GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite DPL700 GPS Photo Tracker

by GiSTEQ

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 2 inches ; 7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0010EMIT6
• Item model number: PhotoTrackr Lite DPL700
• Batteries: 1 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

Product Description

Think about the last place you traveled to. Do you want to know exactly where all your pictures were taken? Take the GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite with you on your next trip! Utilizing the PhotoTrackr mapping software and latest Geo-tagging technology, the PhotoTrackr Lite shows you exactly where and when your pictures were taken. It also allows you to record and review your trip with GPS satellite precision. The most exciting feature of all is that you can upload your geo-tagged photos online.Photos can be organized by Group, Date, or Log Files. GPS data can be embedded into photos for online geo-photo sharing. It's a cool way to share your trip experience with friends and families. Package Contents: PhotoTrackr Lite, USB Cable, Carabiner, AA Battery, Software CD, Quick Start Guide.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works well, with some caveats, March 11, 2008

By 

Buck R. Cash - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite DPL700 GPS Photo Tracker (Electronics)

So far, this is working well for me to map out my travels and especially to tag my photos' EXIF with GPS info and get them mapped. I work outdoors and wanted to document where I'm going and where I shot photos along the way as part of the documentation for the engineering work I do.

I got a little twisted up getting the software set up, and ended up on their forum looking for help, but I got the answers I needed fast and then it was a breeze. I still haven't worked out how to get it to play well with RAW photos from my Canon 40D, but I make a copy from the RAWs as a JPG Proof, and it works terrific them. I also haven't been able to work out how to get to work seamlessly with Google Earth, but it works with Google Maps like it was born for it (and I guess it was!)

One thing I'm finding is that it tends to eat batteries a lot more than I anticipated. I turn it on first thing in the morning when I set off to do my work, and leave it on all day till I get back home. That's about 10 hours, and it works the whole time - no problem there. But if I try to use that same battery the next day, I find later that it's shut off somewhere along the route, and I'm missing all the data I'd have had after that. The only solution I've found so far is to pop in a fresh AA battery each morning. That said, I'm planning to switch to rechargeable batteries for use with it, in order to keep the cost down.

UPDATE: 4 months has now gone by, and the plastic case has pretty much fallen apart, especially the little plastic nubs that hold the battery compartment door closed, and the black plastic that surrounded one screw on the bottom of the case. They broke off, so the door wouldn't shut tight anymore, and the device began to work intermittently. The yellow outer case cracked also (from sunlight through windshield maybe?).

To get it working again, I cannibalized the device, whereupon I found that one of the battery leads to the tiny motherboard had broken off at the solder connection, and was only working from pressure of what was left of the cracked yellow case pushing them together (thus the intermittent problem). After re-soldering that, I soldered the leads from a AA battery holder that holds two batteries (for longer use between battery changes) that I picked up at a local Radio Shack to the appropriate places inside the device, slipped the cracked yellow cover back into place, then Gorilla Glued the new battery holder to the outside of it. It works great, and twice as long, even if it looks funky now.

I upgraded to the "Pro" software, and it works great with my RAW files now. I also switched to rechargeable batteries, and that's worked out great to keep the cost down.

Bottom line is that the thing works very well electronically, but the case's build quality is sub-par. It can't stand the constant opening and closing of the battery compartment door, but since the battery only lasts about 10 hours of constant use, there's little choice if you're going to use this pretty much every day, like I do. It appears to be weakened by sunlight as well, which is pretty bad for an 'outdoor' piece of equipment like this.

If I could down-rate the stars at this point, I would because of the bad build of the case. And if I knew when I bought it what I know now, I'd look for a better-built device. That said, if you don't mind throwing a little McGyver action at it, it's a nice piece of gear.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor software, proprietary interface, and build quality issues, February 10, 2009

By 

Mark O. Hilstad (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite DPL700 GPS Photo Tracker (Electronics)

I purchased a GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite last April. The Windows software was unintuitive and unnecessarily difficult to use. Unfortunately, the logger does not show up as a standard USB device, and so far as I am aware GiSTEQ's software is the only tool capable of retrieving and reading files from the logger. As annoying and difficult as the software was, it did have a lot of good features and it was able to do much of what I wanted. The logger and software do work, and if the build quality was decent the product might get three stars. Unfortunately, the build quality (or more likely the engineering) is poor, and the plastic case cracked near the latch after fewer than 14 days of actual use. I should also note at this point that the battery life is significantly lower than advertised (I don't remember the specifics well enough to state a number of hours), which means that the battery door gets more use than you would expect from looking at the specs.

I didn't discover the biggest issue with this logger until, several months after installing the software, I deleted the installation files from my desktop. One would think that the installer files are not necessary to run the already-installed software, but one would be mistaken. The next time I tried to start the software it refused to start, saying that it needed the installation files. Since I no longer have the installation files, I downloaded the version of the software that is available on GiSTEQ's web site. The software now runs, but says that I need to update the firmware on my logger before it can be used. If the update were free this would be fine, but GiSTEQ forces you to purchase a Pro version of their software in order to download firmware updates. My logger, which works just fine (in spite of the broken plastic), is now effectively useless unless I pay more money. They do not offer for download the older version of the software that works with the old (less than a year) firmware, and I will not pay a second time to regain functionality for which I already paid. Given that the only way to access the logger is through GiSTEQ's software, that the software is difficult to use in the best of circumstances, and that the only version of their software available for download tried to make me pay again to let me use a device for which I have already paid, I recommend avoiding this product.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save yourself many headaches - get something else, March 26, 2009

By 

Springlake (UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite DPL700 GPS Photo Tracker (Electronics)

I rarely bother to take the time to submit negative reviews about products, but this one really deserves it. I bought 10 of these units for an educational project, and it's turned out to be a complete nightmare. The units themselves are flimsy and completely unreliable. When they are working, the satellite reception is tenuous at best, and they often shut off for no apparent reason or simply refuse to receive satellite signals no matter how long you choose to wait.

The most serious problem, however, is the software. If you use a Mac, don't even think about buying this product. Despite many months (years) of promises from the company, the Mac software still doesn't function properly. The latest release (March 2009) will finally allow GPS track logs to be downloaded, but the elevation data are lost (which I need).

It seems that every time you finally resolve one problem with the hardware or software, a new problem appears. Today I updated the software on a PC, but now I can't connect to the unit because the firmware is out of date. But when I try to update the firmware, some kind of error occurs. It just never ends!

This has been one long, frustrating experience. I would strongly suggest that if you are considering one of these, get a low-end regular GPS unit instead. I wish that I had taken this approach.