Customer Reviews

Fanatic Digital Real Time Gsm/gprs/sms/online GPS Personal/car Tracker Logger for Cars, Persons, Pets on google map, internet, laptop, desktop

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have purchased this GPS tracker couple months back, found its over all operation and functionalities very good.

Had a few initial problems exchanging emails with their support, but in the end I can say I'm a happy and finally a satisfied customer.

had to purchase a separate cable to change APN info, SMSC and SOS numbers as I'm in Canada and we don't have AT&T here.

I hope this helps those who have also purchased this unit and are having abit of a hard time getting it going.

if you have no luck with support drop your comments and I will try to help you with issues I had with my device at first.

I found this device on Amazon and following some positive reviews on it, I decided to buy.
My disappointment:
I tried three different SIM cards on it (glo, Airtel, mtn - Nigerian GSM networks) but none of them worked.
I bought the device through an agent as Amazon will not ship to my Nigerian address. I can not even contemplate returning it as it would cost me much more than the device itself.
I have sent an email to contact@fanaticdigital.com (found on their mediocre website) and I'm yet to get a response. If I eventually do, I'll update this post to let you know.

This GPS tracker has a couple of great features I didn't find on others. The call it and listen to audio is key to me, because it's how I can know for sure that my teenage daughter is driving with a friend in the car or not. Also, she can use the SOS button to initiate a call and location text message in an emergency. Unlike some units that must be hardwired to the car, this one can be carried with her. The SOS button can be used for me to verify that she really has the unit with her, and didn't leave it somewhere (I call her on her cell phone and tell her to push the button). The real time tracking online is very good and worked immeadiately, although the documantation forces you to figure out how to do some of the things for yourself. For around town (city) driving or walking, I found it's necessary to set the sampling rate for 30 sec (the fastest), because if you don't, then you don't get enough data points to really see where it is everywhere. I'm not totally sure, but I think as long as you have the "Real Time Tracking" set to "STOP", then it won't cost you anything unless you START it, then you can STOP any time. At first the HISTORY "QUERY" did not work the first day, but the second day it started working. It's great! It not only shows you all the locations on the map, which you can mouse-over for more information, but you can also PLAY a sequence of locations appearing at various selectable speeds, so you can watch the sequence of the locations like going on the trip again. I'm not sure how many chargable minutes or text messages it takes to query the history, so hopefully it's not going to turn out to cost too much. I'm assuming if I leave the Real Time Tracking STOPPED, and only look at the History, then it won't cost as much in terms of text messages the unit uses to send the data to the web site. I bought some of the pre-paid $25 SIM cards from Fanatic, because they come already configured, and when one runs out, I'll just pop in another one. I'd like to know how to check how much balance I have on the SIM cards, because when I went to the AT&T site about it, it requires a PIN, but Fanatic didn't send me the PIN numbers with the SIM cards. The Geo Fencing hasn't worked every time, in fact only about 25% of the time. It helps if the tracker is in the fenced location for more than a few minutes, but it almost never catches it there if just driving through the fenced area. I like that I can call it and hang up to have it text me the current location, because I can do it hands-free while driving. It's way easier than another unit I've tried. The other brand makes you first text "find" to the unit, then after it replies back you have to text again with a pin and the name of the unit, then it will send you another text with the location; that other brand also doesn't have good real-time tracking and good history information, because it will only sample locations every 5 minutes, and only then if you have already logged onto there web site within the last hour and told it to. The Fanatic unit is way better. Again, the only concern I have is how much the AT&T charges will be. I think it will be OK, because I think if I only use it as needed, and use the history query when I don't need immediate location, then I think the texting charges won't be too much. I'll find out.

I was worried about purchasing this GPS tracker due to many of the bad reviews. I risked it, and cannot tell you how happy I am with the device. Setup was extremely easy, I visited a AT&T store here and got a prepaid sim card as the instructions said. While this is not the best or most functional GPS device, butit has done what I've wanted it to. I haven't used the geofencing feature yet, as I have no use for it. There is a cost for the data package on the sim card, but it is certainly not any higher than subscriber fees for other GPS units. Compared many GPS trackers online and settled for this one.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. but IT WORKS. Online tracking system is "functional". Not super professional/pretty looking.


