Mini-Review – Seidio RBT-2010 Bluetooth GPS, Seido G4500S mount & iGuidance
Mrs. Claus as usual let me pick my present this year and I decided it was time to set up my Axim X50V with GPS.
My previous experience with GPS is with a Magellan SporTrak Pro handheld GPS unit. It is of course meant more for sports than for in-vehicle navigation although it did a reasonably passable job for travelling. But, as we travel more and more in our RV, I wanted something more sophisticated, hence my recent purchase.
After reading through everyone’s comments about the various options, here is what I ended up with:
Seidio RBT-2010 Bluetooth GPS Receiver (w/ cable to power it from the mount)
Seidio G4500S Mount (w/ direct vehicle wiring cable)
iGuidance v2.1.3 (DVD)
All in all I could not be more pleased with the set up. After a couple weeks of goofing around with it, I thought I would post my comments about everything.
Seidio RBT-2010 Bluetooth GPS Receiver
http://www.seidioonline.com
Lawman recently posted an outstanding review of this receiver and you can read it here:
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=109317. I concur with everything he has to say it his comments.
Physically the receiver is quite small and is a cool gloss black color (matches the inside of my truck nicely – haha). There is of course a port to charge it using the included AC adapter as well as an external antenna port. Bright, clear LEDs light up for battery charging, GPS on, and Bluetooth connection.
Performance-wise I have been very pleased with the receiver. Time to receive a GPS lock is comparable to what lawman stated in his review. It seems to be able to lock on in just about any condition, even inside my house as long as a window isn’t too far away. No luck in my office in my basement but there are no windows there so I didn’t expect it would work anyway. The Seido locks on and acquires a position fix much faster and seems to get a better connection to more satellites than my handheld Magellan.
Getting the unit working with my Axim was a breeze and worked as advertised. Accuracy seems to be spot on as you would expect from a unit with the Sirf III chipset. I did discover the speedo in my truck is off by about 2mph (verified with my handheld GPS) so that was a revelation for me.
Battery performance has been nothing short of outstanding. I haven’t timed it but in intermittent usage it has to be in the 20 hour range which is great. Once dead it takes about four hours to achieve a full charge from the included adapter.
The only knocks I have on the unit are minor and agree with what lawman said in his review. First, no documentation at all – seems like something should be included although I had no problem getting everything working without and I know you could download the Royaltek manual of which this is a clone if needed. Second, no auto power off. Not a big deal in light of the tremendous battery life but it would be kind of nice if it turned off by itself after a period of time without a Bluetooth signal.
Seidio G4500S Mount
http://www.seidioonline.com
The G4500S mount is a powered vehicle mount for Axim X50/X51 units. I chose this unit primarily because I was ordering the Seidio GPS at the same time and had heard good things about the Siedio mounts.
Installation of course was simple – just put the few pieces together and stick the suction cup to the windshield. The mount holds the unit very securely. It does take a good nudge to get a good power connection between the mount and the Axim as it is just a hair tight but that is better than having it bouncing out.
Primary means of attaching the unit are via the suction cup but it also includes air vent mounting brackets along with a swivel base allowing for optimal viewing placement. I only use the suction cup but it is very secure. With the gooseneck and the swivel base you can position the unit at whatever angle works best.
Power to the unit is provided via an included cigarette lighter adapter with a nice long coiled cord. Optionally you can get a cable to wire it directly to the vehicle’s electrical system which is what I did.
The mount includes an RJ11 jack for use with a wired GPS and a DC output port than can be used to power a Bluetooth GPS unit. Seido of course sells cables to power most GPS’ from the mount. It is a great option.
There is a built in speaker with volume control and a cable included to run between the Axim headphone jack and the mount. The speaker is loud (too loud if you turn it up all the way – haha) and is perfect for GPS usage. Instructions from iGuidance were loud and clear.
I have only one minor complaint and that is that if you leave the unit suspended with the gooseneck, it does bounce a bit on rough roads. Well, it bounces in my 4WD truck which isn’t the smoothest riding vehicle anyway. I suspect this would probably be a non-issue in a passenger car.
In the end I am very pleased with the Seido mount and it will work great.
iGuidance v2.1.3
http://www.inavcorp.com/
This is my first experience with GPS software other than that which I have for my previously mentioned Magellan handheld unit. Obviously experiencing GPS navigation on my X50V in full VGA color versus a little tiny grayscale handheld unit is on another planet!
I have only used the iGuidance software on trips locally around town so far so my review will be a bit limited. Further, as I say I don’t really have anything to compare my experience to so keep that in mind.
Installation of the software is very straightforward and typical PocketPC fare. Loading of the maps to the PDA is done by using a utility that is installed on the desktop computer. It is simple in operation – click on a state (or states) you want to install maps for. A counter lets you know how much space is required for the maps you have chosen. Select whether you want the maps copied to main memory or an SD card and away you go.
The copy process is pretty slow - 1/2 hour to copy the western half of the US to an SD card in the Axim. Space requirements don’t seem to be out of the ordinary for this type of software – the western ˝ of the U.S. took up just under 500MB on my SD card.
In use the software is simple to use. Destinations can be entered by address, landmark, from a contact record in Pocket Outlook, or a saved favorite. Routing is virtually instantaneous – less than 1 second usually for a short trip with the program installed in BIS and the maps on an SD card. If you deviate from the prescribed route, the program re-routes automatically and again is almost instantaneous.
The map is easy to view at a glance while driving and provides all of the information you need to navigate. The current street you are on is displayed across the bottom with the name of the street / highway for your next course change displayed across the top. The software also automatically switches from a day view (light background) to a night view (dark background) based on the time of day / night.
Directions are clear and easy to understand with a friendly female voice. Announcements of course changes are frequent without being annoying and easy to understand. Routing is accurate and for the most part chooses routes that I would choose myself.
Oh, I should also say that iGuidance is unique amongst PDA GPS software programs in that it also includes a laptop version of the product as well. It seems to function very similar to the PDA version and allows you to navigate via laptop if so desired.
I am please with iGuidance and would highly recommend it.
Conclusion
Hardware-wise I could not be happier with my choice of Seidio products. The BluetoothGPS unit works like a champ. Long battery life and highly sensitive operation are the highlights of it. As lawman mentioned in his review, the price can hardly be beat as well - $114.95 on Seido’s web site at the current time.
The Seidio G4500S mount as well has everything you could want in a powered mount. It securely holds your Axim X50/X51 while providing power to it and your GPS receiver. You can mount it using the included suction cup or the included vent mount in a matter of seconds. The speaker works great for announcements from GPS software.
Also, I do have to throw a plug in here for Seidio’s customer service and specifically David Chang. After reading lawman’s review I had some questions and emailed Dave via Aximsite. He was very fast to respond and answered all of my questions. After I placed my order I realized I had forgotten to order the power cable for between the GPS and the mount and he intercepted the order and took care of it for me. He was quick to answer my questions and solve my problem. Once I placed my order it was processed very quickly and shipped within 24 hours. I was very pleased with Seidio.
As I say, this is my first experience with PDA-based GPS software and I am pleased with iGuidance. It does what I want it to and has more features than you can shake a stick at.
That is about it! Hopefully someone will find this information useful in making their own decision!
Tony
