Best Pda For Caching

[caseydenise]

I am currently looking to buy a PDA w/ GPS capability. Any opinions on the best set up at a good price? I want to become a premium member and use those fetures also. Thanks for any ideas!

caseydenise

[+tirediron]

If you want this for geocaching, I would suggest buying a more reasonably priced PDA (sans-GPS) and then put the $$ towards a "proper" GPSr, such as one of the eTrex line. PDAs generally aren't robust enough for serious 'caching unless you stick to an urban enviroment, and even then it can be a little dicey. Used just for paperless caching (ie with Cachemate or connected to your GPSr by a cable, almost any PDA running Palm OS 3.5 or better will work, as well as most Pocket PCs. If you really do want a to combine the two, then you will need to look toward the higher end Palms (Tungstens) preferably something Bluetooth enabled. Good luck!

[+Team HomestarRunner]

I too was looking for a PDA/GPS in the beginning, until I realized that I could get a great PDA and an excellent GPS for about the same price. The units I refer to are a Dell Axim X3 and a Garmin 60C. I am EXTREMELY happy with both of these purchases and don't foresee having ever to by anything else. (As far as these items are concerned)

 

The deciding factors were durability and capabilities. Just think how long your PDA/GPS would last in the rain. As far as capabilities, I believe my 60C is just flat out a better unit in all aspects in comparison to the iQue. My choice with buying the Axim was based on the fact I found it for $200 on their outlet page.

 

Just my personal opinion.

[caseydenise]

I all ready own an etrex vista. I just want to store geocache's in the PDA so I don't have to print them all out. If I can combine the PDA and GPS together, that is an extra bonus. That Garmin 60C is a SWEET unit. That might be my next buy. Need to wait until I drop mine or it gets damaged.

[+kayakanimal]

I all ready own an etrex vista.  I just want to store geocache's in the PDA so I don't have to print them all out.  If I can combine the PDA and GPS together, that is an extra bonus.  That Garmin 60C is a SWEET unit.  That might be my next buy.  Need to wait until I drop mine or it gets damaged.

Palm Zire 71

It is the BEST color screen you have ever seen. Even in DIRECT SUNLIGHT!

AND...it has a camera!

My dad just got one from yahoo shopping for less then $100!

Edited March 2, 2004 by kayakanimal

[+-=(GEO)=-]

I'd highly recommend the IPaq series as well. I love my 1945's TFT screen!

 

My 2 cents.

 

Regards,

Fabien.

[caseydenise]

do you mean your dad go the garmin c60 for 100 bucks??

[blocko1000]

I use the Palm Zire. It only has 2mb but is all you need to go paperless. I use Cachemate with it as well and it still has 1.8 mb left. I also bought it from Amazon a couple of months ago and got it for 38 dollars and some change. You cant beat the price of the zire, but it does lack some features, but it will get the job done. And if I break it or dropped it out geocaching, oh well, I paid less than forty dollars.

[+kayakanimal]

CacheMate is the way to go.

1. Cool

2. EASY to use

3. LOTS of features

4. Only $7 (I spent that much at McDonald's today)

[+NightPilot]

Which PDA to use, like which GPS to use, tends to be a religious issue. Garmin users and Magellan users are much like Palm and PPC users. In truth, they all work, and the best is a highly subjective decision. I use both a Zire 71 and a Palm M105, depending on my mood. The Zire 71 has color, an SD card slot so I can carry lots of data, and a camera. You can take pictures of the cache, or whatever else you want, but I usually forget. The M105 has a monochrome screen, which is easier to see in sunlight, and only 8 MB of memory, and uses AAA batteries. It has reached the point, like all M105s do, that the backup capacitor is bad, and it won't retain data when the batteries are changed. But it's cheap, relatively rugged, and if I lose or break it my life won't be over. I have the Zire 71 with me all the time, though, for other stuff, including navigating to the cache using my GPS and Mapopolis mapping software. You might consider starting with a used cheap Palm, which offers great battery life and good functionality along with relatively low price. If you find you like it, and I think you will, you can get a higher-end unit later. Just remember that if the PDA doesn't have a universal connector, you can't use any accessories with it. The plain Zire and the Tungsten E are in this category, and I would avoid them.

Edited March 3, 2004 by NightPilot

[Wintertime]

I'll put in another vote for a Palm Zire 71 and CacheMate. I've been amazed how quickly CacheMate can search through the records, even when I had 2,000 benchmarks in it. Now that CacheMate supports Garmin GPS receivers, I'm going to get a cable so that my Palm and GPSr can talk to each other. I already have both of them talking to my Mac, where I run MacCMConvert and MacGPS Pro.

[+Night Stalker]

I am using the Ipaq 3955 which when I bought it was still quite expensive. I was able to get this one on Ebay for $250.00 making it a good deal. I find this product extremely useful because I am also able to download the information into Pocket Streets and Trips so I can see on the map the easiest way to drive to my starting point. I keep that and GPX view open while I am caching. by jumping back and forth I am able to see the last 5 logs, hints etc. This works very well and has eliminated a lot of paper.