Kevin Remhof
01-26-2005, 06:05 PM
<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-0.jpg" /><br /><br /><b>Product Category:</b> Hardware, GPS Receivers<br /><b>Manufacturer:</b> <a href="http://delorme.com/">DeLorme</a><br /><b>Where to Buy:</b> <a href="http://www.delorme.com/earthmate/bluetooth.asp">Direct from DeLorme</a><br /><b>Price:</b> $319.95 USD as reviewed. Other options available.<br /><b>System Requirements:</b> Bluetooth-capable PDA, cables available for other PDAs and laptops. See site for <a href="http://www.delorme.com/support/gps/btpp002.asp">details</a>.<br /><br /><b>Pros:</b><li>Plenty of power options;<br /><li>Wireless or wired operation.<b>Cons:</b><li>Desktop software confusing;<br /><li>Transferring data to handheld is difficult.<br /><b>Summary:</b><br />DeLorme's Bluetooth Wireless Earthmate GPS PowerPack gives you plenty of power options to keep you on the right trail or road. The software is weak but the hardware is excellent.<br /><br />Read on for the full review!<!><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>GPS Refresher</b></span><br />Let's take a moment to review the highlights of GPS. GPS stands for the Global Positioning System. It consists of 24 satellites put into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. The system was designed to provide navigation data to military systems worldwide. In the 1980s, the system was opened up to civilian use. Since then, GPS has made its way into PDAs, cell phones, and vehicles. GPS receivers allow users to find out where they are anywhere in the world. All they need is a clear view of the sky and a few minutes to find the satellites.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-1.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 1: GPS satellites circling the earth.</i><br /><br />Currently, there are two main types of GPS receivers for Pocket PCs. The first type use cables to connect a receiver to your Pocket PC. The problem with this method is that you need a specialized cable for your PDA. Also, not all PDAs can work with these serial GPS cables. The second type uses Bluetooth to wirelessly connect a PDA to a Bluetooth GPS receiver. The disadvantage is that you need to have a Bluetooth-capable PDA. The Bluetooth Wireless Earthmate GPS PowerPack lets you choose how you connect your devices together. <br /><br /><span><b>The Unit</b></span><br />The basic DeLorme Earthmate GPS Receiver has been around for quite some time. It's a small puck-like GPS which can be used directly with a laptop with a USB cable. For PDAs, DeLorme has two different PowerPacks that you can use to power the Earthmate GPS: the standard PowerPack and the Bluetooth Wireless PowerPack. For my review, I checked out the Bluetooth Wireless Earthmate GPS PowerPack for Laptops and Handhelds. With this, you get the following:<li>Earthmate GPS Receiver;<br /><li>Bluetooth PDA PowerPack;<br /><li>Li-Ion rechargeable battery;<br /><li>A/C adapter;<br /><li>12-volt car adapter;<br /><li>USB cable (for connecting Earthmate GPS to a laptop);<br /><li>Street Atlas USA 2004 Handheld edition;<br /><li>Belt clip for Bluetooth PDA PowerPack.<br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-2.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 2: Earthmate GPS Receiver and accessories.</i><br /><br />The Earthmate GPS Receiver is the heart of this system. To use it with a laptop, just plug in the USB cable. The receiver draws power from the laptop so the PowerPack is not needed. You also get to use the full desktop version of Street Atlas to navigate and track your progress. To use the Earthmate GPS Receiver with the Bluetooth PDA PowerPack, all you have to do is slide the receiver into the PowerPack's cradle. You can then connect the PowerPack to your PDA via a serial cable or wirelessly via Bluetooth.<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Power Options</b></span><br />The best thing about this GPS receiver is that you can choose how to power it based on your needs. If you're in the car, use the 12-volt car adapter. If you're using a laptop, try a serial or USB cable. Out in the field, use the Li-ion battery pack.<li>Li-ion battery pack (1200 mAh);<br /><li>AAA batteries (4);<br /><li>A/C adapter (also used to charged Li-ion batteries);<br /><li>12-volt car adapter;<br /><li>Laptop USB cable;<br /><li>Laptop serial cable.<br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-3.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 3: Power options. Battery pack and cords.</i><br /><br />I was thrilled to see so many different options available for power. I did not feel limited or constrained by these as I have with other devices. While on A/C, 12-volt, and laptop power, the PowerPack gave all the power needed to keep a strong signal. With the Li-ion battery pack, I was able to get about 7 hours of continuous Bluetooth use out of the PowerPack.<br /><br /><span><b>Bluetooth, getting connected</b></span><br />Connecting to the PowerPack via Bluetooth is pretty straight-forward. DeLorme gives you the step-by-step <a href="http://delorme.com/support/gps/uemate013.asp?D=470&Q=d&K=&P=57116&C=17">directions</a> on their site. Here's a quick overview.