Shortage of Holux GM270

rjohnmatthew · 06-18-03, 11:27 PM

After countless hours of research ,I finally placed my order for an Axim Performance (which comes today:D ) and a Holux GM270 from Holux UK.
Holux UKs website does not mention anything about the availability of the GM270 and lets you place an order and confirms it.
However after a day I get this email asking if I would be happy with the GM270 U , which Im definitely not.Apparently they have developed a sudden shortage of the GM 270 and would take atleast a week for it to arrive.Not definite on that either.
:mad:
Is there any alternative source from which I could try to get this Holux270
:sad:
Im not particularly eager for the overseas deals as you get charged with an additional VAT + Customs on top of the quoted price.Any ideas on how to avoid this extra expense?

Synth · 06-20-03, 01:46 AM

What is a Holux?

pawhe · 06-20-03, 09:14 AM

Synth -
Holux sell GPS receivers (and GPS packages based on Axims. Now THAT's a smart move.)

rjohnmatthew -
On their website, the products page show a 210, 270 (and others), but doesn't mention any different 270 variants. But if you navigate to the 270 page, the exact model shown appears to be the 270U. So are they really still selling the 'standard' 270? And what's wrong with the U?

P.

rjohnmatthew · 06-21-03, 02:07 PM

The website doesnt say anything about the 270U.However it seems that they are having a supply shortage and so are asking those who ordered whether the are fine with the 270U.

Enclosed the letter from Holux UK
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Many thanks for placing an order with the on-line shop at our website.
We are currently out of stock of the GM270 standard version.
We do have the Ultra version available.
The Ultra is a new product based on the standard GM270.
It is a more sensitive unit able to acquire satellite lock faster and
performs better in built up areas or where there may be a lot of overhead cover.
The trade off with this unit is the up-date time.
When used with TomTom Navigator 2 you may see a "lag" when travelling at speed.
Please could you let us know which GM270 you would prefer.
If you would like to take the GM270 Ultra and find after using it for a couple of days that it is not suitable we will exchange it once we have received our next delivery"
----------------------------------------------------------
Essentially from what I have heard , if you are using the 270U ,for in car navigation, it isnt as good as the 270.Holux seems to confirm it to some extent in their letter.

pawhe · 06-24-03, 05:05 PM

rjohnmatthew - thanks for the info.;

i called holux (this monday 22nd) to ask about the 270 vs 270u issue, and got told that they are no longer shipping the U with TomTom. they were expecting a 270 delivery tuesday. so.... mind made up, and i'm expecting delivery of the 'standard' 270 tomorrow (wednesday)!!! (but not banking on it, of course.....).

interesting that they seem to have made up their mind about the "standard" vs the "u" between last week and this......

be interested to here whether they contacted you to let you know that the new stock was imminent, or whether the above helps you.....

as a matter of interest, were you planning on using tomtom nav2, or something else with the 270?

p.

Rotz · 06-24-03, 05:33 PM

The "U" stands for Ultra. The Holux 270 ultra is a GPS reciever that is more sensitive to signal then the regular Holux 270. It can pick up satilites almost anyware. Its reception is Excelent! The trade off is that it seems to have a slight lag, people say, over the standard Holux 270. Its a 2-3 second lag at times.

If you travel in places where it would be difficult to pick up a signal often you might want to think about the ultra. Otherwise I would say stick to the ultra because it gets Great reception and doesn't have any lag most of the time.

rjohnmatthew · 06-24-03, 06:22 PM

Got a message from Holux UK confirming deliver of the 270 tomorrow ie wednesday 23 June.
Yes Im planning on using the Tom tom 2 with the 270,thats why the problem with the 270u.
Spoke several times last week to the Holux sales team and after much prodding , one of them conceded that the lag at times causes the tom tom to miss out completely on the current position and can send you on the wrong track,ie relying on the info previously sent by the 270u which was not accurate because of the lag.
On the other hand if I wasnt using the tom tom ,I would have definitely gone for the 270u.

rjohnmatthew · 06-24-03, 06:24 PM

Sorry wrong date in previous post.
Its wednesday the 25th and not the 23rd.

mdr · 07-01-03, 06:10 PM

Hi folks,
Have been reading through this thread regarding some of the experiences with Holux-UK and have to say that, in my case, I have nothing but praise for the manner in which they have dealt with me.

I was attracted to them by their very reasonable prices but like some of you folks was curious if they supplied the 'standard' GM-270. I gave them a call and spoke to an extremely helpful and informative fellah who advised that yes they do supply the 'standard' but demand has been high and all they had in stock was the Ultra. I asked about some of the negative press that the Ultra had been receiving about response times etc., and right up front he agreed that they were aware of the problems and were conducting their own trials Ultra v Standard. He said that he was happy to send me out the Ultra and, when the standard models were back in stock, that he would send me one so that I could come to my own conclusion and return whichever one I was not happy with.

I have had the Ultra for nearly two weeks now and, as promised, the 'standard' arrived today. Will come to my own conclusions and report back to the group once complete.

I would like to stress that these folks are completely open and honest and certainly don't have anything to hide. They have been very accommodating and exceptionally helpful in getting me to the correct solution and all at a price that I consider to be very competitive in the UK. TomTom Nav 2, GM-270, external antenna, PDA Mount and Power lead for £250 is pretty damned good me thinks. TTN2 is absolutely brilliant - love it!

