Best GPS receiver

Scottland

Scottland

Scottland

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
15,713
Location
North Wales
After my recent jaunt to London, I've lost a bit of confidence in my GPS receiver. It takes a long time (~10mins) to pick up any signal from cold, and in built up areas it was only possible to get any signal by sticking it on the roof.

Are there any others out there better at picking up and keeping signal? It will need to be bluetooth, so good battery life is also a bonus.

Any suggestions?


P.S. I wasn't sure which forum this belonged in, thought I'd start here
 
My Dad has a Holux GPSlim and it's absolutely fantastic.

It's miles better than my Polstar PBT-111 - it gets a lock in seconds even from cold and the most amazing thing is that it also works when you hide in odd places. Spent the entire trip back from Heathrow on Saturday with it inside the cubby hole in the centre console of the 5 Series, with the roller-shutter door closed - so there was zero line of sight - and it worked perfectly.

I have no idea how, but it does. It even gets a lock indoors. And the battery lasts years.
 
I have the Globalsat BT-338 and everything Fox said applies to this unit as well, as it will to just about any receiver that uses the Sirfstar III chipset, which is generally regarded as being the best available.
 
Thanks, a quick google tells me that the retail price is £60-£70 on these, that sound about right?

Also, it appears the main difference between the 2 mentioned is that the Globalsat has a bigger battery?


Fox - My GPS unit is the same model I think, how do you find yours to use?
 
Scottland said:
Fox - My GPS unit is the same model I think, how do you find yours to use?
Click to expand...

It's alright but it takes AGES to find a lock from cold (it's fast from warm), and the battery lasts about 4-5 hours at the very most.
 
I use a solar powered one, £52 from the bay, never given me any issues even in built up areas, in fact it runs from my glove box all the time no problems, I just take it out at the end of a journey to charge....plus the fact it never needs to be plugged in is excellent.
 
The Globalsat one looks like the one for me, although it's a little bigger the extra battery is worth it - and it's about the same price.
 
I just got a BT-77 GPS to go with TomTom and it's fantastic. Bluetooth (as I use my phone) and has a battery life of around 30 hours - something I have found VERY useful.

Cheap n all - around the 30 notes mark and most mornings gets the satalie within a minute, warm start is normally within a few secs.
 
Agreed... I have the BT-77 and its excellent.. Picks up satellites quicker than my snooper, battery lasts for ages and is nice and small...

And you can pick them up for as cheap as £38 on the bay...
 
the bt-77 is ok for the price, and does indeed have an awesome battery life, but they are shoddily made and take quite a while to find signal sometimes. Me and my friend both have one, his has physically fallen apart but still works, mine slid off of the dash once and now doesnt work at all :| Ill be investing in a holux one methinks, especially after the amount of times the bt77 wouldnt get signal for no apparant reason :s.

Tom.
 
The BT-77 is great value. Only time i've had trouble with mine was when it was extremely cloudy a few weeks back, it just wouldnt lock at all, but all other times its been perfect, hopefully just a one off. Battery life is excellent, was a major selling point for myself.
 
I have been using a BT-77 for a few months and can say it does tend to take ages to find a signal :( and at times will not even find a signal at all. But as people have said it works for ages and I'd advise an external ariel as it improved my lock time considerably.

I'll probably be upgrading to a holux one as the performance is more important that battery life.
 
Kitchster_uk said:
I just got a BT-77 GPS to go with TomTom and it's fantastic. Bluetooth (as I use my phone) and has a battery life of around 30 hours - something I have found VERY useful.

Cheap n all - around the 30 notes mark and most mornings gets the satalie within a minute, warm start is normally within a few secs.
Click to expand...

i use the same one and agree with what you say :)
 
I'd just be looking at any GPS with the SIRF-III Chipset

Holux GPSLIM
Globalsat BT 338
Royaltek TBT-2001
etc
etc
 
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