It seems that many of the people that have posted have no clue how these devices work, and are expecting "Spy movie" results in a cheap package.

On a side note: I would never hire a PI with such horrible grammar and spelling.

Also, I haven't used emailed support yet, but I do suspect the reviews are correct as to the limited technical support.(Nothing to back this up)
Their website is subpar(almost child like). I'm almost willing to buy these in bulk from china and resell them.

Length:: 2:03 Mins

What people don't realize is that today's technology enables them to have a constant eye for the people they care.
This device is not a cell phone but a passive tracking device, which means its tracking does not need initialization of the person or vehicle it tracks. Imagine how helpful it would be if you get into a car accident. You can let people where you are by just one click. Pin point your location on the map.

Another important feature is it is real time. Unlike some trackers which are only loggers, you can only get the travel history afterwards and getting the tracker back to hand and connect to computer. Real time means that tracker reports its position to you real time. Like a cell phone, this tracker is using the cell phone network. In my case, I use AT&T. I manage to get the expense of AT&T bill for this tracker under $15/month. I am using it 10 hours a day and 30 day a month.

The second spare battery in the tracker is real good for me too because it lets me do continuous tracking.

Fanatic Digital® Real

first of all...i'm a private investigator. i have used these trackers for years. (not this exact one) so i was in a bind needed a tracker asap, for a client to keep an eye on her husband. she was in town and wanted to keep the unit. well my other trackers cost 300-600 $$$.......if you want the best i guess you really better pay for it. 1st. the unit arrived 1 week late 2nd didn't work with t-mobile. at&t did not well either. 3rd no customer service. i found out this company is small mickey mouse operation. and the units are from over seas, from who knows where. who cares, don't bother.im in so-cal i.e.

Don't waste your money. I should have listened to the other reviews. There is no support what so ever. They send you B.S emails and dodge you. This is a scam and doesnt work worth beans. The tracker works but it wont respond to texts and all teh advance functions don't work as advertised. This will costs you lots of money in ATT fees. They need to have a way for you to ping the device when you want instead of sending you a text every 30 minutes. Its Chineese junk. The battery didnt work. The text-time charges kills you with ATT prepaid. You'll spend about 25 dollars a month. There are many other products that work.

No one at AT&T knows anything about this device or how to sell a data plan for it. I went to an ATT store and they gsve me a free simm card, but didn't know how to put money on it. I got so frustated, I just ordered a &25.00 prepaid card from Amazon. NOW I called 15 numbers at ATT and NOBODY knows anything about a GPS tracker, how to activate it, or what to do with it. They kept asking me gor my ATT cell phone number, and tried to upgrade my cell account. These people are real dummies, and nobody knows how to activate this device. I am getting real frustaded, and getting ready to return it. ATT says they are only famaliar with the Garmin GPS tracker, and they (ATT) are not authorized to work with any other trackers. CAN ANYBODY HELP ME??

Este producto según el instructivo prende correctamente y la señal GSM parece que trabaja bien, pero el problema es que por más que he intentado no logro hacer que localice mi tracker desde internet, la luz del GPS queda prendida y fija por 5 a 6 segundosperoy luego se apaga y no prende más. ¿qué puedo hacer? Vivo en Venezuela y estoy usando un tarjeta SIM de Movistar con Voz+SMS+Datos. Necesito su ayuda/asistencia para lograr el uso del mismo de lo contrario tendré que devolverlo. Gracias por su ayuda y pronta respuesta.

There ares some key questions that this product description doesn't answer.

-- Can you set the schedule for position updating?

-- Can you change the schedule for reporting?

(Remotely or do you have to plug in the device) (set it to a specfic interval like every 15 minutes, or schedule tighter intervals during commutes, and longer intervals during the work day or sleeping hours).

-- Can you do on-demand updates instead of scheduled updates to conserve the prepaid minutes? So you log in and have the website dial up the device, download the last three days of history and view it?

-- How long does the battery last, when set to a given position recording interval / dial up reporting interval? Is there an extended battery, or car hardwire option?

-- How accurate is the thing on the highway, or in a building? Any problem getting position fixes?

-- Does it use both GPS and tower triangulation? or just GPS?

any help from owners of this product or the manufacture would be great.