More Pda Questions...

[+CW Iams]

Anybody have one? Any thoughts? Good for caching?

[+Team Mysticangel]

I use a dell axim x50v. I like it alot. I don't recommend it for just geocaching though its alittle high priced if you only going to use it for geocaching. I use it for other things too and don't want to buy another dedicated for geocaching.

 

I think if your going to use it just for geocaching you may want to get a palm based one they tend to be cheaper.

 

I do recommend getting a good case for it no matter what unit you get.

[+TresOkies]

I think if your going to use it just for geocaching you may want to get a palm based one they tend to be cheaper.

 

Um, the Zire 21 is a Palm PDA. It's one of palmOne's unit names.

 

The Zire 21 is a decent unit for caching. It's got enough memory to put a couple thousand caches into and the processor is reasonably fast. It's a sub-$100 PDA, so you aren't going to get a lot. If all you want to do is run cachemate and play a few games, you'll be just fine. The best feature is if you drop it in a river or off the top of a mountain, you aren't out that much.

 

Or a similar note, I played with a new Tungsten E2 this week. It's pretty darn slick. I won't be abandoning my T|C for it, but for around $200 it would be a good caching PDA.

 

-E

[+Miragee]

I use a Palm M500 with an additional expansion card. However, I think all of my 1000 caches, or so, are on the original 8 mb of memory.

 

Any Palm with at least 8 MB should work fine.

 

The Palms that use the next generation OS, Version 5 I think, can use Mapopolis which looks pretty cool, but that is more money to spend . . .

[+Learned Gerbil]

Al lthe Zires except the 71 (and also the Tungsten E) do not have a serial connector, only USB. This means your options for exchanging data with GPSrs and some descktop applications will be much more imited. For example the Zire 21 will be fine for holding data in Cachemate, but will not be able to send waypoint data to your GPSr, or use your GPSr to indicate the nearest caches in the Cachemate database. There is nothing to stop you doing all this manually, but that is much slower than doing it by cable.

[+TheHFamily]

I was looking at the 21 and decided on the 31 because of the memory slot and being able to play MP3. Now I have the headphone jack going to my tape deck via a WalMart $9 cable and great tunes on the way to the cache.

 

I like my 31 a lot.

 

TheHFamily

[+Miragee]

Al lthe Zires except the 71 (and also the Tungsten E) do not have a serial connector, only USB. This means your options for exchanging data with GPSrs and some descktop applications will be much more imited. For example the Zire 21 will be fine for holding data in Cachemate, but will not be able to send waypoint data to your GPSr, or use your GPSr to indicate the nearest caches in the Cachemate database. There is nothing to stop you doing all this manually, but that is much slower than doing it by cable.

 

I can search for the nearest cache on my Garmin eTrex Vista, but if, for some reason, it has a waypoint I do not have in Cachemate, I can input the coordinates of my location in Cachemate and it will search for the nearest waypoint in its database.

 

Then I can look that waypoint up on the GPSr and hit "Go To."

 

EDIT to add appropriate quote.

Edited April 29, 2005 by idiosyncratic

[+CW Iams]

i thought about the 31, but i thought the color display may drain the batteries to much... any thoughts?

[+Miragee]

You don't need color for Geocaching. However, I don't know about the battery life.

 

If you have lots of disposable income, get the coolest PDA you want, then get a good Otter box to protect it.

 

A friend has a new cell phone that is also a Palm, and a camera. Now that is cool.

 

She can look up the web page of caches on the road from the single device. It was only a $200.00 upgrade to her previous phone.

[+CW Iams]

if only i had lots of disposable income... :-| I would not be dealing with a scrambled M500 and trying to talk the misses into letting me buy another pda... :-)

[+Miragee]

Yeah . . . I feel your same economic pain.

 

If you can get a brand new Palm from Best Buy, or Amazon, or someplace like that, for under $100.00, it will work just fine. You don't need color, although when I saw some of those units at a recent "Paperless Caching" event here in San Diego, I was jealous.

 

Some people talk about using Palms with less power than my M500 that they paid under $20.00 for on eBay -- (Oh, sorry, that's a painful memory . . .

 

I sure hope the scrambled Palm episode gets worked out for you.

[+CW Iams]

thanks- I appreciate the concern...

[+Learned Gerbil]

Seriously, a palmIIIxe has 8Mb of memory, a serial connector and a very long battery life - weeks - (it isn't rechargeable) which you can replace in the field with the spare pair of AAA batteries in your pocket is al lyou need for cachemate if that is al lyou do with the Palm. If all you want to do is run cachemate then a IIIxe can be got for a few dollars on eBay and the only downside is that the scree ncan be difficult to read in twilight - darkness is OK due to the backlite though.

[+TheHFamily]

The battery life is fine on my zire 31 and have never run out in a day's time or even come close. I use it at work and for caching and simply plug it up overnight while I am sleeping. I got mine from ebay for approx $100

 

Any other questions -- just let me know.

 

TheHFamily

[+Cheminer Will]

I just got a Palm M500, a 32mb card, an aluminum case and a cradle/charger on EBAY for 44.00 plus shipping. So far it all works fine and I'm happy.

[+Nyarlotep]

I've been thinking of upgrading from my m105. I'm considering the m125, or zire 21 or 31. They're all expandable, and overstock.com has the 31 for only $10 more than a refurb m125. I wouldn't mind a faster processor, though I don't really need the color screen, but I like the 16mb onboard memory. What concerns me is batteries. I like that the m125 runs on 2 AAA batteries that can be easily swapped if it dies in the field. Is the inconvenience of the rechargeable batteries worth the upgrade?

 

edited to add: All of these have 160x160 screens. does higher screen resolution make any difference? Is it so much better that it's worth paying more for a higher-res PDA?

Edited April 29, 2005 by Nyarlotep

[+Miragee]

I have had my Palm M500 for 2 1/2 years and the battery is great. I never run out of "juice" and it holds a charge for days and days and days.

 

I like not having to worry about carrying any more spare batteries around with me -- I already carry four extra AAs for the GPSr/or camera, plus another spare proprietary battery for the other camera.

 

Just a thought . . .

[+Quoddy]

I am using one of the "original" Handsprings. I have 1000 cache pages loaded via CacheMate and GSAK.... which are the same 1000 points I have loaded into my 60cs. It works just fine for me AND I don't have to be paranoid about damaging it, either.

[+TresOkies]

Yeah . . . I feel your same economic pain.

Just FYI, Overstock.com has refurbed Zire 21's for around $50 last time I looked.