

 

In this Goolge Earth screen capture, I zoomed farther into Google Earth. Even though the location is blurry, it does show the differences between the two locations.

 

google1.jpg

 

Even though there is a differnce, in my opinion it is not that bad considering one is primarily a computer phone with GPS, versus a device that is actually bullt as a true GPS device.

 

Note to this thread, I was also comparing the photos taken between the two. The Nikon D300 is a simi-pro camera outputting a 12+ Mpixel file, that had a $1500 AF-S lens attached. The Tour, ouptuts a 3 Mpixel file. Not a good comparision, but for the differences in devices, not a bad photo for the Tour. (Note: Only change made in Nikon Capture NX2 software: size down to a 72 dpi file, 10 inches wide, and an auto levels performed. No sharpening, no color changes, etc.)

 

In addition, even though I was many miles from civilization, the Tour was able to send these photos as MMS files to other people, from the location the photos were taken. Meanwhile, the lady with me, could not send photos from her Iphone due to lack of service.

 

Tour Photo:

IMG00023-20091107-1238.jpg

 

D300 Photo

_D305095_4870_D305095.jpg

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