Palm And A Gps

[sirtomas]

I posted this in another thread, a question simillar. I understand the whole paperless caching thing. Cake walk. I understand the benefit of downloading the cache info to the palm. I figured out how to do it with cachemate and using hte .loc files. Easy easy.

 

I have an old GPS but am thinking of a new one. Now...

 

I can connect newer gps' to a pc and download waypoints into the gps.

 

What I'm interested in is options.

 

I've seen the Magellan GPS companion, and the Nav-thinger that's the same for hte palm. These seem to be just gps guts using the palm as the display, and software sorce. This idea apeals to me because it's one device, one sync, sweet and simple.

 

IT looks like cachenav is made to be used with a gps that is connected to a palm in this way.

 

What's the best way to use a palm directly connected to a GPS?

 

Does anyone have the Magellan GPS companion of the Navmate one and can you use third party software with those devices rather than the software that comes with it?

 

What gps are there in the $100-$200 range that connect to the pc? I'm not above used gear.

[+ZingerHead]

The one thing I'd keep in mind is that a hand-held GPS is built with the outdoors in mind. You can drop it, dunk it, squish it, and generally subject it to the kind of abuse that would destroy an ordinary PDA. I use both a PDA and a GPS for caching, and while the GPS is always out in the open, I only pull the PDA out of my pocket when I want to check the cache description or decrypt a hint. PDA's are fairly rugged, but they can't compare with a dedicated handheld GPS for durability.

[+Miragee]

What gps are there in the $100-$200 range that connect to the pc? I'm not above used gear.

I would check out the Garmin eTrex Legend. It is for sale on Amazon for about $130.00.

 

In addition to the GPSr, you will need to get the Mapsource maps for detailed streets or topo info.

[+briansnat]

The one thing I'd keep in mind is that a hand-held GPS is built with the outdoors in mind. You can drop it, dunk it, squish it, and generally subject it to the kind of abuse that would destroy an ordinary PDA. I use both a PDA and a GPS for caching, and while the GPS is always out in the open, I only pull the PDA out of my pocket when I want to check the cache description or decrypt a hint. PDA's are fairly rugged, but they can't compare with a dedicated handheld GPS for durability.

Ditto on this. PDAs are simply not built to take they abuse they will receive during a cache hunt.

[sirtomas]

What gps are there in the $100-$200 range that connect to the pc? I'm not above used gear.

I would check out the Garmin eTrex Legend. It is for sale on Amazon for about $130.00.

 

In addition to the GPSr, you will need to get the Mapsource maps for detailed streets or topo info.

And then that can be hooked up to the palm? FOr transferring waypoints on the fly?

I'll check it out, a guy I work with reccomended the etrex vista. Said he liked his. But I think he said he sunk $300 bucks into it too...

 

YOu guys really seem to be caught up on the whole "palms are weak" thing...

 

Just don't drop them...

 

Babies are fragile too but I've not yet dropped one... and I've taken them camping and fishing

Edited May 16, 2005 by sirtomas

[+Miragee]

I have my Palm in a hard metal case. Even though I am very careful of it, and only get it out to review the description (or Past Logs, if I'm needing a hint or a clue), I have dropped it twice. Fortunately it didn't suffer.

 

I have fallen down -- hard -- a couple of times and have been very glad for the neoprene case on my Vista. It prevented the screen from getting scratched.

 

Depending on where you cache, you may or may not need a rugged GPSr.

[+Marcie/Eric]

Interesting tidbit

[+Team Tired Boy]

Dropped my Palm in a pond once. We retrieved it, and eventually it started working again, but I'm glad it was only a $16 IIIxe off eBay.

[+ZingerHead]

Babies are fragile too but I've not yet dropped one... and I've taken them camping and fishing

 

I might take my GPS up a tree in a rainstorm, but I'd have to think twice about doing that with a baby . (or a PDA )

 

I stand by my comment. PDAs are not waterproof, and if you clip on some add-on GPS gizmo you make it a bit bigger and even more fragile as it is all too likely that the two parts will get levered in different directions at some point, breaking the weakest link (the connector). The most likely time this would happen is when you inevitably sit on the thing in the car.

