For hiking, since you won’t be covering a lot of ground, I would stick only to a non mapping GPS. I prepare my route on the PC and print the area covered on a small peace of paper complete with routes and waypoint. I follow the GPS and explore a bit using the map. This limits the amounts of equipment I carry / can fail / carry batteries for etc…
I would keep the PDA / Laptop options for a bike / car setup and even then I would take very good care of the PDA and try to protect it as well as I can. I haven’t seen a PDA that could stand the outdoors well. I know there are some outdoor / industrial / indestructible models out there but these cost a fortune and they’re still susceptible to regular loss of data and software errors (don’t you just love windows  )
If you decide to go with a PDA while hiking anyway, here are some solutions that might help:
1) Garmin has released their own Palm with a built in GPS, the iQue 3600. No need for Bluetooth or wires or anything. I know the unit comes with it’s own vector mapping software, which is still a proprietary system, but it’s a Plam. I’m sure you can upload any mapping software you like.
2) Get one of those minimalist GPS that look like the external antennas. These are very small full functioning GPS units that don’t have any display or buttons. You just hook them up (usually via a wire) to a PDA or PC and run a mapping software. Get one of those, shorten the wire and fix it somehow to the PDA. You got yourself a small portable mapping unit.
3) Get an Otter Box to protect your PDA and fix the small GPS to it.
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A.B.
OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.
[This message has been edited by A.B. (edited 06 August 2003).]
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A.B.
OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
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