Database Info

Holux GR 230 Bluetooth GPS on XDA2

I have just been following all the developments with the Bluetoth Stack Problems etc, after actually I had Ordered the Holux BT GPS Receiver.
I am still awaiting delivery, but after reading the last thread under GPS/Bluetooth got a bot dissappointed as a lot of people seem to have problems with the Reception.
I actually did some research before ordering and the reviews were promising. So in real life, what are the problems with the actual GPS itsself and how is the reception?
Even though I haven't tried Towas BT Fix, but I must congratulate as it seems very impressive the job he has done. I have downloaded all is required in terms of software fixes.
Please share your experiences with the Holux BT GPS and if anyone likes to do a preview perhaps?

I've already posted my comments in another thread but to summarise - it doesn't work ver well at all. I've used a Navman/iPaq combo - worked quite well, a Nokia LAM1/9210 - worked surprisingly well too, then a CF GPS in an Axim - worked extremely well, then this Holux device with an XDA II - the worst so far, by far. I'm assuming that the problem isn't with the XDA II as it uses a 400 mhz xScale 263 cpu which should be more than sufficient. I had read that these things would pick up a decent signal from within a rucksack or pocket, and indoors from a few feet from a window, but not in my case.
I can't wait to see what other peoples experiences are.
Ged.

How did you get the holux to work with xda2, I am having no luck with it.

I just installed towas patch, when I chose the holux it allowed me to assign a serial port "com4 chosen" this then appeared under gps in tomtom, works great and the headset works at same time, it did prevent me synching via bluetooth which was working fine before, but that is no hardship as I am unlikely to be synching by bluetooth while running tomtom.
P.s. I tried changing com ports for the gps but it didnt help so I removed my bluetooth desktop pc bluetooth profile, went to settings/bluetooth, told it to sync by bluetooth, it searched for and found my pc bluetooth dongle, when I click finish Towas patch pops up, I selected activesync and it now all works, the guys a genius with programming.

Got my Holux working too
Even though I was very nervous about the Holux, it has proved for me working very well, but it did take a bit to get things working.
At first, I removed all bluetooth devices, then installed Towas' Patch and then added the BT Devices (Holux + HBH-65). The HBH-65 worked well all the time, but once I loaded the Holux supplied software GPSviewer, it kept crashing and froze or it automatically kept rebooting. Tried all different ports but no success.
Finally, I had to Hard-Reset the XDA2 and then first install Towas's BT Patch before pairing any devices or installing any applications. Then I tried some third party software and finally Mapopolis and saw it working perfectly (COM 5, 9600). For some reason, GPSviewer is not compatible with either the XDA2 or Towas's Patch at any setting.
The Positioning is very good and usually have 8 sats locked out of 10 visible. I saw the device to be very accurate, perhaps to about 1-2 metres on Mapopolis. I even get around 3-4 Sats locked when I am indoors (thats either on the top floor or near a window. First time to fix is always around 30secs and hotstart seems immediate to me. The only matter which has got to me was that while driving, the positioning seemed to be lagging behind and Mapopolis came up with streets which just passed. I am also quite pissed off with the male voice of mapopolis as it sounds awful. I have now ordered TomTom V.2 and will keep u guys posted how that goes.
PS: The BT Handset works well at the same time as the GPS, but still missing the Handsfree BT Profile.
Anyone any update about O2 (UK) ROM Update?

I found no lag with Tomtom2, it was on the button and extremely accurate, does anybody know if the battery can be swapped out of this unit in the event of a failure once warrany is out?

I would think so. I took mine apart to see what was inside and it's very similar to one that you'd find in a cordless phone. Nothing special really and there are lots of companies out there that supply custom or specialist batteries.

Analyst said:
I have just been following all the developments with the Bluetoth Stack Problems etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i take it ur talking about the prolems "when you change the baud rate on the GR-230, it would lose communication via Bluetooth"?
if so the review on pocketgps.co.uk for the unit is quite good. its available @
http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/holuxgr230.php
but it explains that its a firmware prob with units shipped B4 Dec 03, which can B fixed.
Hope this helps. ive just ordered 1 myself, £95 off ebay, will do nicely if it works, i shall let ya'll know.
Smiley

XDA2 TomTom

Hi....new user
Just got XDA2 set in post as a company phone...great.
Acouple of things:
Can I use TomTom3 via the Bluetooth link...Ive been told its "iffY"?
Im using a Motorola BT car kit at the moment, will the XDA pair with it. Reason I ask is that my brother is a SKY engineer and they all have the above but they refuse to pair automatically.
Finally, is there a cradle especially for the XDA2 with a wired charger?
Ta
Graham

Hello Graham
I'm a newbie myself but trying to learn fast, I don't think the xda will pair-up with the motorola. Have a look at this website, I think its a great website they really help me when I first had my xda. The address is www.eXpansys.com. You will fine everything you need for your xda II
Thx
M8.

