PDA's

swampgecko · Post by **swampgecko** » 10 July 03 11:33 pm

Ok Gadget Freaks, and I class myself in that catagory

,

What should a novice Look for in a PDA?

Can you suggest a good one?

I have been looking at a PalmVx/ IBM workpad C3...

Slider & Smurf · Post by **Slider & Smurf** » 11 July 03 12:09 am

First thing you have to decide is why you want the PDA - do you want an extension of a Windows machine you can carry around with you, or do you just want something that carries names / addresses and memos? This will largely decide whether you end up heading to the Pocket PC or PalmOS camp ... both platforms are pretty good at what they do, but
don't do too well when they try to elbow in on the other's territory. 
 
I'll declare my personal bias - I've had a number of PalmOS devices since they were first introduced in 1997, and they work very well for me (and my family, since they usually end up with the hand-me-downs when I upgrade!!). I'm currently running a Sony Clie SJ33, after using a Sony Clie N610 for nearly two years. Very useful for carrying around copies of cache pages!! 
 
Pocket PCs often promote themselves as having greater onboard memory and faster processors, but the Palm operating system is much leaner and can therefore run equally fast on slower processers. I don't really think you can directly compare the two platforms, as they're both designed for different purposes. 
 
Once you decide whether you want a PalmOS or a PPC, then you just have to decide how much you want to spend

Cheers, 
 
Smurf.

swampgecko · Post by **swampgecko** » 11 July 03 8:33 am

Well I want it so I can go paperless caching, It would have been handy the otherday when I was running around do "Bugger". and as a fancy clipboard for work, since I am about to be promoted, and appart from the fact I have been doing my boss's job now for the last 2yrs plus (Timor, Bali and now the M.E.) I need to have a better system then the one I am presently using... notebook and my brain...... And since I am basiclly on 24hrs callout I need somewhere to store a lot of data on different systems and workmates' contact details.

Papa Bear_Left · Post by **Papa Bear_Left** » 11 July 03 9:50 am

I'm a fervent Palm user (as some of you may have gathered) and I can't see you going wrong with a Zire71.

It's fast, uses SD expansion cards (pretty small and cheap), interfaces with your MS Office stuff very well to carry around Word and Excel files (and edit, keeping all the formatting), has a gorgeous colour display (320x320 pixels) and has a built-in camera for cache shots and such. It'll play MP3s and converted video clips as well.

I use my Tungsten|T (similar, but +bluetooth -camera) to carry details of every cache in NSW (and NZ, cos I can) with me, as well as street maps of the locations, a hint decoder, a lat/long to UTM converter, etc.

I even wrote a palindromic prime finder on it!

Check it out in Palm's site, and drop by if you want to have a look at one (Jessica has one, and you can compare with my T|T)

riblit · Post by **riblit** » 11 July 03 10:08 am

I also have a Tungsten T. I upgraded from one of the IBM C500 a while ago. The high res Colour screen is a lot easier to see than the B/W one. IMHO. I carry word doc and excel spreadsheets - these can be edited on the palm, and all the functions of MS Outlook, including email (this syncs to outlook on my PC). On an SD card I have all the caches, selected images including some map scans. 
The voice memo is handy when you don't want to write. I also store the memos on the SD card. 
Bear_Left - what format are your street maps in?

Papa Bear_Left · Post by **Papa Bear_Left** » 11 July 03 12:42 pm

riblit wrote:Bear_Left - what format are your street maps in?

I've never bothered with the specialist mapping programs, although I've given a cursory glance to a few. I find a Sydways easier to get to the right suburb/nearest street!

I usually just use this site's excellent links to online streetmaps to call up a map of the cache vicinity, then simply right-click and save it directly to my SD card as a gif/jpg, to be viewed in AcidImage (or viewer of choice)
It basically lets me look for the nearest street to pass onto my navigator.

Once there, the Palm goes into a pocket (suitably armoured in its metal case!) and the GPSr takes over.

I convert my GPX file from the secondary site to html with GPXspinner, then iSilo it onto my Palm. I find that better for searching, etc. than the Mobipocket document, as well as having the alternative indexes, nearest cache list, etc.
For particular caches with graphical content, or those with pages on the cachers' own site, I also convert it directly to iSilo using the button in the browser.
(I've even converted the Flash files for Get Smart! and Pilatus to video files that I can play in Kinoma on the Palm!)

When I get some free time, I'd like to add IRdA to my GPSrs so I can beam waypoints to them without carrying multiple cables.

