Buying A Palm For Geocaching

[+jhob]

I'm thinking of getting a palm pda for geocaching so that i can carry cache details (description etc) with me and not have to print out lots of bits of paper. At least I think this is what you can do with them.

 

I'm thinking of a palm v or m500, they seem quite similar, as do all palm devices in that range and I'm not really sure what features I should be looking for. I'm not even limiting myself to the palm range, open to any suggestions!

 

I'm looking to get a fairly old model as they are very cheap on ebay and I don't want to spend much. I might even like it and use it properly as a pda too!

Edited February 24, 2005 by jhob

[interpleb]

I used to have a Handspring Treo 90 that I liked a lot as it has a mini keyboard that is a lot easier to type in data than the bizzarre handwriting recognition of the conventional Palms. It was a nice little PDA.

 

I "upgraded" to a Dell Axim Pocket PC with GPS card that allows me to run Tomtom Navigator 3 for driving instructions and GPS Tuner for Geocaching. While it does a good job at GPS duties, as a PDA it leaves a lot to be desired. Microsoft seem incapable of understanding the concept of what people want in a PDA operating system.

[Deego]

Any palm will do . Best bet is cachemate to run on it. even 2mb of memory will hold thousands of caches with logs.

[+Birders]

<<Microsoft seem incapable of understanding the concept of what people want in a PDA operating system. >>

 

Interesting comment - wonder what interpleb would like to see? We have an IPAQ PDA running Memory Map, GPX Sonar and several other progs including SKYPE which enables us to make intercontinental phone calls from our PDA when in range of a WiFi netrowrk. It also has MS Word and Excel - we use the latter extensively but haven't found a need for Word on the PDA yet. Not sure what else we could ask for.

[+Sue and Bernie]

Sue & I have both got old Palm IIIxe each.

 

Originally, I bought one for paperless caching and found my self using it all the time - as a PDA! I ended up buying several more for the family. Cheapest was €17 from Germany, others from the UK between £15 - £25 depending on the amount of bits that were inculded.

 

Since then I have also picked up brand new Palm folding keyboards and battery operated modems, sealed in their boxes, for literally a couple of quid each.

 

The keyboards are real bonus if you can type. Whatever PDA you settle on, I recommend getting a keyboard for it.

 

On the PDA front, as always, it boils down to cost - you either choose to go the cheap 'n cheerful route that we have or go for the whole hog, OS Mapping, route-directions and GPS all in one box.

 

That's what we'd like to have but now it would cost us and arm and a leg to have the same functionality we both presently have with the Palms! One day...

[NickPick]

Before we open the whole PalmOS / Pocket PC debate, I'll add by tuppenceworth:

 

I'd say that any palm will do fine for storing cache descriptions in cachemate.

 

The bettery life on the older palms is phenomenal. My old palm3 lasts for a month on 2 aaa batteries. I'm not sure about the battery life on the rechargable versions like the V / Vx, but I think it's comparable.

 

The other advantage to buying an old one is that if you lose / break it in the field, it's cheap to replace compared to a new shiny pda phone with built in gps, bluetooth and wifi.

 

I'd also recommend reading the guide to paperless caching by markandlynn, link here, which is a nice guide to it, and tempts me to buy a premium membership just as soon as there's $30 in my paypal account!

 

Hope my opinion helps.

NickPick

[markandlynn]

My advice / guide can be found here

Palm Vx holds 2000 caches with logs only £35 for a pair.

[davester]

My advice / guide can be found here

Palm Vx holds 2000 caches with logs only £35 for a pair.

I was going to have a quick look but your bandwidth has been exceeded.

[+one4zorro]

After being a long term Palm user (4 years), I have recently bought a Pocket PC.

 

Here are some observations:

Both platforms will get the job done.

Palm is IMHO more user friendly - trying to get to grips with Outlook after using Palm desktop is a challenge to say the least!

