My GPS scenario & Bluetooth quest.

**gizak** · 02-22-2005, 11:08 AM

As I embark in the next chapter of in-car computing, I find myself diving into one of the most useful applications for the car - GPS.

I already did the software research, and it was a close toss-up between Destinator 3 and iGuidance 2.0, but after a day's worth of reading on here and other 3rd-site reviews, I chose the latter. My decision on this was mostly due to-
price: iGuidance is cheaper
software: iGuidance comes with both PC and PPC software
features: iGuidance has better info for US users, and D3 seems better for European users
bonus: 3d view in iGuidance shows street names

As for hardware, I'm still in a pickle. I guess the easy way is to just go with a usb connected gps device. Iguidance even sells a package to include one. It came out to be around $90 for the Royaltek gps device alone. Then I realized I might want to look into a GPS unit that I could use with both my carPuter, and my Dell Axim x30h PPC. (this was a major reason I decided on iGuidance - yes, I know about mapmonkey). At times, I ride in my girlfriend's car or go on road trips in other people's "non-gps/pc" cars (ugh), so it's nice if I can still utilize my GPS w/my PPC hehe.

I looked around on ebay and found some that were in the $100-$150 (shipped) range. This was only slightly more then the Royaltek Sapphire usb one that came with the iGuidance package, so I figured I might as well go bluetooth. Once I decided on the fairest priced units, I went around searching for reviews on the web, as well as if any mp3car users had any.

I've narrowed it down to two units: the Rikaline GPS-6031-X7 and the HOLUX GR-231. The Rikaline is a tad bit cheaper and I think has a longer battery life. The Holux had some reviews that stated it had faster hot/warm/cold boot times. I'm still undecided, and may spend a few more days investigating these two as well as any other units I come across.

My question is, has anybody had any serious issues with bluetooth GPS receivers? I know it's still an early development for them, so I'm always concerned with new technology still being too infantile. Does anybody have experience with slowness in compared to a "wired" GPS receiver? I want my setup to just allow me to get straight to GPS and have it ready when I touch that button on the screen. I'm willing to sacrifice the whole bluetooth/gps setup if it's too complex. Lastly, does anybody have recommendations on bluetooth GPS receivers they are currently using and are very happy with or planning to buy and why? Speed? Battery life? Satellite signals? Accuracy?

Thanks much for any feedback.

**gizak** · 02-25-2005, 11:48 AM

shameless bump.

Since nobody answered any questions, either my post is too detailed and too tedious (I figure the more information I provide, the better answers I receive), or nobody has much experience at all with Bluetooth GPS.

Welps, been doing more research on my own instead and came across the Globalsat BT-338 which is the first SiRF Star 3 Bluetooth GPS that came out recently. I didn't do too much reading in detail regarding the new chipset, but new is good! Supposedly faster locks, more accurate, and longer battery life. It's more expensive, so I don't think I'll jump on it. I did a search on these forums and was suprised nobody brought it up. If anybody wants to discuss this or perhaps my previous post, type away! =p

**gizak** · 03-14-2005, 10:52 AM

Well, still nobody talking. I guess I'll get on out with it. In an unplanned purchase, I went ahead and bought the Rikaline GPS-6031-X7. I looked at both and they seemed to have similar enough features that I just ended up getting the cheaper one, by about 10 bucks. But I managed to break off one of the metal battery connectors and was unsuccessful in soldering it back on (I hate that stuff) so instead of messing around with it, I decided to grab the HOLUX GR-231 since I was in a hurry to get my GPS up and running again before the weekend. It also allowed me to do a mini-review and comparison of the two. (I'm probably gonna throw the rikaline on ebay for a few bucks for anybody who wishes to fix it themselves and get it working or see if they can get a warranty repair on it, yea I'm impatient)

Notes: Real driving testing involved was used pairing the devices with my Dell Axim X30h, but I also managed to get both working with my future carputer:

Rikaline-

Pros:
Longer battery life
Multiple devices can connect to it (pda & carputer simultaneously)
Automatic detection of BT to connect & turn on (works great on carputer!)
Automatic turn off when BT drops (when I exit Iguidance 2.0 on the carputer, the GPS automatically turns off, when I run Iguidance, even embedded, it automatically turns the BT device on)
cool colorful changable wings! lol

cons:
Well, I did break the battery terminal.
NO on/off switch which proved to be a slight problem because -
I had connection issues with Dell Axim PPC...worked great when it did, but I was losing BT connection and it wouldn't reconnect unless I reset both devices. No off switch on the GPS required me to keep sliding open the battery cover and removing the battery and reinserting it, which lead to broken metal clip.
Indicator lights not as informative as the Holux.
No external antenna plug.
Can ONLY be connected via BT.

