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I posted this review on Amazon.com, where I purchased my UltiMate GPS from:
I bought this unit for my iPod Touch, so my review only speaks to what I have found using it with that piece of gear. As I understand it, the unit will work with many other apple products and even other operating systems, and drivers are available on their website. The included USB cord powers the unit and charges your iPod. As with any GPS, it will use up your battery quickly if it is left on, but the iPod Touch has good power management software to help mitigate the drain.
Prior to receiving the unit, I downloaded the app specifically for it. The day I received the unit, the app updated itself. I then plugged the unit in and immediately the app pushed a firmware upgrade to the unit. I also pushed fresh AGPS data to it. Initially the unit took a couple minutes to lock onto the satellites, just as the manual said. Once done, I had plenty of satellites. Susequent warm and hot restarts were very fast. The unit also has a small internal battery that helps maintain its data. That charges very quickly. The unit itself does not block access to the headphone jack on the bottom of my iPod Touch. The unit has a couple of multi-colored lights for various states of charge and satellite acquisitions status. It is tiny and light-weight. I do not have a hard case yet, so I don't know which ones would or would not work the this unit.
Once satellites were locked, the unit was able to supply GPS data to any app that needed it. I tried it with several GPS programs including Latitude and Google Maps and it was fine. Sensitivity was good enough to pull a GPS lock inside my house.
One thing to remember - if your tablet or phone lacks a built-in compass, this GPS will only give you a compass reading when you are moving. You don't have to be moving quickly, just a walking pace, but it must "see" you moving to calculate your direction and display it on the compass. Otherwise, the compass stands still. As I understand it, the iPhone 4S has a compass/magnetometer in it, so you would not need to move to have the compass be accurate. Since an iPod Touch lacks a built-in compass, you need to be moving for it to "synthesize" a compass bearing, etc. Not a fault of the unit, since it never claims to have a magenetometer in it, but something to remember.
Customer service is first-rate with this company. I asked a pre-sales question and a tech support question. I barely waited any time to receive accurate responses that were obviously written by a real person, not some email robot trying to parse what I wrote and replying with some FAQ's. The pre-sales answering of my questions were what sold me on this unit. The prompt answering of my tech support questions confirmed that this was the right company to have purchased a GPS receiver from.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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