i.Trek M5 & Odyssey V4 [Archive] - Thoughts Media Forums

Steve Sharp

12-20-2006, 05:00 PM

<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/16781/itrek.gif" /> Product Category:Utility Manufacturer: <a href="http://www.infogation.com/">Infogation (Software)</a> Where to Buy: <a href="http://www.semsons.com/im5blgpsrewa.html/">Semsons & Co., Inc.</a> Price: $144.99 USD as a bundle. Infogation’s Odyssey V4 navigation software can be purchased separately, price varies depending upon subscription length and coverage area, and the i.Trek M5 GPS receiver can be purchased for $79.99 USD. System Requirements: Pocket PC with Bluetooth capability, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2002 or above, a 166 MHz or greater processor, at least 20 Megabyte of RAM, 32 Megabytes of free memory is recommended, however the software seems to work properly if installed to expansion memory, at least 128 Megabytes of expansion memory is also required for navigation maps. Pros:<li>The small size of the receiver makes it unobtrusive to have in the car;<li>This bundle is far cheaper than purchasing an all-inclusive navigation system;<li>The Odyssey software is easy to set up and use;<li>The i.Trek M5 has a very long battery life;<li>The car mounting cradle and accessories do not require drilling or modifying the vehicle;<li>The Odyssey navigation software covers all of the US and Canada. Cons:<li>No powered cradles are available for many popular models of Pocket PC;<li>The price of the Odyssey software is only for a 1 year subscription;<li>The Odyssey software is memory intensive;<li>Downloading maps to the Pocket PC can be time consuming. Summary: Ads for automobile GPS navigation systems abound on television. If, however, you’ve ventured to a retailer and priced one of these spiffy, turnkey systems, you’re likely to have experienced the same sort of sticker shock that prevents the average person from having such a system, unless they really need it for some particular reason. You can avoid the huge price of buying an entire system by using mapping software and a receiver in conjunction with the Pocket PC that you already own. Read on for the full review!<!> <PAGEBREAK> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/16781/figure%201.gif" /> Figure 1: Odyssey map software offers easy to read, 3D maps. Taking on the Big Boys I’ve long been an admirer of those navigation systems with their snazzy displays that sit on the dash of a car, with their colorful maps, guiding happy motorists to their destinations. If you’ve watched TV for more than two hours in the past year, you’ve certainly seen these ads for GPS systems. The sad truth, however, is that for me and many other people, staring at a starting price of about $400 for a low-end system makes these system cost prohibitive. Smart retailers, such as the folks at Semsons & Co., Inc. who kindly provided me with this bundle of goodies for review, have identified the potential market for a GPS navigation system among Pocket PC users. The idea is simple: Make use of the Pocket PC that people already own in order to significantly reduce the cost of a GPS navigation system. So, the Garmins and TomToms of the GPS world now have some serious competition with these GPS systems that cost less than half the price of many of their systems. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/16781/figure%202.gif" /> Figure 2: Odyssey software is highly configurable and easy to set up. What Do I Get? When opening the box of bundled goodies, I found a GPS receiver, a powered cradle that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car, a USB/mini USB retractable cable for charging the i.Trek from a computer, a flexible arm with a suction cup for mounting to the car on one end, and tabs to hold the cradle on the other end, a smooth plastic disk to provide a suitable surface to attach the suction cup, a power adapter that mates with the cigarette lighter power outlet, and an optional vent mount for the cradle and Pocket PC. Everything was well packaged and fairly self-explanatory; however, an instruction sheet accompanied the accessories. I received the InfoGation Odyssey V4 software separately because it was not originally going to be included in this review. I would, however, like to offer a sincere thank you to Mr. Carlon Tsai at Semsons and Mr. Kent Pu at InfoGation for all their help and professionalism in assisting me with the items needed for this review; it was a pleasure working with them. <PAGEBREAK> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/16781/M5.gif" /> Figure 3: The i.Trek M5 GPS receiver brings big performance to a small package. Let’s Get Going Looking at the i.Trek M5 GPS receiver, there are several features that are obvious. The dimensions of the GPS receiver are 2.75” x 1.86” x .75”, so the receiver is very small. It has only an on/off switch, three LEDs (red for low battery, blue to indicate the status of the Bluetooth connection, and orange to indicate a satellite lock) a jack for an external antenna, and a mini USB jack. The first obvious thing to do with this lap full of stuff was to attempt to pair my O2 XDA II with the i.Trek M5 receiver. Initially, I could not get the XDA II to pair with the receiver. I checked with the GPS receiver and discovered that there seems to be an issue with the receiver’s Bluetooth communicating with the XDA II unless the Bluetooth stack on the XDA II is the most current version v1.18. So, I upgraded the radio stack and got the i.Trek to pair with my XDA II, but I was never able to establish data flow between the devices. In defense of the M5 receiver, I’ve done some investigating, and it seems that the XDA II has some Bluetooth issues with other devices (such as the Jabra Freespeak wireless headset). So, I resorted to using an iPAQ 6315 for this review, and it worked perfectly with the i.Trek M5, however, powered cradles are not available for many iPAQ devices, including the 6315 that I used. I asked a representative from Semsons about this, and he said that the bundles are being targeted primarily for the European market, currently, so there is more support for HTC products and less for HP products. He said, however, that greater support for more models of Pocket PC will be forthcoming. Like many