Delorme Earthmate & Pda Software

[+Crabby Lady]

I have a Tungsten T2 PDA and would like to up grade my GPS. I currently have a Garmin III which I use with my laptop with Street Atlas. I find the map on the Garmin itself is very hard to see. Does anyone have a T2, and if so, is the DeLorme software easy to see on the PDA! I am torn between upgrading to a Garmin 5 or going with the Earthmate.

[+Team Sand Dollar]

A standalone GPS with mapping is always better than A PDA. The main reason is that the Standalone GPS is more rugged.

 

I use a Palm 515 with GPS Companion and delorme SA2004HH with Topo USA 5.0 to get me where I'm going but once I get out to find the cache I always use my Magelan 315. If I drop the 315 I not too worried But I just have too much invested in the Palm setup.

 

Team Sand Dollar

[+NightPilot]

I don't agree that a standalone GPS is always better. If you're using it in the car, you don't need to worry so much about dropping it in the creek. With a PDA running the mapping program, you don't have to spend anywhere near the money to get autorouting, voice directions, etc. Any basic GPS will work, and the mapping will likely be better than you'll get with most standalone mapping GPSrs. The combination certainly isn't practical walking through the woods, but in the car it's great. You absolutely do need a standalone GPS for caching, though, there is no doubt of that. A basic eTrex will do the job, though, both for caching and mapping on the PDA. In fact, you can connect the III to the PDA for mapping, and use it alone for caching if you want.

 

IMO the DeLorme software is pretty bad. I tried it, and the CDs are sitting somewhere, maybe. I couldn't stand it. I bought Mapopolis and I'm much happier. You don't need a PC at all, all the routing is done on the PDA.

[+bblhed]

Been there done that, I have to say not having that wire between the screen in my hand and the antena that used to mount on my sholder is a blessing.

There is nothing like the terror of droping your $300+ palm that has all your other data in it wile out caching.

Buy a cheep all in one GPSr that is waterproof and put the pda in a padded pocket in your backpack. If you really feel that you need the electronic maps they are just a cable hook up away (Most PDA mapping software will have some sort of interface that will work with some setting on your GPSr). Just stop, sit down, and plug in. I have a palm with Delorme software and it pops right to a 3D fix and right to where I am on the map as soon as I hook up the cable as long as the GPSr has a fix. You really can't beat that.