Pda ?

[+Uniacke Raiders]

If I was to get a PDA solely for geocaching which one would the best to get ? Alternatively, what is the cheapest option that will work ?

 

Thanks,

Paul

[+Renegade Knight]

Best. Thats a loaded question with the limited info you provided. It depends on if you want to use the PDA as the GPS also. That would be the Garmin ique. There is a pocket PC version of a GPS PDA combo but the Garmin wins out (and I'm a pocket PC fan saying this)

 

If you are going to use a handhelf GPs (better all around for a bunch of reasons) Any PDA you can buy off the shelf will work. So buy cheap. Dell is cheap for the Pocket PC world. Cheap though they are they are good PDA's.

 

Cheapest but functional is something from the Palm World used off of eBay.

[+Uniacke Raiders]

Sorry, you are right...I guess i expected you to be a mind reader.

I have a handheld GPS and want a PDA so that I can do "paperless" caching.

Should I be concerned as to which OS the PDA operates on ?

[+Wacka]

I'm using a Palm m100. Cachemate works fine on it.

[+Renegade Knight]

I havent used Cachemate but it's a palm app. It gets good reviews.

 

On the PocketPC side there is GPXview and GPXsonar.

 

You really can't go wrong with either OS.

When I chose I chose Pocket PC because it had better topo mapping available, and because I had a non geocaching use for it and Pocket PC looked better for those reasons as well.

[+StarQ]

You can get Palm m500's, and similar, for under $100 on Ebay. If you don't need the newest technology then these units are fine. We use them at work for technicians. I've purchased a few for around $35.

 

StarQ

[+Green Achers]

I have a handheld GPS and want a PDA so that I can do "paperless" caching.

I'm back to the same PDA I started with (after dropping my Palm M515 in the irrigation cannal). It's a Handpring Visor and I'd bet you can still pick them up for $50-70 bucks new. Add 8 bucks to unlock CacheMate (best paperless program I've ever seen) and use the rest of your $100 bill for a FTF prize. This advise goes for PC's as well as Macintosh's as it's all compatible. Plus you can then Beam and receive Beams.

 

[Handspring is the same as Palm] [CacheMate program can be Beamed. Then a cache and/or file of caches can also be Beamed - I often do this to introduce cachers I meet to demonstrate how great it works]

 

Happy [paperless] caching.

[+Imajika]

I use a Palm Tungsten E (cost me $175.00 US). I use it with Cachemate ($7.00 and worth EVERY PENNY!). This system really works for me and I love it.

[+Cache Viking]

I have a Dell Axim running GPXSonar. I am very impressed and wish I had looked at the paperless earlier. It would have saved me lots of paper and printer ink for sheet I never used. Now I load an area and if I get time to cache great and if I do not no loss.

[+AuntieWeasel]

If money isn't too tight, you really can't go wrong with a Sony Clié. Okay, it's a weenie name, and most of the range is hugely overpriced, but they have twice the screen resolution of equivalent Palm devices and excellent color graphics. None of which is really necessary for paperless caching, but it makes the device suddenly useful for reading books, playing Mah Jong and carrying around pictures of your cat.

 

I got mine used and in less-than-cosmetically perfect (and therefore affordable) condition on eBay. It's what I use instead of a brain.

[+Learned Gerbil]

A Sony SJ22 can be picked up quite reasonably on Ebay and the screen is good enough to display colour maps etc. The 16Mb of RAM is plenty if you want to carry maps arround on it.

[+AMH209]

I use a DELL Axim 30 with MS Streets & Trips and GPXSonar. Works great! Saves on printing and I have every cache site in 250 mile radius from my house on the pda.