i-blue PS737 GPS receiver Review

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Author: FredS
Categories: Reviews
Published: Monday, 11 December 2006 10:23 PM
Created: Monday, 11 December 2006 9:52 PM
Updated: Wednesday, 13 December 2006 by FredS
Views: 14998

Serious competition for SiRF111 chipsets - very serious

i-blue PS737 Bluetooth GPS receiver

When I was asked to review this GPS receiver, I must admit I was rather luke warm on the idea. After all I had a BT338 with a SiRF111 Chipset which is pretty well as good as it gets, and anyway a GPS receiver is a GPS receiver. However having the best interests of MTekk members at heart I decided it would be a worthwhile thing to do.

Well I’m here to tell you this unit is terrific – better in nearly every respect to my BT338. Why? Well let’s have a look at what’s in the box and the major specifications first.

What’s in the Box

An out of Car Charger
A Retractable USB/Mini USB Cable
A Cigarette lighter Adaptor
The GPS unit itself
A 1000 maH Lithium Battery
A user manual and warranty card.

Important Specifications

MTK chipset
Sensitivity (to -158dBm)
Up to 25hrs operating time for GPS navigation
32-Channel all-in-view tracking for fast acquisition and reacquisition
WAAS / EGNOS compatibility
Smart power control - Auto On-Off function
Bluetooth 1.2 Serial Port Protocol compatible - 10m range
1000mAh Lithium Ion battery – Standard Nokia
72.2mm (L) X 46.5mm (W) X 20mm (H)
Cold Start 39 seconds (avg)
Warm Start 36 seconds (avg)
Hot Start 1 second (avg)
Reacquisition < 1 sec

Full specifications can be found HERE.

General thoughts

The sensitivity is almost as good as the BT338 at -158 compared to -159 dBm – in fact I found it performed on par with my BT338 unit. Sensitivity is important because GPS signals are actually incredibly weak so the more sensitive the receiver is, the better it will pickup marginal signals.

In reality I have found that the Time to First Fix (TTFF) figures shown by GPS receiver manufactures are very optimistic. This is true for all the units I have seen. Cold Starts of 5 minutes and warm starts of 2 to 3 minutes are not uncommon and depend on lots of factors such as position of the Satellites in the sky and prevailing weather conditions. Usually though, a warm fix is obtained, on average, in approximately one minute.

Tracking performance (how accurately it portrays your position on a map) is something I was unable to check, and nor was I able to find any references on the web, however based on an earlier model the performance is approximately as good as a my BT338, and, based upon my use over the past two weeks indistinguishable from the BT338.

The units boasts 32 channels, but considering that the maximum amount of satellites we can see in Australia is 12 the other 20 channels are rather moot. - I have never seen 12 satelites anyway, (8 to 11 is about average)

Although the unit is only marginally smaller that the BT338 - it weighs in at 65 grams (the BT338 is 85 grams), when held in your hand that feels quite a bit lighter than the 20 gram difference it actually is.

Time to First Fix Tests

I compared three units, the TomTom GO710, my BT338 and The i-blue on a warm start based on the units being switched off at 7:00pm and switched back on at 7:00am the next morning. All units were placed onto the dash in my car and switched on as quickly as I could.
I ran this test four times, although the last three were not worth doing because the results were identical each time. In each case the units all achieved a fix at the same time, well near enough the same time for me anyway.

The very slight differences could easily be accounted for in my inability to switch on all units at precisely the same time. The average being 46 seconds (actual times varied from 28 seconds to 69 seconds). Interestingly I tried this test once by also updating the ephemeral file on my TomTom to see if that made any difference – yes it sure did, it beat the other two units by a good 10 seconds.

The Good Stuff

So how is it better? The two main reasons are: (there are others detailed below)

the unit in continuous use, lasts a claimed 25 hours but I achieved 19hrs 20 min before my PDA with CoPilot lost the signal. This could be because the battery has not yet been condition though. I did this test by sitting my PDA in the cradle with CoPilot6 and the i-blue running on a Friday night at 8:00pm. I expected the battery to stop at 9:00pm on the following Saturday. Fortunately I was at my desk when I heard the beep from CoPilot telling me that the gps signal has been lost.

The i-blue has an auto sleep function whereby it will enter a sleep mode and automatically reconnect when your PDA GPS program is running.
With the Auto disconnect facility I was able to run the unit sitting in my bottom console for 11 days before I even got the low battery warning (a red flashing LED) – The unit did not have to be switched on or off during this time.
This makes the i-blue a great candidate for a permanent connection as the unit does not switch off by itself – it has a manual switch of course if that is needed.

Other things I liked

The weight, or rather the lack of weight – those 20 grams makes quite a difference in your shirt pocket.
The fact that the unit did not switch off automatically saving me the hassle of remembering to turn on my receiver before starting my GPS program.
The fact that it performed as well or better than my BT338, in the car, under my carport and in quite dense tree cover.

What I didn’t like

The only (very minor) gripe is the lack of a dust cover on the Mini USB port, but considering that I would lose that pretty quick (I lost my BT338 cover within a month) it is no big deal for me.
The unit is not waterproof - or at least splashproof - not that many of them are - my BT338 isn't either, but it would be nice to have especially if you plan to use it outdoors
The manual mentions a GPS demo program, yet no CD or disk is included. (The GPS info program can downloaded by following the links Here)

Conclusion

There are numerous brands and Chipsets available right now for GPS receivers, and, prior to reviewing this unit, I wouldn’t have even considered buying a receiver with this chipset. I might have considered it for the battery life and definitely for the Auto disconnect feature though.
The ability to leave the unit switched on is a big plus because this allows it to be used in a permanent setup in the car.

So, after spending time with this unit I've changed my mind – if I was in the market for a GPS receiver this would be the one I’d buy. Its performance really surprised me and the auto disconnect function is something I really like.

Price $160 inc GST (RRP)
The i-blue PS737 BT GPS Receiver is available from Giftland

Discuss it HERE