Saturday, November 29, 2008

i-gotU gt-100

I was recently given a i-gotU gps model gt-100 which appears to be the lowest model they have available. It was a gift and I appreciated it however I was skeptical because I already had a few bluetooth gps units which work quite well (over a year ago to use with my dell pda. coincidently they no longer make and I should really sell on ebay). So my problem is that I notice the model was not bluetooth. The second problem I encountered is that it has this really weird cradle and long cable to connect to the computer to use connected. The third problem is that they did not bother to include some sort of dongle or string to use that hook on the top right side of the gps unit (I was however able to use an available string cord from a portable usb drive). The final problem is that it is a sealed unit (it is waterproof) therefore no battery replacement is possible.

Early problems experienced:
1) Computer could not connect to the gps unit sayings it was not transmitting a NMEA compatible data. (Had to reset the device)

Things that would have made the unit worth recommending:
1) Include a very simple slide on usb attachment that would have made the unit attachable like a thumb drive (if anything a usb extension cable could have been used if you needed that)
2) Include a few things to attach the unit to. For example a long cord for neck, short cord for keychain, or even a arm wrap thing so you can attach it like the pictures shown. (they do recommend the unit have an unobstructed view of the sky. example not in a bag or in your pockets which somewhat defeats the purpose as a travel logger)
3) Enable a way to disable the two led lights because when it's data logging... you don't need it blinking to notify you of anything because if it doesn't work, there's nothing you can do anyway. I mean sure leave it on when connected to usb or when it's running out of power or even turning on/off but otherwise it's kinda stupid.

It's still plenty neat. Very small and waterproof but I would personally gone with a GT-200 which is a bluetooth version and larger battery but when it's free, I suppose I cannot complain too much. Here's my pictures but if you google GT-100 you can find some good pictures at buygpsnow or anywhere really.
I havn't tried to really use it yet because it kinda blinks a little too brightly so it's kinda noticable to everyone concerned.

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