Paperless caching: why are PDAs so expensive?

[Bashaw]

I have a Garmin 60csx and I use a Palm PDA with Cachemate for paperless caching. My PDA is dying and I want to replace it. I won't use my phone for paperless caching, and I can't afford a new GPSr. The new PDAs are over $300!! In talking to stores they say they don't even carry them anymore as smartphones are replacing them. So why are PDAs so expensive if they're going the way of the dinosaur? I'm not too comfortable buying a used PDA, been there got burned

[+Cardinal Red]

I have a Garmin 60csx and I use a Palm PDA with Cachemate for paperless caching. My PDA is dying and I want to replace it. I won't use my phone for paperless caching, and I can't afford a new GPSr. The new PDAs are over $300!! In talking to stores they say they don't even carry them anymore as smartphones are replacing them. So why are PDAs so expensive if they're going the way of the dinosaur? I'm not too comfortable buying a used PDA, been there got burned

 

You didn't say which PDA you are looking at for $300 or what you do with it other than Geocaching. If it wasn't for Geocaching I would not have a PDA. I also use a Palm PDA with CacheMate for paperless caching. It's a Palm m500. Off ebay, roughly $30 (or less) with shipping included for a good used unit. At $30 instead of $300 how bad could you really get burned? You could develop a battery problem at some point. Another $10 to $12, and the tool needed is included in some auctions if you don't already have one.

[jholly]

Yep, a M500 off e-bay for $25-$30. The benefit to a M500, besides being cheap, is that it has a black and white LCD screen which means you can see it easily in the bright sun. Not so with the expensive units with a pretty color screen.

 

Jim

[+GeekBoy.from.Illinois]

You can pick-up an iPod Touch for as little as $225 (new) and an app from the iTunes App Store for under $15 and have a serious paperless caching solution for under $250, plus you have an MP3 player, a video player, ...

 

My wife has quickly converted from using Cachemate on a Palm Zire Z72 to using Geosphere on an iPod Touch and isn't looking back, and she gets the benefits of the other possible uses for the iPod as well...

[+LEGO]

Yep, a M500 off e-bay for $25-$30. The benefit to a M500, besides being cheap, is that it has a black and white LCD screen which means you can see it easily in the bright sun. Not so with the expensive units with a pretty color screen.

 

Jim

I use a Palm m515, with a "pretty color screen", and have never had a problem seeing the screen in the brightest sunlight.

My eTrex Venture HC, though, is practically invisible in the sun.

 

Anyway, I got the m515 on eBay for $30, with charger/dock included, and it has worked perfectly for a year so far.

Edited September 4, 2009 by LEGO Cacher

[+Rockin Roddy]

I know you said you couldn't afford a new GPS, but with the prices I've seen posted (not the used mind you), you could be the new owner of a PN-40 ($245 at REI). Paperless, routing, SWEET!!

 

Other than that, I'd echo the used PDA option, I bought (and still have) an M500 myself!

[Bashaw]

Thanks for all your input!! I"m using a Palm Tungsten E now, but it's dying. The M500 looks very similar and I found a new one on Amazon for about $40. Since caching is all I use the PDA for I'm being really cheap lol.

[+IBcrashen]

When you say "dying" just what do you mean? Charging problem/battery? Lots of places selling batteries to put in it in the $16-25 range.

Edited September 5, 2009 by IBcrashen

[Bashaw]

Part battery problem, it runs down very quickly, but the bigger problem is that the on/off button won't work. I have to keep pressing & pressing and it'll finally turn on most of the time. I'm afraid soon it won't turn on at all.

[+Torgut]

I know what you mean. I had the same problem. My PDA died when I was lost in Stockholm. In the end it led me to my destination but died due to excessive exposure to rain.

 

So I looked at the market... just to find that there weren't simple PDA for sale anymore. Just Smartphones and other devices with features I didn't need at all. Of course, all expensive.

 

So I bought a netbook for 190 Euros. I can carry it in my small bag. Even in my pocket during the winter. And it provides me all the features of a common Windows PC. Google Earth, GSAK and everything else. But to be honest is not so practical. Now I had to buy a new phone and I got a Nokia 5800... which is basically a PDA, so I think I will start using it more, and leave the netbook at home.