+terratin Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I prefer a dedicated gps for geocaching: The battery lasts longer, it's more sturdy than a smart phone and can deal with rain, and I simply cannot read the mobile phone screen when wearing sun glasses - and I pretty much always wear sunglasses. Having said that, I do use a smart phone occasionally. One such reason what yesterday when the latest OSM map was lacking some roads that were present in google maps Quote Link to comment
Andronicus Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I'm so glad that I did not have to wait to save up for a dedicated GPS device before going out on my very first 'hunt' today. Finding that second cache after a long trek in the blazing sun was so rewarding; I bet you all know that feeling. My Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini proved to be sufficient and amazingly accurate, enduring at least 3.5 hours of GPS tracking out of the 5 hour round trip and taking me to under 5 meters of the cache I found. Coming home was the only scary part, but I made it safely home with 15% battery left. A small battery recharger will let you go for 12 hours or more. Google 'Anker' for an example of the many types out there. For us Samsung users, a couple of spair batteries will do the trick. (love the removable battery!) Quote Link to comment
Andronicus Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I prefer a dedicated gps for geocaching: The battery lasts longer, it's more sturdy than a smart phone and can deal with rain, and I simply cannot read the mobile phone screen when wearing sun glasses - and I pretty much always wear sunglasses. Having said that, I do use a smart phone occasionally. One such reason what yesterday when the latest OSM map was lacking some roads that were present in google maps That is really one of the big reasons I like the smart phone. When in data coverage, I can pull up multiple map sources very easyly. Even when not in data coverage, I can very easyly cache verious map sources. Way easyer then getting multiple maps onto and switching between most dedicated gps. But now with Garmin's android wifi enabled "dedicated" gps you don't have to choose, you can have it all. And play angry birds too... Quote Link to comment
+JesandTodd Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I'm so glad that I did not have to wait to save up for a dedicated GPS device before going out on my very first 'hunt' today. Finding that second cache after a long trek in the blazing sun was so rewarding; I bet you all know that feeling. My Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini proved to be sufficient and amazingly accurate, enduring at least 3.5 hours of GPS tracking out of the 5 hour round trip and taking me to under 5 meters of the cache I found. Coming home was the only scary part, but I made it safely home with 15% battery left. Definitely get a charger. Use the phone less. Minimize back light. Kill apps running in the background Soon you'll figure out all the tips and tricks!...congrats! Quote Link to comment
+terratin Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I prefer a dedicated gps for geocaching: The battery lasts longer, it's more sturdy than a smart phone and can deal with rain, and I simply cannot read the mobile phone screen when wearing sun glasses - and I pretty much always wear sunglasses. Having said that, I do use a smart phone occasionally. One such reason what yesterday when the latest OSM map was lacking some roads that were present in google maps That is really one of the big reasons I like the smart phone. When in data coverage, I can pull up multiple map sources very easyly. Even when not in data coverage, I can very easyly cache verious map sources. Way easyer then getting multiple maps onto and switching between most dedicated gps. But now with Garmin's android wifi enabled "dedicated" gps you don't have to choose, you can have it all. And play angry birds too... Unless you're traveling - and I'm traveling a lot. I noticed that the save map function in the official app doesn't always work too well, plus the quality of the maps I can download is not so good in many areas. And of course, using data abroad is simply a no no, and a mobile phone connection is not available in many places I cache anyway. Mrs. terratin Quote Link to comment
+JesandTodd Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I prefer a dedicated gps for geocaching: The battery lasts longer, it's more sturdy than a smart phone and can deal with rain, and I simply cannot read the mobile phone screen when wearing sun glasses - and I pretty much always wear sunglasses. Having said that, I do use a smart phone occasionally. One such reason what yesterday when the latest OSM map was lacking some roads that were present in google maps That is really one of the big reasons I like the smart phone. When in data coverage, I can pull up multiple map sources very easyly. Even when not in data coverage, I can very easyly cache verious map sources. Way easyer then getting multiple maps onto and switching between most dedicated gps. But now with Garmin's android wifi enabled "dedicated" gps you don't have to choose, you can have it all. And play angry birds too... Unless you're traveling - and I'm traveling a lot. I noticed that the save map function in the official app doesn't always work too well, plus the quality of the maps I can download is not so good in many areas. And of course, using data abroad is simply a no no, and a mobile phone connection is not available in many places I cache anyway. Mrs. terratin That's when I save caches to an offline list. Easy peasy. My saved maps work just fine... Quote Link to comment
+terratin Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I prefer a dedicated gps for geocaching: The battery lasts longer, it's more sturdy than a smart phone and can deal with rain, and I simply cannot read the mobile phone screen when wearing sun glasses - and I pretty much always wear sunglasses. Having said that, I do use a smart phone occasionally. One such reason what yesterday when the latest OSM map was lacking some roads that were present in google maps That is really one of the big reasons I like the smart phone. When in data coverage, I can pull up multiple map sources very easyly. Even when not in data coverage, I can very easyly cache verious map sources. Way easyer then getting multiple maps onto and switching between most dedicated gps. But now with Garmin's android wifi enabled "dedicated" gps you don't have to choose, you can have it all. And play angry birds too... Unless you're traveling - and I'm traveling a lot. I noticed that the save map function in the official app doesn't always work too well, plus the quality of the maps I can download is not so good in many areas. And of course, using data abroad is simply a no no, and a mobile phone connection is not available in many places I cache anyway. Mrs. terratin That's when I save caches to an offline list. Easy peasy. My saved maps work just fine... Well.. I had some occasions lately where they did not work. Plus it seems like multies or mysteries only get the map tile around the icon on the map, not the tile where the various visible waypoints are or the final. Or a bit bigger on scale: I do a 500km ride with a rental car and have 8 caches along the route. There's no way the app downloads a map that covers the whole trip. But yes, I admit that most people will not cache this way, or travel as much as we do. For us a dedicated GPS is the way to go; the app would not work well enough. Mrs. terratin Quote Link to comment
DannyCaffeine Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 More durable, less phone bill. I can get buy on 35$ a month phone and get enough talk and unlimited txt. I don't want to pay more than that because my needs are already met. All I use my phone for it talk, text and sometimes pictures. I don't need a smartphone nor do I want one. The gadgety things on them are kinda cool but not for the cost. Quote Link to comment
Andronicus Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 More durable, less phone bill. I can get buy on 35$ a month phone and get enough talk and unlimited txt. I don't want to pay more than that because my needs are already met. All I use my phone for it talk, text and sometimes pictures. I don't need a smartphone nor do I want one. The gadgety things on them are kinda cool but not for the cost. TechnoPeasant That is nice for you. I have a smartphone with data anyway, so the Geocaching/GPS side of it is no extra cost. As for cached maps and travel etc. I use NeonGeo, and it caches maps like a PRO. The last time I was traveling out of country, I just cached the maps from the hotel (via WiFi). Still way easyer then getting maps onto your average dedicated GPS. Quote Link to comment
+JesandTodd Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Still way easyer then getting maps onto your average dedicated GPS. Absolutely. Quote Link to comment
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