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Rude Surprise for Laptop Users
First off let me say that I agree with the other Blackberry users regarding this device. It worked great with my Blackberry. When I upgraded phones and no longer needed it for my mobile phone, I decided to use the Holux in conjunction with my laptop... and that's where the disappointment began.

The device is discoverable in Windows XP easily enough but that's about as far as you'll get. It is assigned an incoming and outgoing Com port, but neither seemed to do anything. Even Holux's own software (Minigps) was unable to make heads or tails of the device or its ports. Finally, Holux's technical support is beyond non-existent. As far as I can tell its an email link on their web page straight to a black hole.

If you're looking for a one-shot solution to a mobile phone that doesn't have GPS capability, this device might fill your needs, but frankly with the price of such phones dropping daily, if Holux can't get its act together, this device will find itself ejected from even that niche.

Another great product by holux
NEVER buy another gps device again! well, now that they are in so many phones it's doubtful that many people will have a need to buy a separate one soon, but this works great and has a super long battery life, I've had no trouble with it on various laptops or my windows mobile phone!

Newer doesn't mean it's better
Equipment and software:
- VX6700/PPC6700 PDA phone from Sprint/Verizon
- Dell and Gateway Laptop and mobile custom miniPC
- Holux GPSlim236
- Holux M1200 bluetooth receivers (2 for field works)
- Unrated EDR USB v2 bluetooth receivers
- TomTom 6 Navigator for PocketPC , MS Streets and Trips 2008 for PocketPC and PC.

First Impression:
When you look at the Holux M1200 unit, you would say, "This is making me hungry." It's shaped like a fish stick that your kids get from their cafeteria. One you open the package up, glance through everything included, and you'll say, "Huh?!" You get a receiver, a small CD, and some odd packaging that doesn't give you the wall charger, but you get a PC USB cable for charging. Here's a kicker. If you're buying this for your PocketPC or your phone, I don't think you can siphon the power from your phone to push into the GPS unit. If you have one of those Motorola car charger, that's not enough power to charge the GPS unit, since the unit requires a 1A charge device. You can go down as low as 850mA, but that's pretty much it. It will take you a good 8 hours to fully charge the battery.

Critical elements:
* Use MTK MT3318 chipset, 32 - channel GPS Receiver for fast acquisition and reacquisition, tracking up to 32 satellites. This may be the selling point, but I can tell you that you shouldn't be too thrill with it. Best stick with the SIRF III chipset.

* Built-in WAAS/EGNOS Demodulator. Great for high accuracy in some areas. Comparing to the SIRF III chipset, the MTK MT3318 fails to stand up to the performance and signal receiving. On average, the SIRF III receive a minimum of 8 solid satellites, regardless of where you are (in the middle of the urban jungle with really tall buildings, or in the dense forest). Max is 12 satellites. With the M-1200, you're lucky to get a solid 7 satellites continually, and peak out at 10 satellites, which always tend to disconnect every few minutes. In the same urban or forest environment, the GPSlim 236 kicks the M-1200 out of the arena.

* Compatible with Bluetooth Serial Port Profile (SPP) completely. AMEN! Some GPS units are having major problem pairing up, and functioning properly.

* Support NMEA0183 v2.2 data protocol or SiRF binary code
FLASH based program memory. New software revisions upgradeable through serial interface. Extremely useful to deal with bugs using upgradeable software.

* Provide expand-terminal and can contact to other system without Bluetooth device. Awesome to have if you don't believe in wireless technology. There's a cable that you can buy from Holux to connect your M-1200 to your laptop USB port to have a wired GPS attachment. Just a warning: your USB connection will not charge the GPS unit during usage.

* Update rate: 1 HZ(max). Fast enough to catch up with most biplane, or a few slower jets.

* Minimum signal tracked: -159dBm. Perfect for light densed urban jungle or forest.

Just like the GPSlim236, when you open up the box, and attempt to read the manual, you go, "WHAT THE FREAKING CRAP IS THIS?!" There's no hard copy manual, and the PDF document in the mini-CD only give you 50% of what you need to know, that is, the basic information that you already know just looking at the unit. What a pain. What did I pay $50 for and what have I gotten myself into?! Again...

The functions:
The company may not include all the directions along with the unit, either on the company website nor the manuals, but, the unit works well..not flawlessly..but well enough.

The battery:
15 hours is too high of a claim. If you use it continuously, 8 hours is your limit. If you use on and off, 10 hours will be your limit. If you don't use it at all, you have a standby time of 20 days. After than 20 days, if you want to use it, it will give you about 25 minutes of power before it goes dead. Recharging the unit using a wall charger (1 Amp rated) only takes 2.5 hours for a full charge. Using a car charger (rated on average of 850mA) will take 4.5 to 5 hours. Use the USB cord that Holux provides for you, better be ready to stand around for 6.5 hours (since the USB port only provides 500mA of power).

There's no way to get to the battery if you're planning to replace it. It's built into the unit, and seal tight. This provides the unit some projection if you accidentally drop it in the water..which happens to me.

The unit:
The unit small and slim, very sturdy, and can be lost easily if you don't remember where you last left it. Take a look at your thumb. That's how big it is. I also dropped it a couple of time on purpose about 4 feet high. Still ticking, and works just like when it came right out of the box. Just don't drop it too much. The battery was not meant to be dropped too often, and since you can't replace the battery, it's not a good idea to drop it at all.

The LEDs:
Some people have a problem with the LEDs being way too bright in the dark. The LEDs will cause annoyances. Nevertheless, the LEDs is an essential part of the unit. Rather than placing the unit too close to the visual range.