Two Goth Geeks · Post by **Two Goth Geeks** » 11 July 03 1:14 pm

T|T user here too.

If you have any questions (technical or otherwise) pop over to our Australian PalmOS Users website:

http://www.auspug.org

I use GeoClipping to download the whole gc.com webpage data and Hint Decoder to decode the ROT13 clues.

Before I go out, I :

* download with GeoClipping
* print out a map with cheatisearch (could download it same as BL tho)

if I get stuck I use the Hint Decoder.

Works well for me and is free

riblit · Post by **riblit** » 11 July 03 2:41 pm

Bear_Left Wrote:

then iSilo it onto my Palm

I haven't tried iSilo yet - seems to be worth a look. 
I have the AcdSee mobile image viewer. 
If you are right clicking and saving images directly to the Palm are you using the Palm Browser to read the web pages?

Papa Bear_Left · Post by **Papa Bear_Left** » 11 July 03 3:28 pm

riblit wrote:I haven't tried iSilo yet - seems to be worth a look.

Oh, yes, indeed! I run the command-line version automatically every morning to grab the SMH, TV progs, weather, etc. and you can capture a page you're looking at in your PC browser just by clicking the iSilo icon. You can sync straight to the SD card, and the GUI version is very friendly yet flexible.
The viewer is also nice and renders most pages very faithfully.

riblit wrote:I have the AcdSee mobile image viewer.

Also a good one. They're all OK on a T|T or Zire71 because the machine's so fast. I chose AcidImage originally because it was the fastest on my Clie N760C.

riblit wrote:If you are right clicking and saving images directly to the Palm are you using the Palm Browser to read the web pages?

Nope, the iSilo viewer. I could use iSilo for the whole streetmap page, I guess. Hmm...

Gunn Parker · Post by **Gunn Parker** » 11 July 03 4:16 pm

Hi
I have been using Geoclipping for ages but now I use isilox to clip cache pages into isilo on my palm m105 and it works great
Andrew

hardunits · Post by **hardunits** » 12 July 03 11:21 am

Although I am generally more fond of the Palm devices, I have a IPAQ 36 series for arious reasons. It performs very well. I am getting OziCE for it very soon so that will be interesting to play with. Just have to make myself a cable.

I like using the mobibook format cache notes I get sent to me from geocaching.com. This does require a premium membership but is worth it in my opinion.

If I was buying a unit now I would go for a Sony I think. I do like the idea of OziCE though.

Robert · Post by **Robert** » 16 July 03 8:46 pm

swampgecko wrote:Ok Gadget Freaks, and I class myself in that catagory ,

What should a novice Look for in a PDA?

Can you suggest a good one?

I have been looking at a PalmVx/ IBM workpad C3...

What do you want it for?

As you're a Cacher, I expect a moving map will be high on the agenda. In that case, a PocketPC is the way to go. You can then run OziexplorerCE. There are some example car installations at:

http://www.gpsvehiclenavigation.com/GPS ... ations.php

However, if you don't have a particular need to run a PocketPC only app like OziCE, go for Palm. I've used many PDAs over the years, and I have to say PocketPC is nothing like as user friendly, robust or stable as Palm. Or as inexpensive.

Take a look at sites like www.thegadgeteer.com and pdabuzz.com, then start to narrow options.

BTW, the Palm Vx/Workpad range is very old. Avoid.

hth

--
Robert
http://www.gpsvehiclenavigation.com/

swampgecko · Post by **swampgecko** » 16 July 03 8:59 pm

Thanks for the help all,

Robert I wish you had spoken earlier about the Palm Vx's.

I have committed myself now to a PDA. I am getting a second hand one for now to see how they go, and as I have a habit of leaving my gadgets,
ie mobile phones, multi-tools etc etc etc, in the bush at various caches. SO a secondhand PDA will not be a big loss if that ever happens. Moving map thou nice was not a high priority for me as I do like to have an actual map with me at all times, Just a hang over from my boating days, where it is a requirement to have a map when you go outside of enclosed waters. Which was all the time in Townsville.

swampgecko · Post by **swampgecko** » 27 July 03 10:43 pm

I downloaded the geoclipping software and it has a run 76 failure for me and shuts down.. anyone else have this or know a way around it?

riblit · Post by **riblit** » 27 July 03 11:04 pm

What version browser and OS are you using?

Geocaching Australia

PDA's

PDA's

Depends what you want it to do

What do I want it for??

Re: PDA's

Thanks for the help

Geoclipping software