Customer Reviews

GeoDiscovery Geode GPS Springboard Module For Handspring Visor

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

First of all, "electronics fan from dallas" doesn't know what he's talking about. WAAS does indeed exist, and the GPS receiver in the Geode is definitely capable of utilizing WAAS to enhance accuracy.

The Geode, although pricey, does appear to be the best GPS module for Visor. It has the fastest time to first fix, a magnetic compass built in, tons of storage space for maps (up to 128 Megs), very nice mapping software, and long battery life (over 20 hours on two AA's).

I already posted review for this(see "Any Problems Due to Old Visors!" March 16, 2001 by an electronics fan from Boston). In it I gave the Geode five stars and addressed some of the problems for which the Geode was being blamed which were really Visor and Visor Deluxe Problems (i.e. RF shielding). Sadly, I now have to go back on my old review in light of recent events. My Geode still works great but as of mid-May Geodiscovery has gone into a near death state. The company may or may not return to operation. As a result the improvements on the Geode have ceased still without MMC card support, reduced power consumption, color maps (for Handspring Prism), NMEA compatability or future firmware upgrades. Thus the parts of my previous review that lauded the Geode's extensibility must now be rescinded since it is a fair bet that no future improvements to the module will be made [unless it goes open source :)]. In light of this I recommend the Magellan GPS Companion for Handspring Visor. Magellan and Garmin (which makes the handheld eTrex) are established companies that won't be going away anytime soon. At this time it represents the best solution for a GPS springboard module. Geodiscovery had a lot of promise but they tried to rebuild the wheel from scratch and failed. Well I'm gonna try and hack my Geode now since the upgrades aren't gonna happen by themselves.

I received my Geode last week, and I am extremely pleased with it's performance. I keep reading about the "Geniuses" who somehow manage to get their Visor's locked up, and it defies comprehension. Here's a hint: On the Visor you will notice a little box with a little picture of a house. It's the box on the top left. When you are done using your Geode, use something (i.e., a stick, pencil, elbow, whatever you can manage) to press that little house. Suddenly, the Geode software will stop running and you will see several little icons on your screen. At this point, it is OK to secure power to the Visor (i.e., turn it off) and remove the Geode. I know this is a difficult procedure, but I follow it every time I use my Geode, and I have never crashed my Visor.

I found the maps to be basically unusable while driving in my car. No street names, slow routing, slow screen shots of the map . Impossible to tap on street names while you are driving to determine actual location. The Geode lost Satellite fix inside the car five times in a 10 minute trip. Very slow when switching to a desired map detail level. You have to reset the map level each time you turn on the unit. The maps are too big! You can only add about two maps onto your PDA

I've been putting my new Geode through its paces, and so far, so good. It seems to get a position pretty quickly (usually under a minute), and so far, the little marker that it places on the map is right on the money, right down to which side of the street I'm on in a parking lot, or something. I'm not sure what the electronics fan from Menlo Park is complaining about. I wish he'd provide more details about what he means by "inaccurate". It was like listening to someone with a moose's head on his shoulders, which may have worked better.

I've had my Geode for about a week. It has only connected with satellites a couple of times. It is constantly "Looking" for satelite contact. I can watch the life being sucked out of my batteries in maybe 10 minutes! I used 12 batteries in one week! It freezes my Visor deluxe. When I turn off my Visor the geode stays on, when I unplug the geode module my Visor freezes. Did they even test this thing? I keep getting fatal errors on my Visor. I've also had problems with the map software. Try to call Geodiscovery support, the phone lines have been disconnected. The corporate phone works but all the mail boxes are full.(Hummmm) sounds like trouble.I called Handspring and asked them about geodiscovery. They said they haven't had any complants about the geode GPS module. They did give my another phone number that on was disconnected also. Something sounds fishy here. You can't get a return RMA number to return it! Not only have I wasted time trying to get the stupid thing to work. I've already wasted a day trying to figure out how to return it! If you want to spend your hiking trip standing around looking at your geode equipped Visor watching your batteries go dead, buy it. Or just flush [amt] down the toilette. I'm also returning my Handspring Visor. I don't want to support a company that can't give honest information to their customers. My real rateing is -5