Pocket PC is more powerful for Multi-Media applications (I am a photographer and this is why I have gone over to the evil empire

 

For caching there are programs on both platforms that are excellent. If all you want is a list of Caches with details, a Palm III or later and Cachemate is a good combination. As mentioned battery life is excellent compared to more modern devices. Showing maps on these is not good because of the limitations in screen resolution. I recently picked up an 'as new' Handspring Visor (these are Palm OS based) for £9 on ebay.

 

For CF mounted GPSr's The choice of hardware/mapping software, at least here in the UK is better supported on the Pocket PC platform.

 

Hope this helps.

 

You will have fun whatever you choose.

 

Martin

[+Learned Gerbil]

I recently got a Pocket PC as part of a Sat Nav deal. I agree, as a PDA it is far too much bother. I use it for Sat Nav and still use a Palm OS PDA for everyhting else other than mapping.

[interpleb]

Interesting comment - wonder what interpleb would like to see? We have an IPAQ PDA running Memory Map, GPX Sonar and several other progs including SKYPE which enables us to make intercontinental phone calls from our PDA when in range of a WiFi netrowrk. It also has MS Word and Excel - we use the latter extensively but haven't found a need for Word on the PDA yet. Not sure what else we could ask for.

I have been a long time user of PDA's (since about 1987)and got thoroughly spoiled with the excellent Psion machines. While the Pocket PC is in some ways good, my main gripes/wishes are:

 

1) Stability - it is about as stable as Windows 95, my Psions were more stable than XP!

2) Alarms that repeat and don't fully drain the batteries if I am not there to hear it

3) A database application (I had to buy Listpro to get a staple function of a PDA)

4) The red X button at the top right of the screen should close an application, not minimise it! (you have to use something like Icbar to get around that lunacy)

 

If you throw a load of money at it in the form of software applications and utilities, it becomes useful, though still unstable, but it should have all those things built in like Psion machines did nearly 20 years ago. It is just as well I like the GPS applications on it or it would have been sold on Ebay ages ago.

[+McDeHack]

I don't know where I have been, but I have just noticed mentioned on here 'GPS Tuner'. "Whats this" I asked myself and went on a search. It looks a good bit of programe. But will it work on my Ipaq 3870 with Memory map 2003, and the rest of the other stuff?

[interpleb]

I don't know where I have been, but I have just noticed mentioned on here 'GPS Tuner'. "Whats this" I asked myself and went on a search. It looks a good bit of programe. But will it work on my Ipaq 3870 with Memory map 2003, and the rest of the other stuff?

I don't see any reason why it shouldn't, you can try the demo version for 14 days to find out :-)

 

I don't know a lot of GPS software so I can't compare it, but GPS Tuner can import the Geocaching.com LOC files and set them as a target to move to, the digital compass takes you there. There are probably more powerful programs out there, but for the price, GPS Tuner is pretty good IMO.

[+Simes]

I bought a Palm 515 off E bay, for `cacheing. I find it really good with Cachemate. & with the colour screen youo can take the hint pictures with you (if your that way inclined)

I also use Fugawi on it & have a cable to connect to Garmin GPS5 so I can get an OS map showing footpaths etc & my position.

[+-Phoenix-]

Ive just bought a new Palm Zire 72 with Via Michelin Satnav and a BT-308 bluetooth GPS receiver from ebay for £206.

 

The Via Michelin is carp for Geocacing, but great for finding the parking spot, Ive added a 256Mb memory card (£15), which now has a complete UK map and a POI file of all UK caches, and a set of Speed Camera alert POIs

 

With the addition of Cachemate and Cachenav (about £6), and a download of the 500 nearest caches to home, it now makes an excellent caching tool, plus, with the bluetooth connection and my GPRS bluetooth mobile I can access Geocaching.com live whilst out in the field.

 

Highly reccomend this setup.

Edited February 26, 2005 by -Phoenix-

[+jhob]

Thanks for the advise. I decided to go for a palm m500 which I picked up off ebay for a very reasonable £20. I chose the m500 as it had an sd expansion slot so I can add much more memory in the future if I need to and it seems that it will suit my caching purposes well. I'll have a look at that cachemate software too, looks useful and pretty cheap too. I might even use the palm as a pda too!