Nokia N95 Mobile and O2 ATOM XDA

RedPaw64 · Post by **RedPaw64** » 24 August 07 1:25 am

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has a Nokia N95 and has used it for geocaching at all. If so what is it capable of ..I am reading a lot of Bad reports about it, but would prefer to know from a geocaching perspective. 
 
Also Another one I am also looking at is the O2 ATOM XDA. So if anyone has used these for Geocaching, would be great to get a view on them.

Thanks

edmil · Post by **edmil** » 24 August 07 7:59 am

G'day Redpaw.

I've been using the O2 XDA Mini for some time, just upgraded to O2 life.
I have tried numerous caching programs and finally settled on Cachemate. GPXSonar was also one a used for a bit. Beeline I trialled.

Cachemate, While a bit slow in updating it's database, I've found the features pretty good. The program was run from the SD card with no problems.

I run Tom Tom, though I don't always use it for caching as I have the garmin, however when I've been away I relied on it solely and it's worked great. I also had OzexplorerCE loaded. Both apps were again loaded to the SD card and while Oz explorer required some tweaking (in the install notes) it worked without any problem. I used GSAK to export my caches and I had about 2000 sitting on the SD card.

I have the XDA connected to a Bluetooth SirfIII GPS which I purchased off e-bay. It took a while to get up and running as the XDA mini didn't have ability to set up the connection, this was solved using BTHtools1100.
JAL portsplitter will allow you to run several programs requiring GPS access at once.

At times I was getting a better GPS connection on the PDA than I was on the garmin though this is due to the GPS chipset rather than the PDA.

Battery life is always a problem, especially when running blue tooth, so would recommend a car charger.

Other apps I used were aebutton plus which allowed me to remap the buttons. This allowed me to set up alt tab type button so I could switch between Cachemate, Notes, and calculator which was especially handy for Multi caches.

I had one severe lockup which required a hard reset - lost all for the day until I could get back home and reload from the backup (backups a must)

I recommend doing a soft reset regularly as the memory seems to get pretty clogged up with rubbish.

Patience is also another virtue if you have a tendency to try and do to much too quickly all at once the PDA will sometimes have a hissy fit and lock which requires a soft reset.

Overall I worked with the XDA Mini for just over 2 years and hope to get as good a run out of the O2 life which has a lot more memory.

Hope this helps

RedPaw64 · Post by **RedPaw64** » 24 August 07 9:26 am

Hi Edmil, thanks for that info that was great. I am currently looking at the 02 Atom XDA on ebay, I have sent you a message with the item number, if you could check it out for price and let me know if its in the range I should be paying.

Thanks

luckdogscrew · Post by **luckdogscrew** » 24 August 07 11:20 am

I have used a N95 for geocaching around the City and when I am tavelling, I have found about 20 caches with it.

There are problems, Its gps is slow to establish, and very slow if you are moving. The aplication on the phone is not any good for geocaching, I ended up haveing to write my own.

It is also a little trouble to load waypoints into the phone. The best way is to use a tool called PoiXpress, This takes Tom-Tom files which you can create from Gsak.

Having said that about the gPS, I do use ebooks on it for all my cache notes, there is a little bug in the ebook that sometimes makes the - and / sign difficult to work out. (A pain on some multi's)

As a phone its very good, as a navigator while walking in foreign countries is very good, as a paperless caching tool its ok, as a camera its good, and as a backup which means I can do geocaching anytime anywhere is a great tool.

But It is not a substitute for a handheld GPS. I would never use it if I have my usual Etrex Vista Hcx with me, This is 100 times a better geocaching option

Hope this helps.

RedPaw64 · Post by **RedPaw64** » 24 August 07 3:44 pm

Thanks for the info luckdogscrew, I do have a Etrex vista cx but I am just looking for something I can use now and then and to also put caching notes on... so i guess the priority would to try and go to paperless caching.

fehrgo · Post by **fehrgo** » 03 September 07 8:15 pm

I'm going to attempt to get my hands on an N95 8GB model, we'll see how that works out. Maybe, just maybe...

2dudez · Post by **2dudez** » 03 September 07 8:34 pm

Ive got an N95 but only use it with Sentience's Pocket Pocket Query program for caching at the moment.
Until TomTom release a new version, I cant be bothered using my solar powered blue-tooth GPS for TomTom6. (Tom Tom is one of the few programs that is not compatible with the internal GPS ....yet).
The Nokia GPS program is convenient* if you need a quick map, but is not really suitable for caching. Doesn't take much longer than my Magellan to acquire satellites.
In theory it is a good all in one solution, phone, 5MP camera, PPQ, and eventually Tom Tom for getting to the cache, but I'd still rather use XL for finding caches
Still a great unit though... just spewing that they announced the new model two weeks after I got mine.

