Giddy up with a great GPS! - Hewlett Packard FA196A Handheld GPS Receiver
Hewlett Packard FA196A Handheld GPS Receiver Product fa196a#aba Key FeaturesDesignationOutdoorForm FactorHandheldMap capabilit...
Hewlett Packard (FA196A) Handheld GPS Receiver Product FA196ABAB Key FeaturesDesignationOutdoorForm FactorHandheld, Wireless Rec...
Please see updates at end, ciao!
I have owned the HP IPAQ Bluetooth GPS navigation receiver for 4 months now, following is a “beat the heck out of it abuse road report” for this unit.
In my professional life, I am a management consultant, and in my personal life spend much time mountain biking and hiking. Needless to say that for both “occupations”, I spend a lot of time “going to places”
I purchased the unit on eBay (NIB: new in box), paid 94$US for it plus 20$US for shipping…and waited impatiently for it to arrive 4 days after winning the bid.
Initially, the GPS receiver was intended to be a co-pilot for work (helping me getting to client sites), and it has very very quickly become part of my personal life, helping my better half & I get around to EVERYWHERE…I love this thing!
Admittedly, I am a toy guy; iPod, foldable PDA keyboard, Bluetooth this, Bluetooth that, so before buying this unit I poured over a few dozen web sites looking for input and feedback, I found several that were very “factory sounding”, not many that were personal accounts of using the unit. So, here’s mine, hope you enjoy it mate
Some jargon for the non-initiated, this is really necessary information for you to know so that you can better understand my ePinion.
TTFF: Time To First Fix (how much time to locate sufficient satellites to get a position reading)
There are four TTFF types, and which type is “used” by the GPS unit is contingent on residual information in the “memory” of the GPS unit, this information is quantified in terms of Almanac and Ephemeris data, as well, the start type is dependent on where the GPS Receiver “thinks” it is and where the satellites are which can help it get the quickest GPS lock.
Almanac data is simply orbital path or course information for the GPS satellites (not relatively precise, updated every few months)
Ephemeris data is as best as I can describe it very precise orbital information for each satellite (as well as clock time) and is required for precise positioning. Each of the GPS satellites broadcast its Ephemeris data (this data has a life span of approximately 5 hours, and the information is broadcast for 30 second bursts, and then re-transmitted, therefore if the GPS receiver loses track of the data mid-way through the 30 second cycle, it will have to start again at the next 30 second cycle to obtain a 3d fix).
The four TTFF types are:
1. Factory: GPS receiver has no Almanac data and cannot retrieve Ephemeris data, and it has no “idea” where it is ;-), it only occurs at the first “boot”, and usually takes about 10-15 minutes.
2. Cold: GPS receiver has “some” Almanac data, but no Ephemeris data , most common start after a few days not using the unit, and usually takes 30 seconds to 1 minute (read information above about the Ephemeris data 30 second cycles)
3. Warm & 4. Hot: GPS receiver has Almanac data and some Ephemeris data and is able to find a lock quickly, most common after turning off and turning back on the unit, or simply after driving through a tunnel and coming out the other end
All that to say; a GPS needs both sets of information to get you a quick fix on your location, and each unit behaves a little differently giving its user varying levels of quality if you will.
By the way, I used the HP GPS receiver with a Dell Axim X30, with 3 different software: Mapopolis, Pocks Streets & Trips and TomTom Navigator 4. While all 3 software are greatly different from one another, it was important I get a range of opinions. At the end of the day, the software you use on your PDA does not affect the performance of the GPS, so this is just additional information for you to think about if you are heading towards purchasing software. I invite you to read my ePinion on TomTom Navigator 4, it is a very interesting software to use with the GPS receiver, however there are some important caveats you should be aware of on that software: http://www.epinions.com/content_181789953668.
Here is my experience to date broken down into 8 sections!!