The satellite sign receptions:
Adequate is best to describe it. Inside a two stories home, I can walk around anywhere, under any interference by radio equipments, and yet, retain a minimum of 2 satellite locks, and average of 4. I can map my entire home using the PDA. Outside in the open, the unit detects up to 12 satellites, but only 9 could be used due to the line-of-sight for the satellites. I used the SIRF III model, and only obtain about 11 satellites, with the unit sits on top of the roof. 3 more is quite significant when it comes to accuracy doing field works. If you're in a building, the chance would be slim to get any signal. Tall trees, forests, parks, buildings, even under the bridge, the signals come through faintly. I'm definitely not dissatisfy with the performance, but expect better for newer models. Rather than placing it on the dashboard where the LED lights may cause some reflective annoyances, just place it away from direct viewing site, such as the door handle groove, the roof sunglass holder, passenger seat, or somewhere near the dash. Don't put it in the glove compartment. The reception will be dropped significantly. The chance of you pickup up additional satellite will be higher if you place it on the dashboard, or better yet, clip it to the sun visor on the passenger side. But all you need is 7 to 8 satellite to have accurate positioning.

The bluetooth:
Nothing short of incredible. Normally, bluetooth signal only good for 20 to 30 feet. I'm actually getting a full blown signal at 40 feet, through 3 walls, and many interferences in between. The bluetooth connects to all the bluetooth ready units without a hitch. From a small phone to the laptops and PCs. Not a problem in broadcasting and receiving information. The bluetooth signal is strong enough to go through bike pack covers, pants, even the roof of the car. 95% signal strength can be observed at any given time. Although the M-1200 connection to any Bluetooth device function properly, there are some few hiccups in this model. When the power is close to run out (which is about 5% of power left), the communication between the GPS unit and the main device will start to have a 5 second delay. If you're using other devices that interfere with the Bluetooth signal, unlike the GPSlim236, such as using the cell to make a call, you get the same delay in GPS signal transfer to the main device. This doesn't happen in the GPSlim236.

Accuracy:
With just 6 satellites, the accuracy is quite amazing. Since I live in California, we have few DGPS earth stations that gives the unit a chance to grab some data to perform accurate calculation, and give a close to perfect coordinates. The unit indicated that it has 5m-15m error rate. From the compared coordinates with our DGPS unit from work, the error rate is only 5-9 feet. Traveling to Arizona from California, although there's no help with the DGPS stations, the accuracy is anywhere between 7 to 12 feet with only 7 satellites. Not as great as the GPSlim236, but good enough to navigate around. If you're using the unit to walk around, you may have signal delay. Unless you have a good solid 8 to 10 satellites fixed, anything less than 8, you will have some lag for some odd reason. If you run about 5mph, you'll get a GPS response, eventhough you only have 5 satellites fixed. I use Pocket Streets and Trips 2008, and Pocket TomTom v6.x. Works quite well. The updates of the positions are good for City-City navigation. You may travel up to 500 feet within a second, and once the refresh reach the end of that second, the position is updated. If you travel 1000 mile per hour, you may not get the updated information quick enough. Traveling at 75 mph, you're in good hand.

If you're in a State that don't have earth station for DGPS correction, the GPSViewer 1.5 software actually have a WAAS/EGNOS option that you can select during equipment testing. This will allows you to have accuracy down to a +/- 12 feet. They say it's 3m, but that only applies if you only have 3 or 4 satellites to obtain the coordinates from. If you have 7 or more, you may achieve down to a +/- 7 feet accuracy.

Overall:
I'm satisfied with this unit. I've been a fan of many GPS units, but Holux takes the cake when it comes to GPS devices. TomTom only knows how to do map. PDA/Laptop can go even further with surfing the net on the go, play games, and do quite a bit of things that TomTom or Garmin could ever hope to do.

Perfect Bluetooth GPS for Blackberry 8830
I don't feel like paying Verizon $10/mth to use the internal GPS of the Blackberry 8830, so I purchased the M-1200. IMO it is $60 well spent!

The device is small, about the size of a disposable lighter. It is easily carried in a pocket or on a keyring. Setup is quick, no problem discovering or pairing the phone and GPS. Performance of the M-1200 is fantastic. It gets a GPS lock very quickly. When placed on the dash it regularly locks onto 9-11 satellites. Two small anti-skid feet keep the little block from sliding around.

The device can be charged via a wall plug, a cig lighter plug or with a common USB-mini cable. Real-world battery life has been 10-12 hours.

Very useful GPS receiver paired with Motorola Q
This is a Bluetooth GPS receiver that works very well with a Motorola Q and Windows Live Search to function as a portable GPS unit. The M-1200 is very small, comes with a rechargable battery, a USB cable to connect to your computer and a car charger with a mini-USB connector (which is the same as my Q charger). It was very easy to setup with clear instructions. The battery life has been excellent, as has the GPS function. Using the M-1200 with my Q and Live Search I can get turn by turn driving directions from anywhere. I don't get a voice telling me to turn, by I do get beeps warning of upcoming turns and the software automatically shows the next turn on the screen. Google Maps also work, but I prefer the Live Search software. $60 for the GPS receiver and free Live Search make for a good alternative to an in vehicle GPS unit. The M-1200 also works with my HP tablet's Bluetooth, but I couldn't get Microsoft MapPoint to work. MapPoint is due for a product refresh though. The M-1200 does not come with any free mapping software, so you need to purchase a product if you want to pair the M-1200 with a notebook or tablet as a portable GPS.