Holux M-1000C Bluetooth GPS Data Logger Travel Recorder (Bluetooth, USB , 66CH, WAAS, 200k Waypoints, M1000c) Review

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(More customer reviews)I own a standalone Globalsat BT-338 receiver, have a built-in GPS receiver in my HTC Touch 3G mobile, and have a GPS enabled Garmin Forerunner 405 watch/running computer as well. I needed one receiver with long battery life and data logging capability on an affordable price, so I went for the Holux M-1000C. Comparing the reception and the stability of the receivers the built-in Sirf III receiver of HTC has mediocre, the Forerunner has good and the standalone Globalsat and Holux both have excellent sensibility.
The Holux gets fix quite quickly, usually in 30 seconds. It always helps if you don't move while it searches for the satellites, and once it gets fix it never loses again. In urban canyons, such as among the downtown high-rises the signal tends to bounce a bit in every direction, thus later I always modify the tracks with the so called 'clamp to the ground' function. It modifies the height vector based on Google Earth data and eliminates the vertical bouncing and produce a much more realistic elevation diagram - very similar to the barometric altitude meter results. Unfortunately the bound ezTour software doesn't offer this function, but for example the (ex-Motionbased) Garmin Connect web service or the free TCX Converter utility do it for you.
The logger function of the M-1000C is excellent. There are 4 preset modes for logging: car, bike, running, hiking. In hiking mode for example records a waypoint in every 3 seconds and in every 10 metres, while these values in bike mode are 5 seconds and 5 meters. But it is possible to set these values manually according your preferences as well. The memory is huge, 4 hours of running log (recording in every 5 seconds) occupies 1% of the memory only.
Handling is easy: you turn it on, wait for the GPS led blinking (meaning fix) and there you go. When you finished just switch it off. Later in ezTour you can see you track in Google Maps and it is possible to modify your tracklog, like delete unnecessary waypoints, moving waypoints etc too. Unfortunately you cannot see the map under your track while you in Track Editor mode, though editing your track is reasonable manageable. While ezTour will not be your primary GPS track managing utility it does the basic stuff.
The Holux M-1000C delivers why I bought it: it can record the track of a week long hiking (with some external charging solution or spare battery as the battery last 'only' 28 hrs in logger mode), and I can use it as a bluetooth GPS with my navigation software on my HTC mobile if the built in GPS receiver gives up and/or I want to record my track.
Oh, did I mention that you can geotag your pictures with it?

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Q-1000X: Qstarz BT-Q1000X Bluetooth Data Logger GPS Receiver (66 ch, 1-5Hz Update Rate, AGPS, 200,000 Waypoints) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my first GPS logger, but so far I'm very happy with it. I bought it just in time for a trip to the Puget Sound. This thing worked like a charm, be it Olympic Nat'l Park, Victoria, or Seattle. The only place I had a problem was in the EMP in Seattle, and that was surly due to the thick interior walls.
The software works as it should. Because I shoot RAW, and I use gpicsync to actually write the data to the EXIF, but as far as getting the data, the included software works perfectly.
Oh, and the battery life is amazing. I would usually charge this every night, but it could easily go a couple days (being turned off at night).
Haven't used the Bluetooth feature, can't really think of any uses as this point.


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Q-1000X : Qstarz BT-Q1000X Bluetooth Data Logger GPS Receiver (66 ch, 1-5Hz Update Rate, AGPS, 200,000 Waypoints) Review

