Bluetooth GPS receivers

VIRII

VIRII

VIRII

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Joined
24 Jul 2003
Posts
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I have fried my GPS receiver by plugging in the wrong charger :(

Ideally I'd like one that charges off USB (to avoid more stupid charger mistakes) and I am also a bit intrigued by the receivers with solar panels that help trickle charge the unit to increase operating time - they seem like a good idea.

So spec me up a GPS receiver or suggest me a unit:

Prefereably USB charging (maybe with a solar panel).
Bluetooth is a must.
How many channels should I look for 12? 16? 20+ ?
What is considered a reasonable cold start time to satellite lock on? 30 secs?

Please move this to GD if this is the wrong forum.
 
The Holux GPSlim 236 seems to fit your criteria. I've just bought one, but am currently awaiting delivery. £50 from "The Bay" including shipping.

Reception wise, you want something with the SirfstarIII chipset on it, as it's generally regarded as the best atm.

Some of the solar ones I've seen use that chipset so might be pretty good. So long as the solar ones have a decent battery as standard (~800mah+), and you can charge them by conventional means then I don't see it as a problem.
 
I originally bought a BT-77 GPS unit which I still use now and again and it's been quite good. Does take ages at times to find a signal. I find it works much better with an external aerial. However I recently bought a GPSSlim device for the GF's mum and that is sooooo much better. I'd say one of then, mine cost £55 including shipping from the bay
 
globalsat BT-338

very impressive battery life (1700mAh), very stable performance, SiRF Star III chipset & you can get a USB charger cable for it.

make sure you check some reviews before buying any of them, there are some real crap ones out there.
 
Scottland said:
The Holux GPSlim 236 seems to fit your criteria. I've just bought one, but am currently awaiting delivery. £50 from "The Bay" including shipping.

Reception wise, you want something with the SirfstarIII chipset on it, as it's generally regarded as the best atm.

Some of the solar ones I've seen use that chipset so might be pretty good. So long as the solar ones have a decent battery as standard (~800mah+), and you can charge them by conventional means then I don't see it as a problem.
Click to expand...

I've been doing a bit of research as I'm after one and the holux gps slim 236 seems to be having a few problems, their fine one minute then suddunly stop working for quite a few people.
I hope you don't have any probs with yours as apart from this they do seem a great machine and I'm still thinking of getting one, maybe its just a few isolated cases, you only ever here from people with problems, never those that are satsified do you.

I'd be interested if you could post how you get on with yours :)
 
It seems the bay is the cheapest place to buy one but if it is from Hong Kong etc then there's a risk of it being a copy and not that good I suppose.
I'm still undecided as to which to get.
 
I think i've narrowed it down to one of three:

Globalsat BT 338 - Pricey but seem the best

Holux GPSlim 236 - Good Chipset but reliability problems?

Solar - Fairly new so unproven
 
VIRII said:
It seems the bay is the cheapest place to buy one but if it is from Hong Kong etc then there's a risk of it being a copy and not that good I suppose.
I'm still undecided as to which to get.
Click to expand...


Mine arrived yesterday, from HK.

Doesn't appear to be a knock off, has the box and all what should be in there.

The unit itself is so much better than my crappy Polstar one. It gets a full sattelite lock from cold indoors in about a minute and even has reasonable signal strength from inside the house - I couldn't even get any signal at all with my old Polstar one.

The only slight annoyance is the mains charger - it's one of those EU/US plugs that has a UK adapter seperate. But not really an issue as I've already got a mini USB charger (from my PDA).

Would you like any more info, pics etc?
 
Pictures are here, if you want any more specific pictures let me know :)

There's 2 pctires of the reception I was getting on there. One is of reception inside my house, the other is with the receiver outside in the garden. I'm sure you'll be able to tell which is which.


chipperhead - It's TomTom Nav 5, not mobile though.
 
Scottland said:
There's 2 pctires of the reception I was getting on there. One is of reception inside my house, the other is with the receiver outside in the garden. I'm sure you'll be able to tell which is which.
Click to expand...

Reception inside!!! I had a BT77 and what ever came with co-pilot. Never had indoor reception before. Infact some military lightweight equipment I tested (with built in gps) a few years back couldn't get reception indoors either. I guess stuff's moved on :)
 
I'm going to get the Holux GPSlim 236, which seller did you guys buy yours from? Bying from HK sometimes can be a real pain, need to know a good seller who's going to get it to me within a month. :D
 
Hi guys,

I thought I'd rather post here than create a new thread.

Am in need of a Bluetooth GPS reciever as well for my Vario 2 and I was wondering what you can recommend for around £40. :)
 
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