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Royaltek
Sapphire |
Updated 14th
April 2003 |
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Review by
Dave Burrows
The design of the RoyalTek
Sapphire GPS Receiver has quite a radical look. You either like it or you
hate it. I'm not too sure why, but I like it.
I suppose it's because of the
domed case around the receiver's circuitry is similar to what you would see on a
trackball mouse which I've adored and used for a number of years.
Or perhaps, it's not a GPS receiver after all ?
Perhaps it's a clairvoyant ball ? Or a
plasma ball ? Mystery I think is what shrouds this receiver.
It could even be a car alarm or tracker in
disguise sitting on the dashboard and no one would be the wiser.
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RoyalTek Sapphire GPS Receiver |
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The sapphire comes with a PS/2 style
connector allowing you to interchange the cables to the PDA of your
choice. Currently there are cable sets for 5 different
manufacturer
PDA's. These are:-
- iPAQ 36/37/38/39/54 series iPAQ
- Casio E125/E200/E500
- Jornada 540/560
- Fujitsu Siemens Loox
- Dell Axim
- Yakumo delta
- NEC E200/300
- ViewSonic V35
- Toshiba e740
- Palm 5xx Series
- and last but not least the O2 XDA!
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Quite an impressive set of cables.
The version we tested came with the 3600 connector cable set. You can also purchase a serial or USB
connector allowing you to connect the Sapphire direct to your laptop if you
desire a larger screen. |
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The sapphire is pretty small, only 5cm
in diameter which must make this one of the smaller and more
desirable and attractive looking GPS receivers around.
In our tests we found the sapphire to
perform flawlessly. In our tests the Sapphire didn't come out as the
fastest receiver in the form of Time To First Fixes, but it's not far
off. We found our average TTFF with the Sapphire to be around 54
seconds. Once it received it's lock, there were very few times
where it would lose a fix altogether. For several days I
stashed the Sapphire under the passenger seat, and although TTFF's
were extended slightly, it worked quite well considering what was
above it! |
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The bottom of the receiver is magnetic
so if you wanted to fit this to the exterior of the car and pass the
cable inside, then you can. The only thing the receiver is
really lacking is a felt type backing for the base. One thing we
did find due to it's size and light weight, it did seem quite quick to
slide across the dashboard of the car. A small square of double
sided sticky tape should soon put a fix to that.
We have taken a high intensity fill-in
flash photo from the top of the receiver so you could take a look
inside the darkened sapphire's glass. The receiver itself is really quite small,
with the circuit board lying underneath.
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The RoyalTek Sapphire sports the
following features:-
Technical Specifications
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Twelve parallel channels in GPS.
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Built-in active antenna.
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Super-cohesive magnetic for
installation.
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High sensitivity to satellite signal.
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Low power consumption.
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Apply to any devices with nine-pin
COM port & PS2 ,USB and some specific PDA.
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NMEA 2.2 GGA, GSA, GSV and RMC, Baud
rate 4800bps.
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Navigation update rate: 1Hz.
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Conclusion
The Royaltek Sapphire is attractive, small and
lightweight and performs very well under varying conditions.
It's Time To First Fix although not the fastest on the block in our
tests, does perform very well, re-acquisition time we found to be
pretty good at around a couple of seconds. The only thing it
really lacks is a felt backing or a suction cup through the cable to
keep it in one place on the dashboard. A great little GPS
receiver, a pleasure to use and comes in a few pennies short of £110!
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References
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Manufacturers Website
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http://www.royaltek.com
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Pocket GPS Reviewer
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Dave Burrows |
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Pocket GPS Reviewer Website |
Dave Burrows.com |
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Rating
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Durability |
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Windscreen Suction Mount Strength |
not supplied |
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Air Vent Mount Strength |
not supplied |
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Car Power Cable Quality |
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Overall Rating 90% |
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How did we achieve these ratings ?
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Review Ratings |
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