Customer Reviews

Holux M-1000 32 Channel Wireless Bluetooth GPS Receiver

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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This was my first Amazon product review, thank you for taking the time to read it. Comments have been very welcome.

(see end of my review for an update as of end-2009)

The Holux M-1000 is a diminutive unit, about the same size as a box of matches, (65mm long, 43mm wide, and 17.6mm thick) and weighing in about as much (about 50g with the battery).

The unit comes packaged with a USB charger cable, car cigarette adaptor (which the USB plugs into), driver CD, warranty card, and a printed manual. The packaging uses recyclable materials, which I'm sure would please the environmentally-conscious crowd, yet still maintain a very classy appearance worthy of any gadget shop's glass cabinet.

My first impressions were along the lines of "hmm, that's really tiny". More than half the unit is taken up by the battery, to which I would attribute at least half it's weight.

There is no display on the unit, just 3 status LEDs, a power switch to the side, and a mini-USB socket.

Initial charge-up took about 4 hours, which is usual for Li-Ion batteries. During this time, the green status LED blinks accordingly. The battery is actually the same type used in some Nokia cell phones, so it shouldn't pose a problem finding a replacement or spare. (Doing a quick search, the part number listed HX-N3650A is Holux-specific, but it is similar to the Nokia BL-5C used in a myriad of Nokia cell phones, and available online for a few dollars).

Word of warning to first time users. The USB cable supplied, as the manufacturer states, is for charging purposes only. Windows XP will detect something, and go into a frenzy trying to recognize it. It got a bit tiresome after the 5th pop-up, prompting me to go into the Windows XP device manager to disable the "unknown device". The M-1000 still charged up as expected.

Usage:
The M-1000 is as easy to use as the manufacturers claim. How hard is it to slide a power switch?

After the power-on, the blue LED flashes on to signify Bluetooth broadcast. Pairing up with my cell phone, a Nokia E65, was simple, the M-1000 was detected within moments, and paired up without the need for a pairing key code to be entered.

The GPS status LED (orange color), upon initial start-up stays on, showing that the unit is acquiring signals.

Manufacturer claims first (cold start) satellite signal acquisition takes 36 seconds. My testing outdoors on a clear day, showed their claims to be pretty good, I averaged around 35 seconds.

The sensitivity of the MTK GPS chipset is very good, and there is no need for an external antenna. Holux state that the MTK will track up to 32 separate channels, which is overkill at this time as there are never more than 12 satellites overhead at each hemisphere of the earth. I would expect this is anticipating the next generation of GPS satellites.

This chipset is actually very impressive, it has acquired a signal indoors as I'm sitting at my desk typing this review. The Holux-supplied GPS viewer application for Windows shows it has locked on the signals of 6 satellites, all of which are showing moderate signals (signal bars are around 1/3 to 1/2 of the scale).

Battery life:
Holux claim 23 hours of battery life. I have not had the opportunity to test this, but from my experience, having forgotten to switch the receiver off overnight, after several hours in the center console of my car, the unit was still active in the morning.

Accuracy:
Using the Mobile GMaps on my cell phone, the M-1000 is pretty accurate. Comparing my old hand-held Magellan unit (which incidentally took about 4 minutes from cold start to acquire a signal), the averaged position is the same, as expected. I have used the SmartCom GPS unit on my cell phone, and the results are identical.

Recommended add-ons:
If you don't have Bluetooth capability you will need the Holux-compatible USB cable. Search online for the optional cable, Holux part# GR230-A2.

Spare battery - as stated above, this unit uses the identical battery to many Nokia cell phones. BL-5C batteries are cheap as chips online, and you can easily find a desktop charger for those batteries as well.

Overall, the M-1000 is a good buy, and for the money, can't be beaten. Combined with some good software on your cell or PDA, this would be a good combination.

On my Nokia E65 cell phone, the TomTom Navigator software detected the M-1000 and is very accurate. It shows its strength in the car, and can even receive signals while placed inside the center console of my car.

Signal re-acquisition is measured in seconds, handy when driving through tunnels or under bridges.

With all its strengths, there is one minor gripe I have with the M-1000, namely it is not waterproof, let alone water resistant. The whole unit is is not sealed, with visible gaps in the casing. There is no cover for the mini-USB socket and the battery compartment also allows moisture to enter.

Despite the above flaw, the unit is sensitive enough to be kept well away from moisture, say, in a jacket pocket, or even in a backpack or handbag, and with the convenience of Bluetooth connectivity, will provide the road warrior with the best value GPS solution at this time.

*** Update 2009-11-17 ***

Having changed a few months ago to an Android OS smart phone, my Nokia is now relegated to backup duties and resides in a pile of old phones and other outdated gadgets that I accumulated over the years. As a consequence of switching to a phone with an embedded GPS, which is where the industry is headed, I might think the market for GPS mice like these is diminishing. As it stands, the Holux, while giving me 2-odd years of good service, is now relegated to the "bits box" with the old phone.

I am sure it's got some relevance if I ever have the need to tether it by Bluetooth to my notebook computer, but even then, with embedded GPS into my current HTC Dream (aka G1) Android phone, it now boils down to what applications are available that rival TomTom at a reasonable price.

easy to use. Using it with a Blackberry curve and google maps. very small and uses usb 2.0 to charge and holds a charge for a long time. documentation claims 17 hours of use, but havent put it to that test yet. I have used it for about 5 hours on battery power. this thing is about the size of 2 boxes of matches and 1/2 of that is a battery (which looks easily replacable.) Very satisfied.

It is not often I take the time to review a product online; it has to be especially exceptional and exceed my expectations. The Holux M-1000 did exactly that.

