Pda's And Pocket Queries

[+GeoGordie]

Hi gang,

 

Saint Nick is gearing up for his annual trip from the Cold North ...

What (in your opinion) is a good "Starter" PDA that will handle the PQ downloads and field use while Geocaching ?? Don;t need a lot of whistles and bells as I have very little use for a PDA other than play ....

Final question .. is a PDA "really" worth the expense, or just download / print the goodies along with "Map it" ??

 

Thanks,

GeoGordie in Greensboro

[+Renegade Knight]

I'm a PocketPC fan, but if you really don't care about the PDA as a PDA then all you need is cheap palm based PDA and Cachemate.

 

The low end for Palms costs less than the low end for PocketPCs

[+CYBret]

I think there are a few things you need to consider along with buying a PDA

 

Are you just going to use it for caching or are you planning on using it for other purposes too? (planner, address book, word processing, etc)

 

How familiar are you with PDA's already - comfortable with Palm/more of a Windows kinda users?

 

(VERY IMPORTANT) How much money are you willing to lose in the woods? No...really...consider this one carefully

 

If you're already ahead of the learning curve on PDA usage, you'll absolutely LOVE it and wonder how you ever got by without it. If not, expect a short period of frustration, followed by a period of discovery and finally jubilant acceptance.

 

Chances are, you'll get by just fine with a fairly cheap Palm (check ebay for a Palm IIIxe, Vx, or one of the cheaper m series. I wouldn't buy anything with under 8 megs of memory. Give yourself some time to learn what it's capable of doing and then be prepared to upgrade.

 

And have fun! Oh..don't forget to download Bejeweled

 

Bret

[+Kit Fox]

Hi gang,

 

Saint Nick is gearing up for his annual trip from the Cold North ...

What (in your opinion) is a good "Starter" PDA that will handle the PQ downloads and field use while Geocaching ?? Don;t need a lot of whistles and bells as I have very little use for a PDA other than play ....

Final question .. is a PDA "really" worth the expense, or just download / print the goodies along with "Map it" ??

 

Thanks,

GeoGordie in Greensboro

Your in the same boat that I was in.

 

Here a few links that may interest you.

http://factsfacts.com/geocacher.htm

 

Paperless caching link: http://65.34.18.106/content.php?article.15

 

It was these links that caused me to buy the PDA. I now have hundreds of caches listed by different areas, on my PDA. I no longer have to waste ink or paper.

 

I had a whole backpack filled with cache printouts that my daughter is using for coloring.

 

Here is a good price on the PDA (PalmIIIXE) that I use: http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3538894

 

I use GSAK (registered) to download waypoints to my GPS. I also use GSAK to export GPX files to Cachemate.

 

If I had to do it over again, I would in a heartbeat.

 

Bill,

[+drag-racer]

I picked up a like new Palm IIIxe off fleaBay a couple of months ago for about $20.00 >>CLICKY<< It is more than adequate for geocaching. It's not state of the art but I'm like you....I have no other real use for a PDA other than GC'ing. I don't need color just to read some text. The only real benefit(as far as I'm concerned) of a newer one is that they are USB connected instead of serial. So you could upload your cache info in a few seconds instead of a couple of minutes. I can live with that for the price of a shiny new one.

Edited November 9, 2004 by drag-racer

[+Square Bear]

The bottom end Zire is less than a hundred bucks. I use it for Geocaching and carry it in my flight suit. The only problem with it is that you can’t upgrade the memory (no place for a chip), and it doesn’t have back lighting. I carry it in my thigh pocket of my flight suit and I broke my older sony when I kneeled on top of the screen. It’s enough to hold my performance programs and the geocaching programs and cheap enough if I break it that I’m not out a huge amount of money.

[+smullis]

Seriously consider that "how much are you willing to loose in the woods" part. I already had a Sony Clie that I use extensively...hence, nature transition for me to go paperless. I was carrying mine in it's belt clip on a hunt and it fell off without my noticing it. Fortunately, it was in a small, local park, and I had a flashlight...and the case was red. I found it, but the panic took off a couple years. If all you will be using it for is GCing...go cheap.

[+macatac1961]

Just an opinion on your final question, Yes it's absolutely worth the money, in my case $100 total for a Palm Zire 21 and cachemate. In minutes you can be on your way out the door instead of dealing with paperwork. A little tricky to set up but very cool once you've got it figured out.

[+soreyes]

...my flight suit...

I finally got set up for paperless caching with my outpost.com refurbed palm III and now I hear about this new caching accesory, the 'flight suit'. Wonder how much that will set me back?

 

But seriously, once I get my rebate, the switch to paperless caching only set me back $35 including cachemate. Outpost.com / Frys runs a special on the Palm III xe for $27 after rebate. Right now, the online price is more, but it is on sale in the local Brick and Mortar. I expect they will be back on sale again online in another week or so.

[+Square Bear]

I do have to earn a living to pay for caching. Two more years and I can start caching full time.