.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE GPS freedom with the Freedom mini-GPS
.AUTHOR James Booth
.SUMMARY With the Freedom mini-GPS keychain from Proporta, GPS is as close an your keychain. The size of a remote key-fob, the Freedom mini-GPS is the smallest, self-powered, self-contained GPS receiver ZATZ Senior Editor James Booth has ever seen. Can something so small actually work? Read on to find out.
.OTHER
When GPS comes to mind, most of us think of an electronic navigation device with a screen and buttons that can be mounted to the dash or windshield of our vehicle. Basically, something like [[http://www.computingunplugged.com/issues/issue200709/00001979001.html|the Garmin and Delphi units previously covered]]. Some may even be familiar with the mouse-sized USB GPS receivers that can be paired to a laptop. Not so anymore though. Now, GPS is as close as your keychain.
With the Freedom mini-GPS keychain in Figure A, Proporta has released the smallest, self-powered, self-contained GPS receiver this writer has ever seen.
.FIGPAIR A Proporta’s Freedom mini-GPS keychain.
The size of a remote key-fob, the Freedom mini-GPS is a SiRF Star III, twenty-channel "All In View" tracking, NMEA compliant GPS receiver. Communicating via Bluetooth, the Freedom mini will work with any Bluetooth-enabled PDA, smartphone, Blackberry, UMPC (Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer) such as the OQO and Samsung Q1, as well as PCs.
.BREAK_EMAIL You’ll have to click here to learn more about the Freedom mini-GPS keychain.
Typical of most Bluetooth devices, the Freedom mini-GPS has a range of roughly thirty feet. It’s powered by a 450mAh lithium polymer battery offering in the neighborhood of nine hours of operation. If idle, the device will go into low-power mode to save energy. Although the Freedom mini has a mini-USB port, which is used for charging at home or in the car, its communication is still done entirely via Bluetooth.
The Freedom mini doesn’t come with any mapping or navigation software, but is designed to work with any GPS-compliant software available on your platform of choice. Nor is there any onboard memory for recording routes traveled. But again, there is software for your device that will do this for you.
.H1 How is it?
At just 30 grams, or one ounce, Proporta’s Freedom mini-GPS keychain is currently the smallest self-contained, self-powered GPS receiver on the market. And because it’s the size of a key-fob, there’s no problem with always taking it along. You always have your keys, right?
If it’s so small, how well can it trap a signal, you ask? Very well. Impressively well, in fact.
You’d think something that small would need to be right up on the dash for an unobstructed signal. Nothing could be further from the truth. It works perfectly well hanging from the keychain while your key is in the ignition. It works while in your pocket, your purse, or your briefcase. It even works inside the house.
The larger GPS devices I’ve previously tested couldn’t do that. Heck, they were doing good to acquire a satellite lock just standing in the yard. Their reception was poor to the point that I wondered if an external antenna was going to be necessary.
But the Freedom mini-GPS has managed to pull in and lock signals any- and everywhere. And not just the required three either. I’ve seen it lock in seven of ten available satellites.
Setup on both Windows Mobile 5 and 6 was extremely simple. All you need to do is turn on the Bluetooth and "Add new device," assign it a COM port, and you’re good to go. Setup on the PC was a bit more difficult. I’ve never had an easy time of setting up Bluetooth devices on my PC. I blame it on how the OS implements Bluetooth.
It seems that when using a Bluetooth dongle (at least the one I have), enabling the service and creating relationships is a bit of a pain. And I found it to be so with both Windows 2000 and XP, on both a laptop and a desktop PC. But, according to a friend of mine, apparently adding new devices and creating a relationship on a laptop with Bluetooth built-in is much simpler. As simple as on Windows Mobile, I’m told.
A simple glance at the LEDs provides all necessary information. When blinking, the blue LED confirms a Bluetooth connection. When solid, it is in low-power mode. The orange LED denotes satellite lock. When blinking, it has a lock. When solid, not. And the red LED lights up when charging, and turns off when fully charged.
I’ll grant that it doesn’t come with any software, but I haven’t been all that impressed with "included" software when it comes to GPS devices anyway. I’d much rather choose my own mapping and navigation suite, ensuring I get something I’m happy with. But it does come with both the USB charging cable, and the car charger.
One of the best mapping/navigation programs I’ve ever used was [[http://www.mapopolis.com|Mapopolis]]. Alas, they no longer sell to the consumer market. And the map subscription I purchased was not for GPS-enable maps; at the time, I didn’t have GPS and saw no point in paying the extra cost.
What to do?
