[ANOTHER REVIEW IN THE MEDIA - THOROUGHLY IMPRESSED:
The GPS-626 has a SiRF III chipset, so expectations are of course high. During a recent trip to the fall foliage area in New Hampshire in the eastern USA the GPS-626 had to show what it can deliver.
The GPS-626 however was able to acquire a fix from anywhere in the window seat, and to maintain the fix even in the aisle seat! I was thoroughly impressed. You can even avoid said discussions by hiding the receiver in your shirt pocket.
The receiver lives up to the expectation put on a SiRF III chipset. You can get a fix inside your house, in the glove box or side pocket, under your shirt and in all kinds of different places...
Overall battery life also met expectations. The fine print claims 7.5 hours of operation, I was able to get between 8 and 9 hours. Not bad for such a small battery.
Conclusion
The GPS-626 does deliver the performance that we have come to expect from a SiRF III based receiver.
The receiver can - for example - be purchased for about 140 Euro at the address below - that's a very competitive price for a good SiRF III receiver.
]
pocketgpsworld.com
APOS-TEC GPS-626 SIRF III BT RECEIVER REVIEW
Date 2nd November 2005
Review by Lutz Bendlin
Introduction
APOS-TEC is a relatively new company in Taiwan , but the team there is not new to the game. A number of the APOS-TEC folks come from other Taiwanese GPS companies, namely from a company whose name starts with L.
Anyhow, APOS-TEC asked us to review their new products, and we chose the high end GPS-626 for that.
In case you haven't noticed - our review process now includes all aspects of the GPS hardware, including drop resistance and ability to handle excessive amounts of chewing and drooling.
What's in the box?
the GPS-626 receiver – it comes in metallic looking silver, blue, or red – we tested the red version
a replaceable rechargeable battery – this is relatively small at 900 mAh, however it is of the Nokia style and it should be easy to find a replacement or spare battery – that comes in handy for longer journeys away from mains power
driver and program CD – never even opened it.
the Car charger power supply
the Mains power supply (not shown in the picture)
A closer look at the receiver
The GPS-626 is slightly smaller than a GlobalSat BT-338. The GPS-626 has a pleasant design and the colour selection will appeal not just to the geeks but also to the more fashion conscious population.
One short side shows the power connector as well as an option to connect an external antenna (of the MMCX type).
The power connector is of the now ubiquitous mini USB type. Maybe that's ok for you young folk out there who don't know any different, but for me it's sad to see the trusted old iPAQ style connector (the round plug) disappear.
“Ha! USB !” I hear you say. Does this mean the receiver can be run both with Bluetooth and USB connections to the PDA or PC? Alas, no – unfortunately the USB port is only good to receive power, not for data. That's a pity – but it is in line with the other new receivers on the market – they don't offer that dual connectivity either. Can't be that expensive to add USB connectivity, me thinks.
……
The GPS-626 has a SiRF III chipset, so expectations are of course high. During a recent trip to the fall foliage area in New Hampshire in the eastern USA the GPS-626 had to show what it can deliver. The receiver comes with firmware 3.0.2 , so contrary what it claims on the box the GPS-626 does NOT support SBAS (WAAS/EGNOS) – for that you need firmware version 3.1.1 .
……
With an older receiver you would have to be glued to the window to maintain at least some kind of fix (the aircraft windows are strongly metallised). And you would have to expect long discussions with flight attendants what the term "passive" means.
The GPS-626 however was able to acquire a fix from anywhere in the window seat, and to maintain the fix even in the aisle seat! I was thoroughly impressed. You can even avoid said discussions by hiding the receiver in your shirt pocket.
Next was the overland travel. This was mostly uneventful, with strong fixes around eight or more satellites even through heavy rain (so much for fall foliage watching...). However, on two occasions when powering the receiver back up and immediately starting to move with highway speed the receiver was unable to get a fix. Switching the receiver off and back on did actually help to get the fix, but it still left me with an uneasy feeling
Last up was urban canyon riding the next day. I had a TomTom GO, and a Pocket PC connected to the GPS-626, both running at the same time (you can never have enough gear in the car ...) to take me from the Boston Aquarium to the hotel in downtown.
……
Other than that the receiver lives up to the expectation put on a SiRF III chipset. You can get a fix inside your house, in the glove box or side pocket, under your shirt and in all kinds of different places...
Overall battery life also met expectations. The fine print claims 7.5 hours of operation, I was able to get between 8 and 9 hours. Not bad for such a small battery.
Conclusion
The GPS-626 does deliver the performance that we have come to expect from a SiRF III based receiver. It prefers to get a fix while stationary, but will hold on to the fix very strongly even in adverse conditions. The receiver has the added bonus to be permanently installable in car (thanks to the physical power switch). The battery can be sourced easily (being a standard Nokia battery).
……
The receiver can - for example - be purchased for about 140 Euro at the address below - that's a very competitive price for a good SiRF III receiver.
References
Suppliers Website apos-tec.com
Pocket GPS Contributor Lutz Bendlin |
