Which bluetooth receiver is best for reception and battery life?

texasdiver · 09-28-06, 03:49 PM

Hi guys:

Looking for a new bluetooth GPS receiver. This one will mostly be used for hiking and biking and navigating cities by foot because I already have a Seidio powered GPS mount for the car.

I also have a Haicom 303III CF card receiver and was just going to get the GPS slipper that Haicom makes for their GPS CF card receivers but they are out of stock at both sempsons and buygpsnow and since it's not really that much more to just get a whole new receiver instead of the slipper I'm thinking of going that route.

What I mainly want to do is carry the bluetooth antenna in a pocket or seat bag on my bike with the Axim X51 on a handlebar mount or alternatively slipped into the map pocket of a handlebar bike bag so it is protected from the weather. I could just use the Haicom CF card antenna but that will burn through the Axim's battery and won't let me use it while slipped into the map pocket of the handlebar pack.

Any suggestions?

I'm looking at the following receivers:

OnCourse SiRF Star III
i-Blue PS-3200
Holux GPSslim 240
Globalsat BT-338

But there are so many choices out there. I just want a tough reliable unit with decent battery life that has the best reception through pockets, packs, that sort fo thing.

Thanks for any recommendations!

09-28-06, 03:58 PM

I use the Bt338. It seems to work for about 5+ hours and it definately is rugged. works great stuck in a pocket or a bag or in my case, it usually is in the console of the car and not in the windshield. I have gotten a good lock in the basement of my house with it.

solara · 09-28-06, 04:17 PM

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/t...TOPIC_ID=67511

JakeRich · 09-28-06, 08:28 PM

For battery life the i-blue is pretty spectacular. Also, if you are going where the the unit can see sunlight (or at least daylight), then the SolarGPS units may be handy.

athlonduke · 09-29-06, 08:37 AM

i have yet to run dry on my iblue, and i've done all day geocaching runs

sc540i · 09-29-06, 01:10 PM

Why Globalsat 359W is not on your list when you have Holux GPSslim 240?
359 has the feature of small size comparable to 240 with better reception and battery life! Plus the battery is replaceable.

I tried them both. Both are very small. GT 359 is thinner and it has auto power off feature when no bluetooth connection exists after 15 mins. Holux 240 need to turn it off manually. It went out of power on me few times without notice.

EvoFreak · 10-02-06, 09:34 AM

+1 on iBlue

ryuu55 · 10-02-06, 01:15 PM

Globalsat BT-338 ^_^

janstey · 10-02-06, 01:22 PM

My i_Trek M5 BT reciever goes 30 hrs on a single charge. I alway wonder why I never see more people talking about this device. Very affordable and works great.

texasdiver · 10-02-06, 01:23 PM

Thanks for the advice guys. Just ordered the iBlue for $64 from buygpsnow using their 15% discount code. That's only $5 more than the bluetooth slipper cost that I had originally intended to buy.

The BT-359W looks like the slickest unit out there right now but they aren't discounting it so it would be $109 and I can't justfiy paying an extra $45 for what will be my 5th GPS.

Now i need to work on mounting solutions to put the Axim on my mountain bike. I'm contemplating taking the swivel plate from the Arkon vent mount and just zip-tying it to the stem of my handlbars with a piece of foam cut to the countour shape of the stem to provide a bit of cushion and to make it more secure and tight.

Alternatively I'm contemplating putting the Axim inside the map case of a handlebar bag. I'd probably have to do this in landscape format. I really don't want to use the GPS as a running computer for speed and direction. Just as a reference map if I'm getting lost or want to know how far I have to go. So I might just leave it in a handlebar bag and only pull it out when I need to reference a map.

10-04-06, 07:12 PM

There is the Seidio RBT-2010 (based on RoyalTek 2010) and its battery lasts 17+ hours. Sensitivity is the highest I've ever seen so far. Check out gpspassion for BT GPS comparison.

jaimelobo · 10-04-06, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Thanks for the advice guys. Just ordered the iBlue for $64 from buygpsnow using their 15% discount code. That's only $5 more than the bluetooth slipper cost that I had originally intended to buy.

The BT-359W looks like the slickest unit out there right now but they aren't discounting it so it would be $109 and I can't justfiy paying an extra $45 for what will be my 5th GPS.

The OnCourse version is $85 at buygpsnow (with the 15% discount). It was a little over $100 until Sunday with a 2gig SD card, but that deal is gone, I ordered one day late

AximTT · 10-05-06, 05:05 PM

If you can wait, you might want to check out the new iBlue 737. Gpspassion has reviewsed a pre-production unit, and it seems pretty impressive.

iBlue 737 has the same or even better sensitivity than BT-359 but more accurate. Also, it has the auto on/off feature and long battery life from the original iBlue. According to gpspassion, iBlue 737 should be available soon.