1. Installation time (from the box to functioning)
2. Initial “how do you…” time
3. Adaptation period (on going)
4. Ease of deployment
5. Accuracy of location fix
6. Durability & Care
7. Loving
8. ;-( Not-loving
Here it goes:
1. Installation time (from the box to functioning):
•About 20 seconds (just the time to rip the cardboard & tape to get to the unit)
•Plugged it in to the AC charger, powered it up with a smile on my face
2. Initial “how do you…” time:
•Just because I am a male, I did not bother to read the directions from the unit and tried to operate it from my PDA using Pocket Streets & Trips simply by kicking off the GPS function and waiting for “something” to happen. “It” didn’t happen. Not certain what “it” was, I fiddled with the GPS (there is only 1 button on it, on/off, so that lasted about 1 minute)
•Rather than do the obvious and go to the factory provided instructions, I Googled a quick search on “GPS start” and quickly figured out what I was looking for; I installed a small application on my PDA which would provide a monitor screen for the GPS receiver, displaying a cute round earth diagram, a counter for visible satellites as well as indicators for each visible satellites. Cool, that took 5 minutes (find, download, boot the application, start the communication between the GPS and the PDA). Then I waited for the magic to happen.
•Factory TTFF took just over 13 minutes.
•Incidentally, I performed the factory TTFF from within my living room, by positioning the unit on the window sill (likely not the smartest thing to do, but heck, it was a snowy winter night when I first got the unit, and donning a parka at 10pm just did not sound fun particularly to go and stand outside while the Almanac and Ephemeris data was getting pumped down to me. The point is that I am quite satisfied that the unit worked well from the box given my laziness.
•Once I realized I could be waiting for 15 minutes for the factory TTFF I decided to put this time to good use and read the factory instructions. This is a physically simple unit: 1 button (on/switch), 3 LED indicators, a power plug and an antenna plug.
•Blue LED: Bluetooth indicator lets you know when it is beaming with your PDA by blinking fast
•Green LED: Satellite indicator, blinks when you got a fix, otherwise simply stays on
•Orange LED: Battery indicator, lights when charging and blinks when low
•With this information in mind I started seeing it all come together after the first 13 minutes: got the Bluetooth flickering happening (which happened simply telling my PDA to let it communicate with the device, effortless and took 10 seconds), got the green satellite flickering grooving and got the orange letting me know I am powering up…and, I got 5 satellites showing up on the small app telling me I am “fixed”…WAY COOL!
•So, this is a good time to turn back to the Pocket Streets & Trips (PS&T), and see where the heck I am; I turned the application on, kicked off the GPS communication (from PS&T) and voila! I got this reddish arrow on my screen and it is dang on to my house!!
•Start to finish, 15 minutes and I had found where I was!! (and we are the smartest thing on this planet, shoot, we is doomed!)
3. Adaptation period (on going)
•Cold TTFF: It usually takes me a solid 5 minutes when I don’t use it for a few days to get the first lock or fix. On one occasion recently it took about 10 minutes, although this has only happened once. So, I have taken the habit of just booting it up by the side of the window in the house before I leave in my car.
•Warm/Hot TTFF: I guess this most often happens to me when I hopping in and out of my car and turn it on/off frequently to save the battery. Normally, this type of TTFF only takes a minute, unless I am dang lucky and get it in the first 30 second cycle.
4.Ease of deployment:
•As stated above, I use the GPS receiver for both car trips and trekking; I am more than satisfied that this unit provides me with a quick-fix, at least sufficient for my needs in that if I am well prepared (i.e. boot it up ahead of time if it has been idle for a few days), I get what I want and fast.
•Bluetooth is way cool, both in my car and trekking, one less wire to think about. I am not certain what the technical limitations of Bluetooth are, however I am satisfied that I can stick the GPS receiver on my dash and the GPS about 3 to 4 feet away and it works fine. While trekking, I will place the GPS in a transparent protective pouch on my backpack (not certain if it needs to be transparent, just works out like that) and it works freakin’ awesome my friend.
5. Accuracy of location fix:
•I am not certain what the legal limitations are, nor what the technical parameters are, however I can guarantee you that for my purposes and using something sweet like Mapopolis or TomTom, I get pretty good location fixes.
•For instance, while driving up to intersections at let’s imagine a normal speed of 35 miles an hour and slowing down, the read I get on my position will be something funky like a 150 feet while the intersection is merely a 20-30 feet in front of me. That being said, as soon as I turn into the intersection, I immediately get a correct reading recognizing the proper direction etc. All that to say, the accuracy I am getting out of it while driving is very very good. This coupled with a really cool software like TomTom’s navigator makes it an awesome duo. I am not so fond of the Mapopolis software simply because it is not as sexy.
•Trekking I sometimes get readings a little off from where I know I am; since I not of the kind to trek through un-chartered territories, the location fix I get while trekking are actually pretty good and I am always pleasantly surprised.
