Can anyone share "real" experiences, good or bad, on the i-Blue 747 Data Logger Bluetooth GPS Receiver?

If you can compare it to a SiRF III GPS receiver, data logger or not, I would be greatly appreciative.

Looking to upgrade from Navman PiN (Mio 168) PDA with built-in GPS now that I picked up a new Dell Axim 51V PDA.  I am currently running Delorme Street Atlas USA 2005 and Delorme TOPO 5.0 on the PiN.  We are an avid offroading family that loves to explore the back country so a reliable GPS is plus. 

Before I get flamed, I carry paper maps and both magnetic and digital compasses on our outings.  The GPS makes it more fun for my girls, my navigators.

TIA 

TIA: Thanks for your post.

For more accurate tracking during low speed or walking on foot than the MTK chipset used in the i-Blue 747 / 757 Pro, we recommend you consider SiRF Star III based GPS receiver. Unfortunate, the only SiRF Star III based tracker, the Globalsat DG-100, can only be used with a laptop thru USB and does not act like a Bluetooth GPS receiver. In other words, the DG-100 is used for logging GPS position and the data can be retrieved for post-data processing later on by connecting this device to a USB port on a laptop.

The other alternative is the Wintec WBT-201, but we have not tested this device extensively on foot.

Wow, now I'm really confused!

Are you saying that a SiRF III based GPS receiver is inherently more accurate than a MTK based GPS? 

I would have thought that based on the claim that a MTK based GPS can track 32 satellites simultaneously compared to a SiRF III based GPS only tracking 12 to 20 satellites, that they would be the more accurate GPS.

I cannot find the post now but it was stated that a Wintec GPS (100 or 200?) was taking up to 13 minutes to acquire a fix.  Is this a problem only attributed to their u-Nav + iTrax based GPS's or does the U-Biox suffer from similar problems?

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and your patience with us newbees.

Yes, as of writing, SiRF Star III is more accurate in low speed (walking speed of less than about 5 mph) than MTK current chipset.

Remember, it is actually not a good thing to have with tracking more satellites. Only 3-4 "GOOD" satellites are enought to calculate your real-time position on earth. If your GPS is receiving data and taking calculation from satellites that are low on the horizon, the data coming from these group of satellites will have more errors/ inaccurate data. This data must be filter out or you will see more "wondering behavior" of the GPS position and most likely wondering off to other location away from your actual position on the map.

The Wintec WBT-201 ONLY (I did not specifically say the whole product line of Wintec) has a slower cold-start time compare to others chipset in the market. That is just a one time cold-start problem but once you got a GPS position fix, the GPS fix time will be reduced to around 45 seconds the next time you use it. Of course, if you move the GPS say more than 100 miles aways from it's previous position, a longer cold-start time may be required and this applies to all GPS receivers because all previously downloaded data of GPS position on the sky will be outdated and the GPS receiver needs to re-scan the sky for the latest data.

 

Once again, thank you for responding to my questions and for your patience.

How do the Nemerix chipset based GPS fare against the SiRF III units?  I am reffering to your i-Blue Bluetooth GPS Receiver PS-3200 in particular.

We do a lot of hiking and offroading but I also have occassion to travel for work purposes, I guess I need an "all around performer".  BTW, I have given up on a data logger!

 

SiRF Star III based GPS receiver performs about 20% faster in cold-start time (aka Time to First Fix, TTFF) vs. the i-Blue PS-3200.

so far my experience are no too possitive. for some reason the time is about 11 hours behind. Is this a know issue? It looks to me that it is on EU time instead of Aussie time. Any suggestions for that???? thnx!

jlshnng:

so far my experience are no too possitive. for some reason the time is about 11 hours behind. Is this a know issue? It looks to me that it is on EU time instead of Aussie time. Any suggestions for that???? thnx!

Hi. May I get your order number please and the serial number on the unit?

Also, what navigation software /tool did you use to read the GPS Time info of this unit?

Thanks.