I purchased this unit after some extensive online research into how feed real-time GPS data into Google Earth on my Acer AspireOne netbook. I am planning on using this setup to track my location while driving through the countryside on an upcoming European vacation. In addition to the M-1000 (and the netbook) I used Google Earth Voyager 6.0 to perform automatic caching and GooPs to pass the data into Google Earth. If you are looking to track your position via GPS in Google Earth, I strongly recommend this approach.

More on the GPS - This thing is LIGHT! Even with the battery installed, the unit feels half as heavy as my cell phone. The Holux M-1000 is easy to use (one switch) and the three different LEDs are simple to understand. I was blown away by the GPS reception in my house (11 satellites) and the accuracy - I took my netbook and gps for a walk around the block (yeah, I probably looked like a dork to my neighbors) and it showed my track on the sidewalk! You can charge the Holux with the included car charger, a standard Mini A USB cable hooked to your pc, or if you have a Mini A wall charger for a bluetooth headset or phone you can use that too. The included software application is simple to use - tracks satellites, their strength, your speed, etc. and is (like everything else) easy to setup and use.

If you are looking for an inexpensive yet quality GPS solution, I strongly recommend the Holux M-1000 - you will not be disappointed.

I have several GPS and this is by far the fastest acquisition unit.
One day, I drove through the lower deck of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and this was the only unit that still had a signal. The others were: Mio 550 with Sirf3, Belkin GPS connected to a PDA, Navigon 2100 PNA, and my car's built in factory OEM Navigation unit - 2007 Range Rover. Connected to my HTC Touch Pro, this performed so well that I may get another. I've tried it with - iGuidance, iGo 8, Garmin XT, google maps, and this simply works. I love the fact that it uses standard mini USB for charging. I bought a data cable off ebay to use with my Aspire One netbook but I've found that bluetooth works just as reliable.

I purchased this unit to enable my Blackberry Curve 8320 (TMobile) to have GPS mapping capabilty. The M-1000 worked right out of the box. Synchronization to the built in Blackberry map program was immediate (well, OK, it takes a few seconds for the Holux to find the satellites). The unit is very small and the bluetooth works well with the Curve.

All this said, there are limitations, and they have to do with the phone I have. The Curve is not all that fast in applications processing, and the map software downloads the maps via EDGE data link as you proceed along your route. So, it's not as fast as the built in GPS units in my 2006 Honda Odyssey Touring or my Prius. That said, it's also not a $2000 option, either. It is not as fast as my TomTom One Series 3 once both of them are running since the TomTom updates and scrolls much faster. However, the Holux finds the satellites faster. I have not done diligent experiments, but the Holux is quick enough to be quite tolerable and the TomTom is slow enough to be irritating when it is starting up. Perhaps this is 10 seconds vs. 30 seconds or so?

I have NOT tried it with the included software which runs on a PC.

Conclusion: met expectations, works well, inexpensive.

I still have to try this one more, but on my first trip it was impressive, fast startup, and connects very easily to my PDA. It was even working while in my shirt pocket while driving, and I like the flexibility of putting the antenna anywhere and be able to put the display where ever I like.

There are many similar devices around here, but this has 4 major advantages over competitors models (without talking about the price).
1st: MTK chipset, very very fast. Previously to this I has a Sirf Star III based device, I've been happy with it until I lost it. When I get this, I really feel the difference, I can sey it with experience on me.
2nd: Battery can be easily replaced, it's compatible with a specific Nokia cellphone battery, cheap and very common to find it.
3rd: The design. This is not the most beautiful device in the world, but is nicer than other models.
4th: Most GPS receivers updated and send data position every 1 second (1 Hz), but this device can be tweaked to reach 5 Hz, useful to build detailed maps.

I have this one paired with an Atom Life Pocket PC running under Windows Mobile 6 with Garmin Mobile XT v5.00.20 together.

I purchased this GPS receiver for my Blackberry Curve since Verizon blocks the internal GPS. I paid $40 for the product and it is an unbelievable bargain. It synced up with satellites almost immediately - before I could even enable bluetooth on the phone, even when I was in the city. Never had a problem except for the tunnels, which is expected. For some reason I thought the product would be bigger, but it is very small and lightweight. Haven't tested the battery life yet, but the car charger cable is long enough to put the unit anywhere in the front. Very nice GPS receiver, leagues better than the my friend had that took minutes to sync.

This product works great with the Motorola Q phone and google maps. It doesn't pair through the windows mobile bluetooth manager, but you can manually configure the GPS under google maps for windows mobile. After that, it's great. I leave the receiver turned on in my laptop case and use the phone as the Navigation System. Then I don't need to carry a separate Garmin thing. Google maps help you find restaurants, hotels, directions, etc.

This is a great product.

I needed a GPS Receiver for the Nokia n800 I bought last year so I looked around for something that would work. I had loaded the free map program from Maemo, and from what I read on-line, this GPS device would work.
When I received the Holux M1000, the instructions - written in about 500 languages - were not exactly 'clear-as-a-bell'. But the Nokia information was not that helpful, either. However, I muddled through it all and I got it to work. Quickly - you insert the battery and charge it up for about four hours. Then you flip on the switch. On the Nokia, you go to the 'Settings' icon and then you go to the 'Control Panel' icon. Once there, you tap on Bluetooth. A small window should pop up. Tap on the 'Devices' tab. Another window should come and see that you are operating an M1000. Tap on the M1000 name and yet another window will come up. It will ask you to enter a Pass Code number. Just enter 0000. The Nokia will start the pairing process. I think I have included all the steps - but, once it starts working, it does a great job. Far better than the Garvin I have been using in the car. The Holux is a little bigger than I thought it would be: larger than a match book. But it quickly finds your location and is more sensitive than many of the GPS receivers I have seen. It is a good choice and a good buy.