I've had my Geode since February and have had fun using it and testing various beta versions of software upgrades. The software released to the public in March solved many of the problems folks posted about with the exception of those that are caused by an old Visor with RF problems (I got Handspring to replace mine for free). I get quick locks in or out of the car and it is extremely accurate. GeoDiscovery provides free maps of the entire US that are very detailed (includes even private roads). Power consumption has been an issue, but I've found lithium batteries to be worth the little extra price. The scale does stay the same, unlike the comment from the guy that says it changes each time you start the Geode. Folks with problems following the map while driving probably have it set on too small of a scale which requires it to redraw the map too often. If the software provided MMC support already, I'd give it five stars. The Geode software can be flash upgraded which is another great feature.

As with most things, there are good and bad points. The Geode is no exception.

I've been using my Geode GPS since I got it in early February of '01. My experience has been largely positive with the Geode GPS unit and the GeoView software. Keep in mind that I've never played with any other GPS units. I am, however, a longtime PDA user and I've had my Visor Deluxe for approximately 18 months now.

Pros:
- For me it DOES get locks pretty quickly (1 minute or less) in good conditions. Good conditions means ...open sky. A good 360 view.
- It keeps locks in semi-heavy forest/tree cover. Very heavy and it's spotty. All GPS units supposedly suffer from this problem to one degree or another.
- The software rarely crashes. Software shouldn't crash or it should crash pretty darn rarely. I'm using v1.3 of the Geode/GeoView software and it has been very stable for me.
- I like the maps. Lots of people seem to "complain" about the maps. I think they're fine. Good enough for me.
- It works. It gets locks, gives me accurate lat/lon, somewhat accurate altitude information (depends on amt of satellite locks), etc. It's a GPS unit.

Cons:
- The compass. Even if it was reliable and you didn't have to reset it when your batteries died, I still wouldn't use it. I have a compass that does just fine for that sorta thing, so it's not a big deal.

- The software. It could stand some feature bloat and general improvement.
- The MMC slots don't work.
- Fortunately there are commercial car adapters available and lithium batteries can be bought in bulk. :)

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my Geode GPS unit. I wish the MMC slots worked! And the software could use some more features (bread crumbing et al.) and some tweaking (get rid of the pointer, use a small "x" icon). However, I've used my GPS unit in the city, in all kinds of dense NW forests and in a variety of weather (below freezing & above 95 degree F) and it has functioned very well.

That being said, I can not recommend that anyone buy the Geode GPS unit at this time. GeoDiscovery needs to get their ...stuff... in order first. Once you, a prospective buyer, determines that GeoDiscovery is a fit company ...go for it! I think you'll be happy.

The Geode has high accuracy because it uses WAAS. But release 1.3 (the latest release) draws maps slowly, does not support color and does not use the industry standard NMEA interface (necessary to use the Geode with mapping software not made by Geodiscovery).

Release 1.4 is just a beta and it greatly improves drawing speed and does support color. But the NMEA interface rarely works and this prevents use of the Geode with 3rd party mapping software.

Also, the battery life is poor -- only about 3 hours -- and the MMC slots do not work.

Perhaps what is worst is that Geodiscovery support is not functional at all. They do not return phone calls or emails. So if you have a problem, you are out of luck.

I think that the Magellan Companion ($150) is the best bet right now. It does not use WAAS. However, if you really want the 2-3 meter accuracy, you can get the Sky Golf GPS (looks a lot like the Companion and costs $400) which does use WAAS.

This product holds a LOT of potential. Unfortunately that's all it is right now - POTENTIAL.

The released software doesn't support color, routing, searching/finding, MMC memory cards, topographical maps. The Magellan GPS Companion I also have is more reliable and works with more software.

On top of all of that, the company has ceased all communication with the outside world. They don't answer their phones and I even know of a couple of people who have obtained RMA numbers, sent their Geodes back to Geodiscovery, Geodiscovery has signed for and received them but has NOT returned their money (for over a month now).

If I thought I could get my money back from Geodiscovery, I'd be returning mine - it doesn't work as advertised.