 

The other thing I dislike about relying solely on a PDA is that the batteries are not field replaceable. On a long day of caching, with the PDA powering a GPS receiver, you'll either need to recharge in the car, or you'll have to bring a compass to find your way home after the batteries die. With a standalone GPS you can swap out a pair of AA's and you're back on the road.

[+diverhank]

 

I've seen the Magellan GPS companion, and the Nav-thinger that's the same for hte palm. These seem to be just gps guts using the palm as the display, and software sorce. This idea apeals to me because it's one device, one sync, sweet and simple.

 

IT looks like cachenav is made to be used with a gps that is connected to a palm in this way.

 

What's the best way to use a palm directly connected to a GPS?

 

Does anyone have the Magellan GPS companion of the Navmate one and can you use third party software with those devices rather than the software that comes with it?

I have a Handspring Visor with the magellan GPS companion. With Cachemate, you can have a truly paperless solution to geocaching. Using Cachemate with the proper plugins, you can search for caches based on where you are. Then while viewing the details of a certain cache, you can press the NAV button and you get guidance to the cache (arrow on a compass). After you find it, you can log the find, completely with the time. Functionally it is superior than any handheld GPS out there. If you need mapping guidance, you can use Mapopolis or Rand mcNally (I have both). I gave that up too. Now I use a Garmin 2610.

 

BUT (there's always a but in there somewhere)...there are problems with PDA in general. My Visor completely washes out in daylight, rendering it useless -- it's great for twilight and night caching though. The battery only lasts a couple of hours, never long enough for meaningful cacheing. It's not rugged and especially not waterproof. In short I don't use my PDA much for finding the caches -- I did find about a dozen caches with it but it's just not good enough in the field. I now keep it in the back pack and read the cache description when I need additional info.

[+xinepi]

What gps are there in the $100-$200 range that connect to the pc? I'm not above used gear.

I would check out the Garmin eTrex Legend. It is for sale on Amazon for about $130.00.

 

In addition to the GPSr, you will need to get the Mapsource maps for detailed streets or topo info.

that is the GPS i just bought.. i'm new to this.. but i am going to get out my old palm500, what can i do with it? any cool info would be much appreciated.. thanks!

[KBoyKool]

What gps are there in the $100-$200 range that connect to the pc? I'm not above used gear.

I would check out the Garmin eTrex Legend. It is for sale on Amazon for about $130.00.

 

In addition to the GPSr, you will need to get the Mapsource maps for detailed streets or topo info.

And then that can be hooked up to the palm? FOr transferring waypoints on the fly?

I'll check it out, a guy I work with reccomended the etrex vista. Said he liked his. But I think he said he sunk $300 bucks into it too...

 

YOu guys really seem to be caught up on the whole "palms are weak" thing...

 

Just don't drop them...

 

Babies are fragile too but I've not yet dropped one... and I've taken them camping and fishing

I took someone's advice, here, and went to amazon. I applied for the Amazon.com Visa, bought my eTrex Vista with it, saved $30 and had a final bill of $184--shipped. You might try this method if you want the best in the $100-200 range. Thanks to whomever recommended this to me!

[+Miragee]

What gps are there in the $100-$200 range that connect to the pc? I'm not above used gear.

I would check out the Garmin eTrex Legend. It is for sale on Amazon for about $130.00.

 

In addition to the GPSr, you will need to get the Mapsource maps for detailed streets or topo info.

that is the GPS i just bought.. i'm new to this.. but i am going to get out my old palm500, what can i do with it? any cool info would be much appreciated.. thanks!

I have the Palm M500. I downloaded and registered Cachemate for $8.00 and then use GSAK to export the files to the Palm.

 

I send those same waypoints from GSAK to the GPSr using the Smart Name feature so both the Palm and the GPSr have all the info I need including the most recent past logs, the description, and the hint.