As long as you're XDAII is running the v1.60 ROM or later it'll work fine with a BT GPS. If it's running an older ROM you can d/l the update from www.my-xda.com and flash it to improve the BT Stack.
The best cradle IMHO is the Carcomm CDAII Cradle, see here. They're available in the UK from TotalPDA.

TT3 and XDA2 work faultlessley for me

Xda II & gps kit
can someone reccommend some mapping software which offers some decent & relatively detailed coverage of Northern Ireland.
Nothing I have looked at so far, inc "pocket streets" has even A class roads included outside Belfast city centre.
not a lot of use to me and many other people like me.
Thats what is holding my gps purchase back. well that and finding a good reason to justify my buying one.

TOMTOM works fine for me too. The only problem is that it doesnt show the names of the streets you are driving past. A car navigatin system does do that.

tomtom bluetooth
I've had my xdaII and tomtom 3 with Blue tooth reciever for 6months.. NO problems. works fine.

TomTom & GPS
Just thought I would add my thoughts as I have been a user of GPS and PDA's for sometime now.
I currently use a Garmin Etrex Vista connected via a cable to an Ipaq (This will be changing to my new XDA2 as soon as the lead arrives).
I have no real problems using Tom Tom software (but it does require a soft reset occasionally). You can view streetnames whilst driving if you go to the map view (not the navigator view).
This setup option is the most expensive using a PDA but gives the most versatility if you want to use your GPS to do other activities using the equipment ie boating, biking, or walking, when talking the PDA may not be suitable.
Consider the kits available on Ebay for around £125 that include a suction mount (vent mounts break your car) the power and connection cable and the software.
I also use Memory Map Navigator which is very detailed Mapping Software using Ordnance Survey Maps. The software is expensive, but if you really do have a use for it (or just love digital maps) it is very good.

E-Ten G500 What do you think

Okay I THINK this isn't an HTC device but I wanted to know if anyone has looked into it.
I really like the built-in GPRS and Bluetooth 2.0
I do know that it doesn't have WIFI but on my PDA2K I don't really even use the wifi so it's not a big loss for me.
I also wanted to know if anyone knew of a website like this for that device, I really like the way people help here and would hate to not have a place to go like this if I did buy the G500.
Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated
http://www.etencorp.com/products/Communication/G500.php

I just bought 50, for a specific purpose, but first impressions are:
rugged
stable
small
but
average battery life using GPS
no sodding instruction manual
FM radio promised but not yet released
No Keyboard
No WiFi
i haven't tried to install any GPS software yet, but i can confirm the hardware works virtually underwater, as we use it to track drivers as well as mobile data.
We're paying £272 plus VAT, and for our purposes it's great - which doesn't involve wifi or keyboard....
if the battery life was better i'd be buying 100 more

I'd suggest also thinking about the Mio A701.
I think it does everything the G500 does but is smaller. I went for it over the G500 mainly because of it's size. And also because it takes full size SD cards

Hi mach1!
There is a forum for ETEN owners:
http://www.eten-users.net
One thing you should consider is that this device uses mini-sd so there is no SDIO support, thus no way to add WiFi if you decide you need it.
Also no EDGE, HSCSD or 3G so forget about dissent internet access.
Any way, you should check out http://www.gsmarena.com. They got info on phones (PDA / Smartphones) from all leading companies including ETEN, all arranged nicely with full specs and user ratings and comments.
No prices though...

flicka said:
I'd suggest also thinking about the Mio A701.
I think it does everything the G500 does but is smaller. I went for it over the G500 mainly because of it's size. And also because it takes full size SD cards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have 10 of the a701 and 5 a700 yes thay are a bit smaller but
thay are not as stable as the G500 we use ours for personal tracking etc
and have not had any problems with then at all
and thats with tomtom and our own GPS tracking software.
hope this helps

bought a mio a701 and to be honest i really like it and i think it'll go a long way before i replace her. tried out the gps navigation using mapking (in bangkok) and i sure didn't get lost. the voice nav told me where to go and such and from there all went fine. i didn't get the eten because of the mini-sd; all of my accessories are using sd card (example; my digicam). i also like the mio because of the looks and the size. i'm not a fan of wifi nor do like having a keyboard so it works fine for me. mio will be releasing a rom sometime later on and that will support push email AND a2dp (for stereo bluetooth function). since i use an itech clip s headset it's just a matter of waiting until the new rom is released. when i listen to the tunez i can hook up my bluecon bt adaptor which allows me to listen wirelessly.
cheers

