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Qstarz BT-Q818 Bluetooth GPS Receiver

 
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kartracer
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Joined: 26/03/2003 20:15:33
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Location: United Kingdom

PostPosted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:34 pm    Post subject: Qstarz BT-Q818 Bluetooth GPS Receiver Reply with quote

Impressed by the specs of the Q818, especially its battery life and intelligent power saving mode, I asked for one as a birthday present to replace my TomTom Wireless GPS MK2.

It uses a mini USB port for recharging the battery, and comes complete with both a mains and a car recharger. Opposite the recharging port is a slide switch to turn it on or off. When the switch is in the ON position the receiver goes into a power saving mode whenever the Bluetooth connection is broken. In this mode the GPS receiver electronics are switched off and the receiver goes into a low power mode with the Bluetooth LED flashing every 5 seconds. When the Bluetooth connection is re-established the GPS receiver is automatically switched on again. So once you have turned it on and placed it in on the dashboard or in the glovebox of your car, you don’t have to worry about switching it on and off whenever you stop for petrol or rest breaks. I think I shall have to try leaving it switched on all the time, try and use it for every journey, and then see how many days pass before it wants recharging.

It has 3 LEDs. The power LED is normally off, but flashes RED when battery power is low, goes solid GREEN when recharging, and flashes GREEN when full charged. The BLUE Bluetooth LED comes on solidly when not connected or whilst pairing, flashes every 2 seconds when connected, and flashes every 5 seconds when in Power Saving Mode. The ORANGE GPS LED comes on solidly while detecting satellites before a fix is established, and then flashes when it has got a fix.

The performance of this thing is almost magical! In the past, whenever trying out GPS kit at home, I have had to position the receiver near a window or even hang it out of the window. Not so with the Q818. With the Q818 in my pocket and watching the GPS Status screen on my Nokia N70 running TomTom Mobile 5, I walked around my house trying to find a poor reception spot. Such a spot just does not exist in my house! I never saw less than 7 blue bars, and sometimes saw 11 (the maximum that will fit on the TT screen).

I also tried placing it in the airing cupboard with no noticeable effect. Inside a biscuit tin didn't make much difference either. It struggled inside a refrigerator, but still just about managed to hang on to 3 weak blue bars. It took a combination of the biscuit tin placed inside the refrigerator to finally defeat it and cause it to lose the GPS lock! I haven’t taken it on any long journeys yet, but don’t expect it will have any difficulty maintaining a lock wherever I drive. I also don't have a car with an athermic windscreen, but can't imagine that one would cause any problems for the Q818.

Highly recommended!
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kartracer
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Joined: 26/03/2003 20:15:33
Posts: 502
Location: United Kingdom

PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:46 pm    Post subject: Re: Qstarz BT-Q818 Bluetooth GPS Receiver Reply with quote

kartracer wrote:
I think I shall have to try leaving it switched on all the time, try and use it for every journey, and then see how many days pass before it wants recharging.

Well, it has not been switched off for 18 days, has been used for short journeys just about every day, and has just started flashing red to indicate that it thinks it is due for a recharge. I think I'll now wait until it stops working before recharging it.
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kartracer
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Location: United Kingdom

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It didn't make it to day 19. Still... 18 days on standby seems pretty good. So, in normal use a weekly recharge should work fine for me.
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JohnOvManchester
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Joined: Sep 30, 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

great stuff
this has swung it for me, my 236 has died and I was deciding between the 240 and the navicore and the Q818.

I think I'll go with the Q818, pretty there's no smaller Qstar/MTK chip option.
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