* Convenient : assumes you have downloaded the 70mb Australian Maps on your PC and dcopie to your phone to save on Data charges everytime you need a new map.

RedPaw64 · Post by **RedPaw64** » 04 September 07 12:04 am

Hi there, well I eventually got an 02 XDA ATOM, it arrived today so I have been having a play around with it. I have decided I am going to run cachemate on it and see how it goes. First impressions were good. I have read a few users comments about locks ups etc, so guess time will tell.

now all I need is to get my car back from being fixed AGAIN...so I can get out caching

roundcircle · Post by **roundcircle** » 04 September 07 12:04 am

I've used an O2 XDA II with beeline and TomTom. Works a treat.

RedPaw64 · Post by **RedPaw64** » 04 September 07 7:48 pm

Hey there, Well I decided to use cachemate on my 02 XDA Atom, but when reading about the known issues, it is prone to crashing. does anyone have any trouble with this ?? and if so what versions are you using or alternatively if anyone has used it successfully with no crashes what version are you using.

fehrgo · Post by **fehrgo** » 07 September 07 3:03 am

No luck yet on getting the new version of the N95, as the shipping date is anticipated to be several weeks yet. I don't have a price yet either

Hopefully when it does ship I can get them to send me one for testing purposes.

RedPaw64 · Post by **RedPaw64** » 07 September 07 5:11 am

Well I was just trying to use GSAK. First time I have used it, and I was going to export the pocket query I did of the nearest 500 caches as HTML to my PDA, then use Internet explorer to read the cache details. But I must be doing something wrong cause in the pocket query when in GSAK i can only see the following in the cache description: 
 
In the Ponds by RedPaw64 
S38 11.982 E144 19.459 WGS84 
UTM 55H E 265700 N 5768643 
Use waypoint: GC1136Q 
Size: Unknown Hidden on 7-09-2007 
In Nil 
Difficulty Terrain: 
Add cache to watch list 
Log your visit 
Google Maps 
Picture Gallery 

Additional Hints 

Details are from the offline database last updated on 7/09/2007 

 
So how do I get all the other information regarding the cache to GSAK

Skippy&lambchops · Post by **Skippy&lambchops** » 07 September 07 8:52 am

2dudez wrote: (Tom Tom is one of the few programs that is not compatible with the internal GPS ....yet).

It works with the iPaq rx5965

Zytheran · Post by **Zytheran** » 07 September 07 10:43 am

2dudez wrote: The Nokia GPS program is convenient* if you need a quick map, but is not really suitable for caching. Doesn't take much longer than my Magellan to acquire satellites.

* Convenient : assumes you have downloaded the 70mb Australian Maps on your PC and dcopie to your phone to save on Data charges everytime you need a new map.

Convenient if you don't mind all the side street numbers in Adelaide being wrong.

Downloaded all the maps to a Nokia E61, got a Holux GPSr and then found out I lived on the other side of my street, same with everyone else I knew.
Number 1 was even at the wrong end of the street in most cases.

There was also a bug with the Nokia bluetooth stack that only affected Nokia software with non Nokia GPSr they didn't want to fix.

So went over to TomTom Navigator. Best thing since sliced bread and the Holux M-1000 is simply brilliant. Fast, works indoors and very accurate.

All TomTom needs is a Geocaching mode user interface for when you are on foot.

2dudez · Post by **2dudez** » 07 September 07 10:51 am

Skippy&lambchops wrote:
2dudez wrote: (Tom Tom is one of the few programs that is not compatible with the internal GPS ....yet).
It works with the iPaq rx5965

Hi Skippy,
I might not have explained the N95's problem clearly enough.
There are a few versions of tomtom for phones, dependant on the operating system each use. iPaq uses windows mobile, My old Tre650 uses the Palm OS and Nokia 95 uses the newest Symbian OS.
The version of tomtom that runs on the symbian OS (Nokia 95) works fine in some older phones with the older symbian OS, but at the moment the internal GPS in the Nokia N95 isn't recognised by the program.
The program itself runs fine, it boots up and you can view maps, but to get any real use out of it you have to use a bluetooth gps.
This has frustrated many of the n95 users in Nokia forums I have been in.
A company in the UK anounced on their website that they were beta testing a patch, and when everyone asked them to prove it and open up their trial, the message on their webpage disappeared and those forums got very nasty.
The general concensus among the nokia forum users is that Tomtom won't worry about a patch now, as there is supposed to be a new version later in the year and it is expected to have the support for the internal GPS. I hope this is true.

The Nokia Maps program does use the internal GPS but it is crappy and doesn't have navigation support unless you pay extra and subscribe to their service.
Other SatNav programs like CoPilot and Route 66 will work with the N95 internal GPS.
TomTom is one of the last major players dragging their feet on this one.