PDA Vs GPS

[+osquadrados]

Hi all,

 

whats your opinion about it?

I wanted to buy a gps, but i'm not sure, between Dakota10or20 or PDA (don't know any specific model).

 

I need some sugestions.

 

Thanks!

[+briansnat]

Some problems with using a PDA for geocaching:

 

Not durable

Not waterproof

Insufficient battery life

If battery dies, most are not field replaceable. If you are not near a power source you are out of luck.

Most color displays are very hard to see in sunlight.

 

PDA Pros:

 

Much more flexibility with maps and applications

[+StarBrand]

Some problems with using a PDA for geocaching:

 

Not durable

Not waterproof

Insufficient battery life

If battery dies, most are not field replaceable. If you are not near a power source you are out of luck.

Most color displays are very hard to see in sunlight.

 

PDA Pros:

 

Much more flexibility with maps and applications

what he said.....

 

The Dakota units are really just mini Oregon's so you might look into those as well.

 

Another paperless unit you may want to consider is the Lowrance Endura line. Great in-unit paperless features.

[+keehotee]

Some problems with using a PDA for geocaching:

 

Not durable

Not waterproof

Insufficient battery life

If battery dies, most are not field replaceable. If you are not near a power source you are out of luck.

Most color displays are very hard to see in sunlight.

 

PDA Pros:

 

Much more flexibility with maps and applications

 

I used an HP pda (ipaq) for 5 years, and would have to say....

 

Durable and waterproof if in an Otterbox.

Battery would last 8 hours if I was careful. Larger batteries are available, and they're easy to replace in the field.

Display was better than my current GPS.

 

However..... I won a couple of Oregon 550's last year, and wouldn't go back to the pda now

[+geodarts]

I have a PDA/gpsr (asus mypal) that I love for certain things - solid gpsr, great with whereigos, good for urban caches, easily loaded sat maps that have been handy off trail. But could it ever replace my handheld gpsr? No.

[NordicMan]

A PDA is a great supplemental device to get if you already own a GPSr that isn't paperless capable! And yes they are more fragile than GPSr's & ususally don't have a great battery life, but if you're careful with it, it'll make Geocaching a MUCH more pleasant experience!

 

.. but make sure your next GPSr purchase upgrade is paperless capable

[+osquadrados]

Hi all, thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

I'm not sure yet. PDA is more fragile and have the battery problem.

GPS is stronger and easily i can replace the AA batteries.

 

With PDA i can update the software

 

it's hard. I was looking for the iphone, but its verry expensive.

 

I'm in doubt between a HTC or dakota 20

[+dfx]

we use a PDA (fsc pocket loox n560) as primary GPS for geocaching. most of the pros and cons have already been mentioned:

 

pros:

 

*) high flexibility with software, esp. if you use it not only for geocaching but also for other stuff.

*) high resolution touchscreen (640x480), which were rare at the time the n560 came out. the display is both transflexive and has a very bright backlight, making it well readable even under the worst lighting conditions.

*) builtin WAAS-enabled sirf III GPS chip, builtin WLAN, bluetooth, SD card slot.

 

cons:

 

*) the software aspect can be a con point too, as you'll have to find the right software to use it properly first, and then there's a chance it costs extra. but if you do find the right software, its capabilities will equal or surpass that of any dedicated GPS device.

*) battery life is 5-6 hours at most if you turn off everything (audio, backlight, CPU speed). the battery can be replaced easily, but needs to be bought extra (it's a custom model). however since we have a car charger for it, we never ran out of battery yet, as we rarely spend that much time in the field continuously.

*) the builtin GPS antenna is really bad. in most cases it's good enough for what we do, but in bad reception cases the accuracy could be better and TTFF might be pretty long. we have an external antenna which improves reception, accuracy and TTFF a lot, but it's too cumbersome to use all the time (the cable is like 5 meters long). there's also the option to use an external bluetooth GPS receiver.

*) not waterproof. usually no big deal (if we go near water, we can take a case), but a problem when it's raining or snowing. water drops on the display also make it very hard to read.