A701 GPS
Were currently testing both the A70 and G500. Has anybody seriously tested the 'location call' software on the A701?
In the tests we have performed the GPS position is incorrect. In a comparison between TomTom and Visual GPSCE the position do differ. I am assuming there is an offset or algorithm which computes the correct location.
What i'm looking for is a program which does the same thing as location call, i.e. send your gps position by sms, but actualy send the correct gps position.
Has anybody come across one?
Cheers
Paul

E-TEN G500 bought instead Qtek 2020i (waiting for Qtek S310)
Hi,
I changed devices cause i wanted integrated gps. Sometimes you're in your car and the bluetooth receiver is at home (for safety of stealing), and sometimes pairing bluetooth takes a while.
Actually i'm waiting for the HTC Trinity (Qtek G200) or Qtek S310.
Both devices will be with GPS & WIFI inclusive.
The Qtek S310 looks very spacy and will be released end of 2006 (hopefully).
At the moment I also have an all-in, the E-TEN G500 with SPECTEC MINI WIFI-SDIO CARD. I like the smooth blue colourlines / size / battery and functions.
I updated the rom to the 0097 and now can receive FM radio & TMC (Traffic messaging control) which gives you information about busy traffic and leads you away from it. This only works when you connect the wired headset as antenna,but no problem.
Now that it's also become an all in, i'm doubting to buy the new upcomming Qteks, I like this E-TEN very much, smooth look, compact, processor very good, and carkit included in package!
I never doubted about the Mio A701, the E-TEN is a much cooler device. Only the sound quality & speaker is less, but I love this device!
Greetz,
Innovator 8)

New Orbit tt can't find gps receiver

I have a registered tt6 which I bought for £70 odd. It worked fine in my old orbit. Then that one broke, what happens is it doesn't respond to screen touch, fortunately as I have the rollerball set as a pointer I can actually use it though slow. The reason for saying this is that I haven't yet sent it back because tt works on it, whereas the new phone using the exact same memory card and set exactly the same as the other phone, tt doesn't find the gps device.
I am using 9600 baud com 9.
Phoning 02 results in lots of baming i.e. ring tom tom, or ring the number on your bill, or go into an o2 shop.
I have spent much money on these premium rate options (except going into a store as yet) but non of them want to own the problem suggesting I phone (at premium rate) yet another number.
The reason I haven't yet gone into an 02 shop is mainly because last time I went in to ask an orbit question I knew about four times as much about the darned thing than the spotty herbert who is wanting to be the next millionaire by selling phones for company's who don't know how to provide an after sales service.
I note that the operating system for the latest orbit is most certainly better than the old one, and it occurs to me the problem might be a hardware one.
Is there a cluster of this problem or am I just unlucky?

Took it into o2 shop this morning, forst he tried to say it was tomtom then I showed it working on the other orbit I have, then he tried to say we have had a lot of trouble with tomtom that is why we use palm pilot, so I said, have you got a demo copy? Yes, right put it in here. Sure enough it didn't find the gps receiver either.
So reluctantly he agreed to send my new phone for repair.

Hmm, you spoke to a muppet, the config is Com 4 at 9600 Baud, or if you have TT 6,020 or 6,030 installed (which you should have) just select the inbuilt GPS receiver option when configuring the GPS within the TomTom application - DO NOT mess around with the GPS applet on the device as this can screw things up unless you know what you want from it - it is best left alone for this very reason - Mike

gps signal is not htc fault?

hello i have a touch pro and i think the poor gps fix is not an issue from htc, i guess it's a tomtom thing. when i use tomtom with the touch pro it has usualy around the 2-5 minutes to get a fix, with sygic mcguider installed on my touch pro it's always less then a minute
on both software i download the latest quickgpsfix before starting the programs
someone else tried it with sygic mcguider?

It 's definetely HTC 's fault. I never had issues in GPS fix. But with all tips and teeks installed GPS lag is allways present. I tried most of GPS software floating arround with no luck. Also tweeks are working in some raphaels and some not with same rom installed.

I absolutely agree. I tested several navigation and gps test software. all of them hat the gps issue of the touch pro
freco said:
It 's definetely HTC 's fault. I never had issues in GPS fix. But with all tips and teeks installed GPS lag is allways present. I tried most of GPS software floating arround with no luck. Also tweeks are working in some raphaels and some not with same rom installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Actually my TP gets a GPS fix with 6 to 8 sats very fast. The problem is the GPS lag (i.e. If you drive fast you get the directions late), that is a common problem and HTC is actually making a fix for it.
I am using .28 radio and ROMeOS 1.21...