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-4.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 4a: Browsing for the PowerPack.</i><br /><br />First, use the Bluetooth Manager to discover the PowerPack.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-5.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 4b: Choose a service (easy one).</i><br /><br />Next, pick the service (the only one available) to use.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-6.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 4c: Handy shortcut to the GPS receiver.</i><br /><br />Lastly, you create a shortcut to the receiver. The actual navigation is handled via the Pocket PC version of Street Atlas. This is when things start to get confusing. Connecting to the receiver via the Bluetooth PowerPack is simple. Just go into Street Atlas and connect to the PowerPack. I did find the app to be a little sensitive when connecting to the receiver. Sometimes, I just connected and I was ready to navigate. Other times, I had to go to the Bluetooth Manager before running Street Atlas and connecting via the Manager. These seem more like issues with my iPaq's Bluetooth implementation than with the Earthmate PowerPack.<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Desktop software</b></span><br />The desktop software, Street Atlas 2004 Handheld allows you to create maps and routes to transfer to your Pocket PC. Unfortunately, that is harder than it sounds. Normally, when I need to figure out how to go somewhere, I bring up a browser and go to <a href="http://www.mapquest.com/">MapQuest</a>, <a href="http://www.mapblast.com">MSN Maps</a>, or <a href="http://maps.yahoo.com/">Yahoo! Maps</a>. These sites are great but are not very full featured. That's why I had such hopes for Street Atlas 2004 Handheld.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-7full.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-7.jpg" /></a><br /><i>Figure 5: The main screen of Street Atlas 2004 Handheld. Click for a larger version (207 KB).</i><br /><br />The maps are definitely the best feature of the desktop software. They are very detailed right down to the street level. Zooming in all the way will show you restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and other businesses. Zoom all the way out and you'll see all of North America on your screen. The version I reviewed includes only major Canadian highways.<br /><br />The first thing to do in Street Atlas is to create a route for your trip. Just type in your start and end locations and click "Calculate", right? Sort of... this works great if you use the correct format for your addresses. If you don't, Street Atlas rejects your input and clears the Start and Finish points. The correct formats are "street address, city, state" or "street address, zip code". These formats aren't unusual, just a bit confusing. I would much rather see a form with clearly marked street, city, state, and zip fields for you to fill out. That would eliminate the guesswork. You can also click on the map to set a starting or ending point but that can be imprecise.<br /><br />After you have created a route, it's time to transfer the map to your Pocket PC. You can choose from two different Data Export Levels: 10-0 and 12-0. 10-0 gives you street details but is not routable. In other words, you won't be able to create routes on your Pocket PC. 12-0 is more detailed and is routable. To transfer a map, you must first create a map. Pick your Data Export Level and start selecting areas of the map to include. I created a route between Chicago and Washington, D.C. At export level 10-0, I had to choose approximately 60 different rectangles from the map to get the entire route. At 12-0, it took 300 rectangles. There is no way to automate this (that I could find). You need to zoom the map to a point where you see a grid on the screen. Then, click away. Sixty clicks seemed excessive. Three hundred was ridiculous.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-9.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 6: Building a map, one square at a time.</i><br /><br />After selecting your map areas, it's finally time to transfer the map, right? Wrong. After selecting, you have to save the map. You do get a progress bar so it's easy to see the status. But this process is painfully slow. Be sure to grab a cup of coffee while Street Atlas creates your map. Finally, you can transfer that map to your Pocket PC. The app has a built-in feature which does this for you. It's a bit confusing but it works fine. The files created when you build a map can be quite large. Make sure you have plenty of room in main memory or you won't be able to transfer. My export level 10-0 map was 6.7 MB. The 12-0 map was 16.5 MB. Big but not too bad as long as you have a storage card..