i-Blue BT GPS "wakes up" on Bluetooth

[ClieTT]

Anybody has experience with iBlue BT GPS? Just pre-order this unit on Semsons website for $94.99.

http://www.semsons.com/ibhiseaublgp.html

According to gpspassion, the performance is slightly worse than GlobalSat BT-338. But the wake on Bluetooth feature and 30 hours of battery life seems to be very useful. I am willing to trade in some performance for convenience.

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=43462

[ClieTT]

Just received the unit on Friday. Review originally posted on Aximsite.

Introduction:

I first find out about i-Blue through a review article on www.gpspassion.com (http://www.gpspassion.com) which has done an excellent review (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=43462) with lots of technical details and actual track records. In this review, I will not go into too many technical details. Instead I will be sharing my experience based on a user's point of view.

I pre-ordered i-Blue through Semsons (http://www.semsons.com/ibhiseaublgp.html) earlier this week. Although the website initially said delivery will start on 12-28, I was surprised to see the tracking number the next day and have the unit on my hand in two days. That is 5 days earlier than the promised delivery date, just in time for Christmas.

Specifications:

Technology: 16 ch. all in view tracking, Nemerix V3.7 chipset
Sensitivity: -152dBm
TTFF (Hot/Warm/Cold): 5/34/46 sec.
Battery life: 30 hrs operating time and 360 hours standby time

Package contents:

i-Blue, AC USB adapter, DC USB adapter, Mini USB to USB retractable cable, CD, user manual, and anti-skip pad are included in the box.

When I first opened the box, it felt like opening a jewelry case. i-Blue is held securely in a molded plastic with velvet surface. I am impressed by the design of the packaging. The included 3 piece charging solution is a nice touch. If you are traveling with a laptop, then i-Blue can be charged by using USB port on the laptop instead of carrying extra chargers.

A printed user manual is also a nice touch. Nowadays, many manufacturers do not even include a printed user manual but only electronic format is included on the CD. However, the i-Blue user manual only shows instructions for WM2003SE. Laptop, WM5, and Palm setup instructions are not included.

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/6859/iblue7ut.jpg

Size and appearance:

The size of i-Blue is similar to GlobalSat BT-338. There are three large LED on the front indicating GPS, Bluetooth, and Battery. The blue Bluetooth LED shows BT connection status and sleep mode. The orange GPS LED shows solid when searching for satellite and blinks when it has a fix. The battery LED shows red when battery is low, green when it is charging, and off when battery is full.

The power switch is a slider switch located on the side and external antenna jack is also available. Overall, the build quality feels very solid. When I squeeze on the unit, I detect no creaking, flexing, or rattling. Unfortunately, there is no anti-skip feet on the bottom like BT-338. Although i-Blue includes an anti-skip pad, I prefer the built-in anti-skip feet of BT-338.

There is a notch on the back of i-Blue for lanyard, a nice touch, but I probably will never wear a GPS as necklace…it is like telling the world I am the ultimate geek on the planet! :-p A pouch (BT-338) to wear on the belt will be a better idea.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7968/3389jb.jpg

GPS performance, operation, and compatibility:

I have tested i-Blue using Dell Axim X50v upgraded WM5, Zodiac 1 running the latest Rom patch, and Fujistu laptop running Windows 2000.

The following software were tested and they are all compatible

Pocket PC - iGuidance V2.1.3, OCN5, Pocket Street
Palm - TomTom4, Mapopolis trial version
PC - iGuidance V2.1.3, Street and Trips 2005

Connecting i-Blue is a standard fare, not much surprise here. The passkey is the universal "0000". What makes i-Blue unique is the Auto On/Off mode. When you take a paired device away from i-Blue, i-Blue will go into sleep mode automatically (blue LED blinking). As soon as you bring the device back, i-Blue will wake and orange GPS light will turn on. Some may wonder if i-Blue will wake up by any Bluetooth device. The answer is "No". Only paired Bluetooth device can trigger i-Blue to wake up from sleep mode. This makes using GPS a much more pleasant process. Whenever you are inside the car, just turn on the PDA and i-Blue will turn on automatically. No more looking for GPS to turn on the power switch.

Testing battery life is a pain because the battery life is so long. I am not even going to bother testing the standby mode which is 360 hours based on the manufacturer's spec. However, I did test the operating time by placing my Dell Axim X50v to the cradle and running iGuidance on the background. The test result is 29.5 hours. Since the battery is brand new, it may take few power cycles before the battery can reach full capacity.

The GPS performance for i-Blue is quite good. It was able to get a fix inside my house and also inside the glove compartment in my car. TTFF does take a bit longer than BT-338 under the same condition, probably about 5 ~ 10 sec longer on average. However, once it has a fix, it does not loose track even in difficult situations such as underneath a bridge. As far as accuracy concerns, I did not notice any difference when compared to BT-338 although BT-338 is WAAS enabled. Perhaps it is because all the software has 「snap to the road」 technology, which automatically corrects the position. The picture below shows number of valid satellites inside my room from both receiver. i-Blue had five and BT-338 had seven but both had solid fix.

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2301/compare5rt.jpg

Conclusion:

Pros:
long battery life
Convenient Auto On/Off mode
Removable battery
3 piece design home and car chargers
Excellent package

Cons:
TTFF a bit slower than SiRF III based unit
No anti-skip feet

I strongly recommend i-Blue to any GPS user. Auto On/Off is such an amazing technology. It makes using GPS a much easier and enjoyable process. Just 「fire and go」 and never worry about forgetting to turn off the unit. 30 hours of battery life just can't be beat. BT-338 was my formerly favorite BT GPS receiver with amazing performance. However, I am willing to trade in some sensitivity over convenience and i-Blue dethrones BT-338 as the GPS of my choice.

[james4513]

I read in another review (http://www.aximsite.com/articles/link.php?id=319) that there was a problem with iGuidance - that it required pairing each time.

Did you find that the automatic pairing worked with iGuidance?

[sooby77]

I use the i-Blue with my 9100 and it require no re-pairing each time with iGuidance.