Memory-Map Adventurer 3500 – Big mistake

[+perfunctory butcher's]

The reason I have been a fan of Memory-Map for a number of years is its ability to effortlessly 'connect to PDA' and 'connect to GPS' to transfer data. In this way I have been using a Garmin GPS and an iPaq PDA with Bluetooth GPS for my geocaching - the Garmin for its long battery life and rugged construction, the PDA with Memory-Map for its mapping and 3rd party geocaching support apps. They both connected to Memory-Map on the PC via USB and everything was perfect apart from lugging two devices around with me.

 

The new Memory-Map Adventurer 3500 seemed at last to replace both these items. So, after a month, what do I think?

I think it's going to be a massive step backward.

First, the hardware:

First impressions are a well made rugged unit, but looks deceive.

The screen is so soft that even the supplied stylus will scratch it, I had my first scratch withing the hour whilst scrolling with the stylus.

The neoprene sleeve looks the business but you have to remove it to plug the charger in, and to do that you need to remove the wrist strap. There are reports of the neoprene splitting under repeated removals.

There is no touch screen lock, so unless you turn it off or place it in standby, you can’t put it in your pocket or rucksack (if you do turn it off or put in standby, it stops recording your track).

The scrolling is a nightmare using a finger, even with the stylus it’s very erratic.

The beep is a terrible sound, sounds like a cat being molested, and there are reports that some units make a continuous low level sound when on.

 

Now the software:

Anyone who has used Memory-Map will probably know it’s one of the best mapping programs out there. BUT, it would appear that, as far as Memory-Map on the PC is concerned, the 3500 is neither a PDA nor a GPS so any and all data transfers must now be made by saving various files and moving them between devices using Windows. No longer can you 'send to GPS' or 'send to PDA'.

 

What we have is a rugged Windows CE custom built handheld device running the existing Memory-Map application. This is the same Memory-Map version that I used to run on my PDA and not a version written specifically for the new hardware. This explains all the issues with power-save and backlight settings etc

 

Even worse, being Windows CE it will not run my 3rd party support apps such as CacheMate.

Even though the opening screen has an ‘Apps’ button, you can’t install any.

 

The backlight OFF timer setting only works when the Memory-Map application is not running, and even then it only dims the display rather than turning it off. So, for a long day caching you will need more than one battery, which is a right pain to change in the field if you have the neoprene sleeve and wrist strap fitted.

 

There is a power down setting but the instructions tell you to leave this as ‘always on’, why include it then?

 

The GPX import still ignores all the Groundspeak tags so for paperless caching you will continue to have to take a pocket PC with you.

 

There are a number of bugs in the software. For example, if you put the device into standby it doesn’t always come back and on occasions the device refuses to turn off, both of these are only fixed by removing the battery.

 

I really would have loved to recommend this unit to fellow geocachers but I can’t.

I love Memory-Map mapping software, I love Cachemate for its GPX handling, I love iPaqs for their usability and I love Garmins for their robustness and battery life. I have always dreamed of replacing them all with one unit, but this isn’t it.

[+Chrysalides]

Thanks for the review. Out of curiosity, I looked it up, looks like it is mainly targeted at Great Britain?

 

Shame about the unit. A large screen GPS would be nice for viewing maps - though the resolution is not specified.

[+SATNAV16&STUMPY]

hi there my friend has the memory map 2800 is this gps any good for geocaching.And how do you download the long and latt thanks