For TomTom, i saw a small fix/tweak that helps (thread is somewhere not to far:
In tom tom: Change Preferences
Show GPS status -> configure
Choose Other NMEA GPS Receiver -> Baud Rate: 38400 on COM4
Maybe its just me but it seems to speed up acquisition time and reduce lag.
I also removed the logging with Avanced Configuration which probably helps some

Matthes42 said:
I absolutely agree. I tested several navigation and gps test software. all of them hat the gps issue of the touch pro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you try the latest Sygic Mcguider v 7.60
within a minute i got every time a fix (my touch pro is one of the first in holland (early august)

No prpblem with TomTom and internal GPS.
Well i just took an hour's trip (30 mins both way) to a friend's place and i had no trouble running TomTom with my Touch Pro's gps. Coming from a phone with a BT external gps it works just fine and dandy. Initial signal fix was less than 4 mins. No more carrying around an external receiver.

Your results are far from beeing decent my friend.
With my P3300 (Artemis) fix was very fast and I never had lag problem.
My TP has same fix time but lag never go away. There is a fix for TomTom (not working in all TP) but it 's not a solution because not everybody uses TomTom. I prefer iGO8.

freco said:
Your results are far from beeing decent my friend.
With my P3300 (Artemis) fix was very fast and I never had lag problem.
My TP has same fix time but lag never go away. There is a fix for TomTom (not working in all TP) but it 's not a solution because not everybody uses TomTom. I prefer iGO8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by TomTom not working in all TP?? Since i got my TouchPro on Sunay, i've been using TomTom almost every day without issue. GPS locks on fast (<3 mins), no lags whatsoever at least for me. TomTom definitely works well on mine.

Well, I dont know. Im really confused by this issue. For every suggested fix there are some who report progress and others not. I am in that probably small group where nothing much has made a big difference (radio, ROM, settings and registry changes). I am using Copilot 7 Diamond edition. My TP still staggers about like a drunk in a nightclub -usually behind my position and bizarrely sometimes ahead. It cant manage corners, and it still comes to an intermittent stop whilst I am bowling along at 70mph. I have noticed that it seems car sensitive though - presumably windscreen type. In my wife's car it is much better than in mine. That might account for some of the variation in reports with the TP. I truly hope that HTC are working on a cab fix otherwise I too will be driving like a drunk for the foreseeable future!

It is confusing. That's true.
Until now I don't have any problems whatsoever with my TomTom 7.450 (Dutch ROM right from the factory, unbranded). I only had 1 or 2 times where my fix took long (> 2min). But most of the time I have a fix within 30 sec with > 6 satelites. I'm still trying everyday to verify that my device behaves at it should. Therefore, I have not tweaked my device until now. I also don't use quickgps.
My lag is small, while walking it is only 10 meters, I think. It very nicely shows I'm walking at 6 km/h, without any problems. Next will be trials in the car when I have my new car mount available.

Hi, I have a TP too, I´m very happy with the gps signal. but not at the begin. The gps signal was better when I change to .31 radio.
I need to deactivate A-Gps feature to get a good gps fix.

LordLugard said:
What do you mean by TomTom not working in all TP??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean that the tweek is working on some devices. Also there are people that use iGO8 or Navigon. Problem is not solved if some devices works fine with TomTom.
LordLugard said:
Since i got my TouchPro on Sunay, i've been using TomTom almost every day without issue. GPS locks on fast (<3 mins), no lags whatsoever at least for me. TomTom definitely works well on mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS lock on <3 mins is not acceptable time. Let 's say you get in your car, start TomTom and wait 2-3 minutes to get a fix?
Mine locks < 1 minute. It was never more than 1 minute even out of the box. But GPS lag is a pain in the @ss.

freco said:
I mean that the tweek is working on some devices. Also there are people that use iGO8 or Navigon. Problem is not solved if some devices works fine with TomTom.
GPS lock on <3 mins is not acceptable time. Let 's say you get in your car, start TomTom and wait 2-3 minutes to get a fix?
Mine locks < 1 minute. It was never more than 1 minute even out of the box. But GPS lag is a pain in the @ss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So...i'm perfectly fine chilling for a coupla minutes for a gps lock. 2 minutes, i wouldn't split my knickers over. Besides i' usually fiddling with something and adjusting the radio so by the time i'm ready to pull out, John Cleese is also ready for me. I'm okay with it, very satisfied.