Watch this space (no... I do not work for HOLUX-UK) :) Just think they have been perhaps slightly misrepresented. Go on give em a call and discuss your problems.

PsionMan · 07-09-03, 12:13 PM

Well, MDR. How's it going?

mdr · 07-09-03, 05:37 PM

Hi Psionman,

Holux standard has arrived on time as promised by Holux-UK (included a Royal Mail post-it bag with postage paid for return of the Ultra).

Have to say that the standard Holux does indeed appear to be much quicker than the Ultra when on the move and at speed. It does not seem to pick up as many Sats (Ultra always at least 9 and standard hits max of 7). Despite that it does not appear to affect fix and update time. Dunno whats going on with the Ultra mate but seems its sensitivity, certainly at higher speeds, affects its dwell time and consequent delay in TTN2 directions i.e. turn left/right etc is about 5m after the turn above 30mph). No doubt the Ultra is much better for 'slower' GPS stuff (hiking, surveyance work etc) but the standard does seem to be on the nail for fast work (in the car at speed - above 30mph).

Recently did a drive from Lincoln to Wales to visit relatives in a real out in the sticks place and it took me the entire way to within a metre - very, very impressinve - mind you, that was with TTN2 Nav Software (which is simply brilliant). Moving around Manchester/Chester/Wrexham etc was an absolute breeze - ample voice guided warning of which lane to get into on a complex M-way system followed by the same for out of the way rural roads - the nice thing was its declaration of 'you have reached your destination' - I looked up to my brothers veranda where I was greeted with him pointing to a cold beer for yours truly - great piece of kit. To sum it up - Standard Holux for fast car use - Ultra for more sedate stuff. Hope the reply helps.

Cheers,
MDR

PsionMan · 07-10-03, 05:55 AM

I want one! I want one! But my birthday's not until Christmas!

HOLUX-UK Tech · 07-10-03, 07:53 AM

Hi All,

We've been quietly following the posts to this forum with avid interest.

In the past we have had a shortage of standard GM-270's and have been offering customers either a direct replacement or a temporary loan of a GM-270U. We believe in first class customer service and that was our way of giving our customers something rather than nothing - do other companies do this?

We have not put anything on the site to indicate stock levels because of the simple reason that we would spend more time administering that than we would actually fulfilling orders. However, if that is what people really want then we can implement it - just let us know if a "stocking level" indication would help in the decision to purchase or not.

At all times we have explained the difference between the GM-270 and the GM-270U especially when used with TTN2; we have never "needed prodding" and always been upfront about the real ramifications with the 270's. MDR has hit the nail on the head regarding which 270 to use in which application.

For the record: The GM-270U does have a "lag" but is not as bad as some people make out. However, when used with TTN2 and it's built-in dead reckoning algorithms things can go quite badly wrong! For instance if you drive quickly and then stop as fast as possible the GM-270U speed lags behind for a while. TTN2 interprets this literally and keeps you driving straight on. This can be a problem if you've suddenly stopped for traffic lights and needed to turn right (or left) at them whilst the TTN2 and GM-270U combination have you across the other side of the lights! Doh!

Consequently we do not recommend the GM-270U for use with TTN2. We are hoping to put together another bundle marketed toward the "slower" requirements [as MDR puts it. ;-)] based upon the GM-270U - watch the website for more details or subscribe to our newsletter.

As a matter of interest we are not advertising the GM-270U on the website, but we can get them if anyone requires them.

Best regards,

The HOLUX UK Technical Support Team.
Tel: 0870 321 5929 (ext 13)
e-mail: [email]tech@holux-uk.com[/email]
web: [url]www.holux-uk.com[/url]

Holux Navigation Aids ".....Get there."

welshrabbit · 07-15-03, 07:33 AM

Just received aHolux GM-270 from Semsons On eBay for $129.99 + $30 shipping (i.e, about £96), BUT, there was a £13 VAT charge and £13 Customs clearance fee to pay to the postman at this end. Even so, I think that makes it cheaper than if bought in the UK last time I surfed. Of course I have to take the risk that support may not be so readily available.

I should say that I was using TTN2 with a Magellan Sportrack Map GPS which gave terrific results. The "arrow" was right with me and voice instructions provided in good time. My admittedly short experience of the GM-270 (bought to avoid clutter) is that it is rather behind the perf. of the Mag., but nothing like as bad as I read for the 270U.

Best wishes,

WR.

pawhe · 07-15-03, 10:34 AM

Can I first add my praise for Holux UK - great advice, great service. And as this thread appears to have turned into a general Holux discussion.... now to the stupid question<g>:

I have been using the GM-270 (not U) for a few weeks now (TTN2, CityMaps and Fugawi UK - 270 works simply brilliant with all of these). Still working fine. But it's developed a rattle. More annoying than worrying at the moment, but a little concerned that there's something loose in there. Anyone else have this? If Holux-UK are still monitoring this thread - should I be concerned? (Doesn't look like a "user servicable unit"<!>, so can't check out what it is....)

(It hasn't been abused as far as I am aware - only been installed when Axim is in a pocket, or Car Mount, etc!!)

Thanks,

P.

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