Try out a bunch of GPS suites, on both the PC and Windows Mobile, that’s what.
Many of the more well-known names in the mapping/navigation industry have contributed software applications to this article; and many have not. Of the companies approached, TomTom, Pharos, and CoPilot declined to participate.
.H1 Maps for free
Of the many freely available Windows Mobile GPS applications, I can personally say that Google Maps, with both satellite and graphic maps shown in Figure B, Microsoft’s Live Search, and Earthcomber all work perfectly well with the Freedom mini-GPS.
.FIGPAIR B Google Maps offers both graphic maps and satellite captures.
Google Maps and Live Search, shown in Figure C with satellite and graphic maps, both require a wireless data connection. Earthcomber does not. All of its maps and data are maintained on the device.
.FIGPAIR C Like Google, Microsoft’s Live Search gives you satellite and graphic maps.
Of the free applications, Earthcomber, in Figure D, was the most like Mapopolis, and my favorite; if a bit slow.
.FIGPAIR D Earthcomber’s free map utility.
But it may have been slower due to the number of congruent maps I installed.
.H1 Maps for purchase
Of the many "for purchase" mapping suites on the market, Delorme, Microsoft, and Route 66 were kind enough to submit review products for this article. Delorme’s Street Atlas 2008 and Microsoft’s Streets & Trips 2008 both retail for $40. Delorme offers another version of Street Atlas for $50 that contains all phone book listings for the US and Canada; the software is otherwise identical though.
Where Delorme in Figure E, includes applications for the Palm OS and Windows Mobile, as well as PC, in one package, Microsoft does not.
.FIGPAIR E Delorme offers a lot of features for $40.
Although Streets & Trips, in Figure F, will export maps for use with Pocket Streets, Pocket Streets itself is a separate $25 purchase.
.FIGPAIR F Microsoft Streets & Trips, a quality mapping application.
Figure G shows an exported Streets & Trips map captured from Microsoft’s Pocket Streets on a Windows Mobile device.
.FIGPAIR G A Streets & Trips map exported to Pocket Streets.
Navigator 7 from Route 66 is a Pocket PC application, and at $150, the most expensive of all products tested. The Freedom mini did "technically" work with Navigator 7. It was recognized by the software. But the software itself didn’t work properly. It had a whole host of problems from the very beginning, and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Delorme’s suite offers an awful lot of features for $40, too many to go into here. But the displayed locations of it POIs (points of interest) were wrong. An inquiry as to why did not get a response.
Of the retail packages I tested, I liked Microsoft’s Streets & Trips, coupled with Pocket Streets, best. It was the easiest to set up and use with the Freedom mini-GPS, and the most accurate.
.H1 Final thoughts
I was very impressed with Proporta’s Freedom mini-GPS keychain. Not only was it the easiest to use, most accurate GPS device I’ve used to-date, being the size of a key-fob, it’s also the easiest to take along. It’s capable of acquiring a signal in your pocket, in your vehicle, even indoors. And with a battery life of upwards of nine hours, the Freedom mini-GPS is an excellent value. I could honestly find nothing wrong with it, nor any way to improve upon it. I wasn’t even put off by its $130 price tag.
It worked with every device and software application I tested, both mobile and PC. And because it doesn’t have its own proprietary software, you’re free to use it on any device and in any manner as you choose; not just mapping and navigation, but with electronic seacharts, exercise and fitness training, and much more.
Proporta’s Freedom mini-GPS keychain is one of the few products good enough to earn a perfect score of 5 out of 5.
.RATING 5
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Learn more about [[http://www.proporta.com/F02/PPF02P05.php?t_id=3687&t_mode=des|the Proporta Freedom mini-GPS keychain]].
Learn more about [[http://maps.google.com/|Google Maps]].
Learn more about [[http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html|Google Maps for mobile devices]].
Learn more about [[http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/livesearch/default.mspx|Microsoft Live Search]].
Learn more about [[http://www.earthcomber.com/splash/index.html|Earthcomber]].
Learn more about [[http://www.microsoft.com/streets/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=002|Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008]].
Learn more about [[http://www.microsoft.com/products/info/product.aspx?view=22&pcid=78efd7a7-53d3-4815-a8b9-315ff5bf1109&type=ovr|Microsoft Pocket Streets]].
Learn more about [[http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtdItemDetail.jsp?item=26366§ion=10121|Delorme Street Atlas 2008]].
Learn more about [[http://www.66.com/route66/products.php?cid=US&sec=5&ssec=0&prodid=2185|Route 66 Navigator 7]].
.END_SIDEBAR
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