<br /><br />To save some time, I found that it was much easier to just save the maps and ignore the Exchange functionality in Street Atlas. All maps and routes are saved in a common directory on your PC. If you just save instead of Exchange, you can copy the files to your Pocket PC by hand. I used a USB card reader to transfer files directly to a SD card. This was much faster. The transfer speed really has nothing to do with Street Atlas though. It's dependent on the transfer speed between your PC and Pocket PC.<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Handheld software</b></span><br />The handheld version of Street Atlas is better than the desktop version. But it also has fewer features. The handheld version's main purpose is navigation. Once you've set up the Bluetooth connection, using the GPS receiver is very simple. Just connect to it and let Street Atlas do the heavy lifting. It takes a few minutes to acquire a signal depending on your view of the sky. The Earthmate GPS receiver worked great for me. I put it next to my Garmin eTrex on my dashboard. Both found the same satellites and had similar accuracy indoors and outdoors.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-10.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 7: Tracking satellites. I was indoors so it I wasn't getting a signal.</i><br /><br />Once the signal is acquired, Street Atlas shows your current location with a blinking circle. When in motion, the circle turns into an arrow. Driving around town with this was great. Step on the gas and the software showed me exactly where I was. The accuracy was very good even on tree lined streets.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-11.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 8: Mapping on the road. I only downloaded the major roads so you can see some blank space.</i><br /><br />With the handheld software, you can quickly zoom in and out using the up and down navigation on your Pocket PC. If you zoom in too far, you'll just get a black screen. Zoom out and you'll get your map back. You can check out restaurants, hotels, and services on your Pocket PC. This is very handy when travelling. The software also allows you to calculate distances between points and create new routes.<br /><br />Creating a route on the Pocket PC is not easy. First of all, you can't just click the "tell me how to get to point X from where I am right now". That's the magic feature I kept looking for. That is the biggest glaring omission from the handheld software. You can only create routes by clicking on the map to choose a starting point or by input addresses.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/remhof-jan05-delorme-12.gif" /><br /><i>Figure 9: En route to Wheeling, WV.</i><br /><br />While driving (or walking/jogging/hiking), the on-screen map will scroll automatically. You can even choose to have it orient with "up" as the direction you are going. Like with the desktop version, the maps are the best part of the software. The handheld version also can keep a log of where you have been. You can then save that "track" for later. But you can't use that track to find your way back home. That feature is not part of the software.<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Field trials</b></span><br />My family and I took a trip to Pittsburgh earlier this year and pitted the Earthmate GPS receiver against our <a href="http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexLegend/">Garmin eTrex Legend</a>. Both kept us on the road and gave nearly identical readings along the way. When the battery started to go on my iPaq, we noticed the fatal flaw of Pocket PCs and Bluetooth GPS receivers: batteries are the bottleneck. The battery life of the Bluetooth PowerPack was excellent. We charged it up in the morning and it ran all day. The iPaq stayed on and plugged into the 12-volt car adapter the most of the trip. This defeated the whole wireless advantage of Bluetooth. On our way home, the Earthmate GPS and Pocket PC stayed in the trunk. The eTrex stayed on the dashboard guiding us back home.<br /><br />I also tried <a href="http://www.geocaching.com">Geocaching</a> with the Earthmate GPS and Bluetooth PowerPack. The included software is not ideal for Geocaching. It doesn't have a compass/navigation mode like most handheld GPS receivers do. This is not a criticism of the software. A program called Street Atlas is probably not the best choice for hiking in the woods. I was able to find a cache or two using the longitude and latitude readouts of Street Atlas. It took a little work but that was actually just part of the fun. My real gripe with this unit for Geocaching was that I couldn't figure out how to hold both the PowerPack and my iPaq at the same time. It just didn't feel right.<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusions</b></span><br />The DeLorme Bluetooth Wireless Earthmate GPS PowerPack gives you plenty of options for powering and connecting a GPS receiver to your Pocket PC or laptop. The hardware is excellent but the software leaves much to be desired. Street Atlas 2004 Handheld for both the desktop and Pocket PC is difficult to use and not very intuitive. If you're looking at adding GPS to your Pocket PC, this device is worth a look. But in my opinion, the software is software is not up to par with the hardware.