Holux-

Pros:
Seems to have a faster fix then the Rikaline.
Definitely picks up a signal better (even getting in indoors) and had no problem driving around with the GPS in my pocket, I didn't even have to put it on the dash.
Can be used with BT or usb cable (purchased seperately).
It can be charged via the AC travel charger, the car cig lighter socket, or any USB port - the cable seems to be a standard usb cable that plugs into each of these devices.
Has an external antenna port.
Indicator lights will tell me if it has a satellite lock, and I can tell if it has a BT connection or if it's waiting for a BT connection.
Power switch proves helpful.
Supposedly has power save mode to turn off GPS after 10 min if no BT connection is detected.
Uses the same type battery of Nokia cell phones (although they claim their battery is more heat resistant).
Has a heat protection circuit to stop charging battery after it reaches a certain temp.

cons:
Can't be connected to both PPC and carputer simultaneously and still testing on how fast/feasible it is to switch between the two. (I plan to use it mostly in my car paired with carputer, but I want to be able to disconnect the unit to bring into my girl's car and pair it with my Dell Axim).
Power save mode doesn't appear to be working properly, and it hasn't turn off for an hour as of now hehe - but at least it has a damn switch to turn it off!
Switch is software based, not hardware (have to hold it in for 1 sec to turn on, 2 sec to turn off).
Battery life isn't as long as the Rikaline's. (not that it matters much to me, 9 hours is good enough).
Since it's a single usb cable that plugs into the head of either the ac travel charger or car cig light outlet, I can't keep two seperate cables in both areas, but if it's a regular usb cable I will just pick one of those up.

I still have a lot more testing to do, but as of now, I can only test the Holux, so expect to see any further rants on this item on this thread, but as of now I prefer and like this item better then the Rikaline unit.

**World705** · 03-18-2005, 06:52 AM

I use my TomTom Navigator GPS Unit for my tracking.. which is bluetooth..

the battery life lasts about 5-6 hours which is enough for any long journey, if in doubt use a in car charger costs about £10.

The satilite strength is very good connects to give position with in 10-15seconds not even that some times.

I use my pocket pc with this using the tomtom software which is very good. proberly the best out there but if your looking for a gps software for it its compatible with nearly all of them!

Setting up the bluetooth was easy, you have to be techinically minded and find it easy to problem solve.
I brought a bluetooth reciever becuase i got so many devices that are bluetooth now. eg. Mouse/Keyboard/PDA/Mobile/GPS. when you pair the device with the computer, it will automatically set two COM ports one for sending the data to the gps and one to reicieve the position data.

If you have any trouble give us a message and ill help you out where i can!

**mpattonm** · 03-18-2005, 07:10 AM

Uhhh... whats wrong with your CPU cooler, gizak?

**belfast121** · 03-20-2005, 06:23 PM

I got myself excited about in-car gps 2 weeks ago and I started to look around for pda's and gps receivers. After couple days of intense browsing around, I got myself a Dell Axim X30 bluetooth - it was on offer at dell - and even more, after I canceled the order I got a phone call from dell to offer me 20% off if I keep the order. Well done. About the receiver, I have decided to the same rikaline 6031 X7 because of the long battery life and good specifications for the price.
I am using the device 3 days from now and this is what I can say the package works very well, I am driving around with 7-11 locked sats at a time, strong signal once it locks on the sat (with the receiver on the dashboard).

What makes me unhappy is the amount of time to take off for a hot start (hot start = turn off the pda and on again in less than 1 min. - in this case).

- with the receiver on the dashboard
10 sec for the pda bluetooth to turn on the receiver
40 to 50 sec for the receiver to lock enough sattelites to get running

- with the receiver on top of the hood
30 to 35 sec to lock enough sattelites

on the instructions they say something around 15 sec for a hot start and its nowhere nere that. I suppose I'll just have to live with that as the receiver doesnt have a port for external antenna

**gizak** · 03-20-2005, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by mpattonm

Uhhh... whats wrong with your CPU cooler, gizak?

Aside from it being a tad big, nothing hehe. The whole fan portion is a transparent blue and it has 4 blue LED's that illuminate it. Not bad for 14 bucks or so, and it's damn quiet.

**SnyperBob** · 04-03-2005, 09:27 AM

Wow, I'm impressed by the information you've given. I want GPS so bad, that two years ago I did the noob thing about bought a stupid Delorme. Well as everyone knows, those are so bad that I've been turned off by the whole GPS thing until lately.

After seeing all the new frontends with GPS support, I think it's time to take the plunge and spend more money on this.

Hell, until this thread, I knew zero about bluetooth GPS. I thought bluetooth was for cell phone headsets and stuff. I'm a noob. If you have any more information about the receivers, or some more pics, please share.

I'm off to do some searching on the receivers you listed cause I want to know how much!

**SnyperBob** · 04-03-2005, 09:38 AM

Oh, another question - how does the Holux work with the iGuidance software? Any problems?

**gizak** · 04-03-2005, 02:21 PM

Hey! Glad to see somebody else interested. The Holux is working just fine on both the PPC and Carputer. I finally got my pc into the car and I'm using iguidance2.0 more with the carputer as it is much easier to look at. Although I did go ahead and modify it so the font is bigger and the zoom buttons are bigger. It helps a lot. You can find the info in this thread if you dig enough: Iguidance 2.0 font size is killing me
My current frontend is Centrafuse. I tried a few others but I think I'll stick with this one for now. There is a small issue with the window embedding due to the "nag screen", but I used the info in this thread to fix it: IGUIDANCE_ nag screen solution (I see you already posted in there hehe).

Anyways, feel free to ask for any further questions, also regarding the price on Iguidance, I bought mine from storagemedia.com - http://www.storagemedia.com/product....dept_id=56-016
for $95, cheapest I could find. They are now taking pre-orders on version 2.1 too.