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(More customer reviews)I didn't agree with previous review which gave BT-Q1000 only 1 star. Based on my experience the product works pretty good, however I only give 4 stars because the product has a few small issues. But for the price I think its still pretty good.
The good part is that the unit can used as a gps logger and blue tooth external gps unit. I paired up my Sprint Mogul PDA phone with no issues. I use PDA apps google maps and MS live search. GPS accuracy seems pretty good although I am new to gps so I dont have any previous experiences. Mainly use in my car and its picks up sat even in the glove compartment. The blue tooth range is very good. I usually leave the unit on and keep it plugged into the supplied car charger.
I also experimented using the logger feature. I am able to download the logger data into csv, nmea, or kml formats. The mapping button on the utility app doesn't work unless you install google earth. The program simply starts google earth and sends kml data to it to map. There are many logging options that can be set on the device. Its best to setup the logging intervals and kind of data you want to store before using the logging feature. Also there is a button called set default for google that set all the options so that it can create KML data that works with google earth.
The application crashes with some meaningless error message if you press the map button without google earth installed. The manual does explain how download it, but for those people like me who dont read the manual its can be misleading to crash without any good error messages.
I emailed the qstarz technical support about feature improvements and got a next day response that they will looked into it. Its nice to know they respond to email support. Since I have not had any real major issues I have no idea if they will really provide good technical support, but its nice to know they at least respond which is not always the case.
One gripe I have is the logging utility is limited in some ways. You can download data and erase the entire log. However, as you use it, you will find it would be nice to be able to selective save parts of the log, and selectively erase parts of the log. For example, if you log an entire days worth of movement, then later download the log you most likely will want to split the log into many separate events or paths. However the tool will not allow this. You can try to separate the data afterwards but the kml format its very hard to do because they send a single gps stream data into separate XML sections.
Additional gripe. The unit and utility is needs to be in LOG mode, but its not obvious. Again I know its in the manual, but its just not obvious. If switch on the unit to NAV mode and start the window utility some of the functions actually work, but most do not work. I know RTM.
Anyways despite the issues, I am happy with this unit.

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Q-1000XT: Qstarz BT-Q1000XT Bluetooth Data Logger GPS Receiver (66 ch, 1-5Hz Update Rate, AGPS, 400,000 Waypoints, Vibration Sensor) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have used several GPSs over the years and this one takes the cake. It went on a trip to Ireland the Scotland with me and performed so well I am thinking of new ways to push it to see where it might fail.
First it locked on just about anywhere, inside airports while in my luggage, inside the overhead bin on the plane while inside my luggage, inside cars while in my pants pocket, in buildings, in hotels, in pubs large and small. It locked on everywhere, and when it did not it just kept me in the same location until it did find a lock, meaning it did not show me bouncing all over the place when I was really just sitting still.
Secondly the software is OK, I did use it for downloading the data, setting up the GPS, exporting to GPX and Google Earth, and some preliminary review of the days events, but really that was it. So I cannot talk to how it does anything else, nor do I much care. It does what I needed it to do very well with no problems or complaints. I ran it on XP SP3 on 2 machines and it had no issues of any kind.
Thirdly it lasts FOREVER. I left it run almost 2 days, nearly 42 hours, before it died. 42 hours. That is amazing. Plus since it charges via USB I can charge it ANYWHERE. I can charge from my laptop, desktop, car charger, wall charger, even from those little engergizer 2xAA battery thingies. I even made a charger from a USB cable and a 4xAA battery holder. So I can charge this from rechargeable batteries as needed without connecting to my laptop.
Forthly it stores a lot of info. I have easily almost 2 weeks of time, in 1 minute increments about 10-16 hours a day, stored on here. You cannot erase from it , it just overwrites the old stuff, so I can see all the way back to when I first got it still, plus the 9 day Ireland/Scotland trip, plus all the flights to and from, plus misc playing around with it. It is all still on there. Amazing.
The one thing you really really really do have to do though if you plan to geotag photos, and I know you already know this but just listen anyways, is to sync the camera clock to GPS time (in your home timezone if possible). My camera time drifts, I had synced it before maybe 6 months ago when using the Garmin GPS around home, but I was 5 minutes off, which would be fine except that my shots of a given church were blocks away, my shots of the Cliffs of Moher are geotagged from the parking lot, etc until I corrected for the drift. There is no way to tell what time this GPS thinks it is, but since all GPS receivers use the same time it is a simple matter of syncing to any GPS or just to a reputable Stratum 1 or 2 time source online.

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