*) no builtin compass. again no big deal, but would be nice to have.

*) the high resolution display also has some drawbacks, most notably with the Groundspeak Wherigo player, which is made for 320x240 displays only. with higher resolutions some features become unusable and some text becomes hard to read, most importantly the distance display which only shows the top half of the numbers. this issue has been outstanding for a couple of years now and has never been fixed.

*) the touchscreen is only properly usuable with a stylus, which comes with the PDA of course, but we tend to lose it in the field. we went through a couple of replacement styluses already.

 

with all that being said (the con list looks much bigger than the pro list), i'm not sure if i would want to switch, at least not as long as this thing still works fine (it's a couple of years old now). if it ever dies, and i'm sure it will at some point, then i'm still not sure if i would want to replace it with a dedicated GPS receiver. it would be better for geocaching of course, but as i said above i also use it for other things, so i wouldn't wanna miss it for those. for geocaching it's missing a couple of features that would be "nice to have", but nothing essential.

Edited March 10, 2010 by dfx

[+moose61]

I used a PDA for a short period, but due to the listed con's and due to the bad choice of PDA I don't use it any more. The main reson for me to start with a PDA with build in GPS was the use of other applications outsite geocaching. The advantage is you can do a lot more with it, like use it as a navigation system (in those days an handheld GPS was not a good navigation system).

 

A handheld GPS is made for geocaching and has a lot of advantages. I use an old PDA to take along for tools and listings, which provides for me a perfect combination.

[+borrie869]

I got into geocaching through using a pda, mine was an older acer n35, the built in gps receiver was less then ideal though. It would get me close to caches sometimes right on top of GZ but then other times it would have me 30-50 meters off the cache depending on cloud cover and tree cover. I have just replaced my pda with an oregon 300 and let me just say i havent looked back, The pda was a great introduction into geocaching but it soon showed its weak sides. that said maybe the newer pdas with better gps hardware might not have this issue but i dare say they all have the same issue being they are not designed for outdoor use, pdas are generally a delicate piece of hardware the gps units generally are a lot more durable.

 

in summary go with the best gps you can afford

Edited March 10, 2010 by borrie869

[Pajaholic]

we use a PDA (fsc pocket loox n560) as primary GPS for geocaching. most of the pros and cons have already been mentioned:...

I have an N520, which is the same as the N560 but without Bluetooth. The software I use makes the PDA the device of choice for me in most situations. I can get around the lack of waterproofing with an Aquapac or similar and a lanyard around my neck keeps it safe. I have a standard battery, which is good for half a day away from the car, and I can buy a USB powerpack (e.g. PowerMonkey) to extend the battery life if needed.

 

However, the built in GPS receiver quickly loses signal in the woods and TTFF can take ten to twenty minutes. Also, I haven't found a PDA handlebar mount that's as secure as a Garmin mount. For these reasons, I'd love a Dakota 20 - but I'd still take the PDA along on caching trips since it does so much more than a dedicated GPSr.

 

HTH,

 

Geoff

[+dfx]

we use a PDA (fsc pocket loox n560) as primary GPS for geocaching. most of the pros and cons have already been mentioned:...

I have an N520, which is the same as the N560 but without Bluetooth.

it also has only half the screen resolution (320x240), which is standard pocketPC resolution and sure helps with the Wherigo player and is sufficient for everything you need. on the other hand, even though the higher VGA resolution takes more CPU time, it's really nice to look at and offers a lot more information on the small screen. for a while i tried using my smartphone for geocaching, which is also pocketPC (windows mobile) based but has a really tiny screen resolution (150 something) and no touchscreen, and this makes it pretty much unusable.

[+osquadrados]

Well,

thank you for all replys.

I've been thinking and i belive its like windows and mac, they are good tool if they work together. The best of two worlds.

 

For now, i will buy dakota 10 (i think i will not use the 20 features) and i will see how it goes.

 

This was a good discussion, i believe other users will be in the same positions as i'm and this topic will be very useful for them.

 

Thanks to all!