Bluetooth GPS Receiver - Which one?

[Alice Cupra]

I'm looking to get a Bluetooth GPS receiver for my PDA to run Sat Nav software.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to which one is worth spending my money on?

I definitely want SiRF III, not an older SiRF II unit, and have narrowed it down to:

TomTom Mark II
GlobalSat BT-338

...unless anyone can point me to a better alternative.

Anyone have experience of either of these? It's a Dell Axim X51v I will be attaching it to.

Cheers.

[steve z]

I've got the Holux GPSlim 236. Fantastic receiver no larger than a matchbox, and once its got a fix (45 secs from cold, 5 secs from warm) I throw it in my glovebox and it still maintains a fix with no problem whatsoever.

About £80 new.

[cj_eds]

I've got a Fortuna Clip-on. Its a few years old now and is maybe the height of two match boxes on top of each other but is pretty good. Has a plug for an external aerial and uses a nokia-style battery so you can keep spares.
Check out www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk for some good prices and www.pocketgpsworld.com for pretty in depth reviews of a few.

[puggit]

I have the GlobalSat BT-338. It works fantastically when it works. The big issue I have with it that it doesn't work from cold (ie temperature wise).

I can't leave it in the car or it takes 15mins to warm up. And if I know I'm off to visit a customer I need to keep it on the radiator.

Works great in the summer though

Also works with my windscreen which has a metal film in it.

[FunkyNige]

steve z said:

I've got the Holux GPSlim 236. Fantastic receiver no larger than a matchbox, and once its got a fix (45 secs from cold, 5 secs from warm) I throw it in my glovebox and it still maintains a fix with no problem whatsoever. About £80 new.

Where would be the best place to get one of these from?

[CombeMarshal]

I got this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuie-BLUETOOT
Works brilliantly, once you got the signal you can hide it away, seems to go for ever between charges and is about the cheapest one you can get!

[Alice Cupra]

I have actually ended up getting the branded Tomtom receiver.

Seemed to be about the same price as many of the others, and ut came out well in a test on Pocketgpsworld.

Running a treat with TomTom on my Dell Axim PDA.......

[steve z]

FunkyNige said:

steve z said: I've got the Holux GPSlim 236. Fantastic receiver no larger than a matchbox, and once its got a fix (45 secs from cold, 5 secs from warm) I throw it in my glovebox and it still maintains a fix with no problem whatsoever. About £80 new. Where would be the best place to get one of these from?

Got mine off eBay, just go for a UK seller if you want piece of mind should it go wrong.

[kippax]

steve z said:

I've got the Holux GPSlim 236. Fantastic receiver no larger than a matchbox, and once its got a fix (45 secs from cold, 5 secs from warm) I throw it in my glovebox and it still maintains a fix with no problem whatsoever. About £80 new.

Thanks for the advise been using cf card receiver but signal in built up areas not great so just ordered one of these off E-Bay £64.99 buy it now price & £4.99 postage from UK seller with lots of positive feedback so now just waiting for delivery.

How long can I expect the battery to last?

Thanks again
Howard.

[steve z]

kippax said:

steve z said: I've got the Holux GPSlim 236. Fantastic receiver no larger than a matchbox, and once its got a fix (45 secs from cold, 5 secs from warm) I throw it in my glovebox and it still maintains a fix with no problem whatsoever. About £80 new. Thanks for the advise been using cf card receiver but signal in built up areas not great so just ordered one of these off E-Bay £64.99 buy it now price & £4.99 postage from UK seller with lots of positive feedback so now just waiting for delivery. How long can I expect the battery to last?

Battery is good for about 18 hours continuous use before it needs recharging, which again you do via your in car cigarette lighter.

[kippax]

steve z said:

kippax said: steve z said: I've got the Holux GPSlim 236. Fantastic receiver no larger than a matchbox, and once its got a fix (45 secs from cold, 5 secs from warm) I throw it in my glovebox and it still maintains a fix with no problem whatsoever. About £80 new. Thanks for the advise been using cf card receiver but signal in built up areas not great so just ordered one of these off E-Bay £64.99 buy it now price & £4.99 postage from UK seller with lots of positive feedback so now just waiting for delivery. How long can I expect the battery to last? Battery is good for about 18 hours continuous use before it needs recharging, which again you do via your in car cigarette lighter.

Just wanted to say thanks again this receiver is fantastic gets a reception indoors & through tunnels! thanks again for advise.

H