•So, long story short on the accuracy of the location fix: the skinny is that it is very good for what I do.
6. Durability & Care:
•Care: I try to be very diligent since I know the device relies on pretty tiny technology to deliver what I need, although I’ll admit to being a terrible owner of toys. I break stuff, so it is a testament to anything that lasts at least a few months with me.
•Durability of the button: Button is very solid, no concerns or worries for the long haul.
•Durability of the casing: Very solid feeling & “looking” casing, no worries for the long haul.
7. Loving:
•The fast fix.
•The size & weight of the unit (wicked).
•The rubber pad underneath (which makes it great for sticking to my dashboard, although not as good as it could be, see updates at end)
•The fact that there is only 1 button; it’s on or it’s off, no putsing around.
•The battery life (longest trip to date is 5 hours, and no blinking of the orange LED…so, good news on that front)
8. Not-loving:
•???Tough question: I’d like it in blue, black is so passé
•Seriously; only minor gripe is that I would make the unit either a bit more slip-resistant (underneath) or try to lower its center of gravity…reason is that on a couple of occasions I found myself cornering hard (in the car) and it almost went flying out of the passenger window.
•As well, it could be interesting to have a reset function to empty out the memory or force a hard factory TTFF if sometimes (like me) you feel like you are not getting a proper read on your location.
At the end of the day, I like the features & functions of this unit. Price (well, eBay “price” for me), size, ease of use, precision etc. make it a very efficacious tool in my toy box By the by, Microsoft Streets & Trips sucks with a GPS, it only gives you your location, does not provide navigation help (i.e. voice directed indications etc.) I strongly recommend TomTom’s Navigator software, or much less expensive is Mapopolis and proportionally less “pretty”, however works great for navigation.
August 2005 updates
In the few months I have owned the GPS receiver I have gone on nearly 20 mega road trips (5-10 hours each), so here are a few more insights for you from these recent trips:
• Battery life: pretty darn good! I have easily gone a full 8 hours without recharging on several occasions!
• Typical road trips include some mandatory “bio brakes” and fuel up brakes, typically meaning that we shut down the car, turn off the GPS & PDA for a few minutes and then get back in the car; on a few occasions, a short 10-20 minute break would cause us to have to wait about 10 minutes before we were able to get good satellite signal strength, I would guesstimate that this occurred at least 20% of the time, but no more than 40/50% of the time. On other occasions, the instant I turned the GPS back on I would regain my satellite signal strength.
• I have traveled through crazy/insane mountainous regions, lower Manhattan and mega long stretches of deserted high-ways, and never did I lose a satellite signal once I got it (safe for going through tunnels, of course!). A bit of interesting insight for you into the software I use with the GPS Receiver (TomTom): Now, on those occasions where I lost signal going through tunnels, TomTom seemed to “know” that I was going through a tunnel and would continue to display my forward motion on the screen of my PDA, it did not “pause” at the entrance of the tunnel and then pick up when I re-exited, it simply continued through the tunnel seemingly able to use my last speed indications. This was very interesting I thought.
• I nearly lost the GPS receiver at least 10 times on all these road trips by leaving it on the dashboard, driver & passenger windows opened and cornering a little too hard/fast…the GPS receiver would just go flying each time. My spouse and I have since developed very good reflexes; we can now catch flies without them ever knowing we were there ;-)) What I did notice is that inevitably as the road trips wear on we accumulate more dust in the car, and a lot of it ends up on the dashboard where I like to pluck down the GPS receiver. As the dust piles on, it just seems to provide a better slip surface for the GPS. So, start of the trip = clean car, no problemo, the GPS sticks pretty good with its rubbery pad, and way into the road trip = mundo dust and the GPS flies into the corners of the windshield (on the good days) and out the open windows (on the more “oh %*&$” days)
• I have dropped it on the ground (from waist high, yes, I am a cluts) at least a dozen times and it still works fine, it never broke open, the plastic casing has resisted with minor dents I am very satisfied that this thing is made of solid materials, I just hope the electronics inside will hold up to my abuse, I will report again in a few months
• My overall appreciation for the unit has only gotten better, it is durable, accurate, although sometimes a little slow to TTFF, but I forgive it ;-))
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Tags: bluetooth gps, Casio, Dell, gps unit, handheld gps, Hewlett Packard, Initial, Mapopolis, Microsoft, Navigator, Tomtom
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