By lawman
Reviewer
February 5, 2006

Developer/Vendor: [Holux] (www.buyGPSnow.com)
Price: US$79.95
Rating (out of 5):

Package Contents

In the box are the following contents:

1. Holux GR-213 GPS mouse and PS2 cable (where the PS2 cable was approx. 7-ft. in length).
2. Y-charging cable for GPS and PDA (i.e. get the correct Y-charger cable for your PDA type). The Y-charging cable was approx. 3-ft. in length. Note that there are many different interfaces that are available to suit your needs i.e. PDA, laptop RS232 or USB etc.
3. Tool CD.
4. GR-213 Quick Guide.
5. Warranty Card (not shown).
6. Velcro cable wrap.

Testing Environment

Tested directly with an Axim X50v w/WM2003SE using the Y-charger cable. I'm still waiting for a cable (RJ-11 to PS/2 male cable, picture below on the right) that I ordered for the Seidio G2500 powered mount to arrive and will update this GPS review if the cable arrives and works.

Installation

There was no fuss with the installation. I took it out of the box and plugged the Y-charging cable into my car's cigarette power outlet, and attached the PS2 female end to the PS2 male end of the Y-charger cable. As seen in pictures below. Connected my Dell Axim X50v to the PDA connector and started up the car. Upon powering up the Holux GR-213, the orange LED will be blinking/lit. I get so used to a blue LED from a Bluetooth GPS, that I was just looking at the Holux GR-213 at first for like 5-secs wondering why the color change, then it dawned on me.

GPS Specifications

• Tracks up to 20 satellites.
• Receiver: L1, C/A code
• Max update rate: 1 HZ.
• Antenna Type: Built in Patch Antenna
• Minimum signal tracked: -159dBm
• Dimension: 2.54 x 1.65 x 0.7 Inch
• Dimension: 64.5 x 42 x 17.8 mm
• Weight : < 84g
• Waterproof: IPX7
• LED function:
  • Power On/Off and Navigation
  • Update Indication
• Operating temperature: -40 to +80
• Storage temperature: -45 to +100
• Operating humidity: 5% to 95% No condensing.
• Power consumption: < 80mA at 4.5- 5.5V input

Position Accuracy

• Non DGPS (Differential GPS)
• Position: 5-25 m CEP without SA
• Velocity: 0.1 m/sec, without SA
• Time: 1 usec sync GPS Time

• Position:
  • < 2.2 m, horizontal 95% of time
  • < 5 m, vertical 95% of time

• Reacquisition: 0.1sec.averaged
• Hot start: 1 sec averaged
• Warm start: 38 sec averaged
• Cold start: 42 sec averaged

• NMEA output protocol: V.2.2
• Standard:
  • Baud rate: 4800 bps
  • Data bit: 8
  • Parity: N
  • Stop bit: 1
• Format: GGA,GSA,GSV, RMC.
• Optional:
  • Baud rate: 9600,19200,38400
• Format: GLL,VTG, ZDA, SiRF binary
• Interface: RS232 + CMOS TTL Level, or RS-232 + DGPS

The material of the Holux GR-213 unit itself and the associated cabling was well made. Color is a darkish grey finish. The Y-charger cable is also well made, and has a warning tag to indicates the user to avoid a high temperature environment of over 50 degrees Celsius, else it might be unstable. Well, if you're still in the car at 50 degrees C, you might as well be dead...cause at 30 degrees C, I would already be roasting.

I placed the Holux GR-213 unit in my glove compartment box since the cable was long enough. Using the Holux GR-213 with my GPS mapping programs, I found no issues. The programs I used were both GarminQue+GPSProxy, and OnCourse Navigator 5 to voice-navigate me around town. The Holux GR-213 worked flawlessly with both voice navigation programs, and I did not have any issues with satellite reception downtown. Was as accurate as the in-built GPS car mount receivers.

Additionally, I tested with the other NMEA applications which I have to verify that there were no issues as well. All of the following worked fine;

• Microsoft Street and Trips 2005 for PPC
• Vito Smartmap
• GPS Viewer on PPC
• VisualGPSce
• GPS Dash
• GPS Tuner
• CE Monitor

Closing Words

Excellent product. Very light, and very fast to obtain TTFF. Easy to pack-up to go or setup, and hardly any configuration required as its serial-based and therefore on COM1, and I was able to get going right away. I also wanted to use this with my Dell laptop but I could not get the right adapter easily. The cable adapters need to be able to provide two things: data and power. If your 'off-the-shelf' adapter cable only does one of two required things, its the wrong cable.

Pros:

• Extremely fast and easy to get working. Nothing much to configure.
• Quick to pick up TTFF.
• Very good driver support for all platforms i.e. Linux, Mac, Windows etc.
• GPS cable lengths are good and long.

Cons:

• GPS PS2 cable comes as female.