small GPS receivers these days, the i.Trek M5 is Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) enabled and National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) 0183 compliant. The manufacturer of the M5 advertises 30 hours of use and 160 hours of standby on a fully charged battery. I found that I got closer to 25 hours of usage from the receiver before needing to recharge. The receiver has a “sleep mode” that powers the unit off after 5 minutes of inactivity (i.e. no Bluetooth connection). As is true with nearly all GPS receivers, the initial time to get a satellite lock took several minutes, however, it acquired satellites very quickly after the first time. My driveway is 50 feet long, and if I power the unit on in the garage, I generally acquire at least 5 satellites by the time I reach the end of my driveway, and pick up a couple more within a few minutes. Accessing between 5 and 9 satellites seemed to be the norm, but obviously, environmental and topographic factors came into play. Incredibly, even during an electrical storm accompanied by a torrential downpour the M5 maintained a lock on at least 5 satellites. The M5’s ability to acquire and retain a lock on satellites impressed me, as did the refresh speed and accuracy of the receiver’s data. One annoyance that I encountered in using this system (but which was not the fault of the M5 receiver or the Odyssey software) was the fact that the backlight on my Pocket PC kept timing out and turning off which made the maps impossible to see. Duh! So, I wound up having to set my backlight to stay on in order to use this system without having to keep tapping the screen to turn it back on. This isn’t a big deal, except that if you’re going to then take the Pocket PC from the cradle and keep it with you when you arrive at your destination, you’ll need to go back and change the backlight time out period again, lest it remains on perpetually and drain the battery. <PAGEBREAK> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/16781/figure%204.gif" /> Figure 4: Any combination of landmarks or places of interest can be displayed. I Know Where I Am, But Where Am I Going? While having a good GPS receiver is the most important part of a GPS navigation system, the GPS data doesn’t do anything meaningful for the user without easy to read and accurate mapping software. I reviewed the i.Trek M5 with the InfoGation Odyssey V4 street mapping software. The Odyssey V4 software is contained on one DVD and has street level maps for the continental US and Canada. The Odyssey software application requires 4 Megabytes of memory to install the “compressed” version, or 10 megabytes for normal installation. This is pretty intense memory usage, but since it can be installed to expansion memory, it’s not too terribly bad. It is easy to choose a map for download to the Pocket PC using the Map Manager that is included on the DVD. The maps are broken up into approximately 110 megabyte files. So, for example, I could download the map of all the Alabama and Georgia streets in one file, but if I wanted the map of Texas, I’d either choose west Texas or east Texas. To InfoGation’s credit, they were mindful of limiting the size of the maps, but needless to say, the user needs to have at least 128 megabytes of free expansion memory in order to download a map to the Pocket PC. I will acknowledge, right here, that my old iPAQ 6315 has a puny processor and I’m using a plain old SD memory card for expansion memory. I already know that a slow processor + slow storage media means longer transfer times. I must note, however, that it took over 30 minutes to transfer a 110 megabyte map to my storage card. The software installs easily enough, although I had some difficulties with registering the software even though I had a valid registration number. I was told that this problem pertained to the version of software that I received as a review copy, and I was assured that consumers who purchase the software will receive a version that has had this bug fixed. Also, I must also add that I received excellent customer service from Kent at InfoGation, and the matter was quickly resolved. On the up side, the mapping software is easy to set up, it has an intuitive interface for entering beginning and destination street addresses, and the input screens for addresses employ buttons that are large enough to allow the user to enter addresses without using a stylus. The Odyssey software also has different views to suit the user’s preferences, allows the user to choose points of interest, display hotels, restaurants, gas stations, airports, auto service stations, banks/ATMs, and/or bus stations. The user can choose to display any one of these, any combination of these, or all of these entities. The software also allows the user to have the software calculate either the fastest or shortest route to a given destination, or to choose routes that avoid interstates or toll roads. The Odyssey navigation software also has an audio function that gives turn by turn directions. The volume wasn’t very loud, and I had to turn my stereo off completely to hear it, but it’s there and it does work. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/16781/Figure%201a.gif" /> Figure 5: Choose 2D or 3D maps, with more or less detail. Conclusion The i.Trek M5 is a compact, accurate, attractive GPS unit that comes at an affordable price. InfoGation’s Odyssey V4 navigation software combined with the M5 GPS receiver provides functionality that rivals the pricey navigation systems sold by the big time companies that are relentlessly running ads for their products. While this set up is not “cheap” at $144.99, it’s a far cry from the $400 starting price for many of the turnkey systems that are currently on the market. For those who own a Pocket PC with Bluetooth and have the expansion memory to handle the demands of the maps and software, this set up works very well, and provides a cost effective solution to purchasing a turnkey system. Steven Sharp is a senior systems analyst by day and a freelance writer by night. He is a 40-year-old native and lifelong resident of Huntsville, Alabama. He has been freelancing for 18 years and his second book, The Art of Empowered Parenting will be released by Nitro in October of 2007.