Customer Reviews

Nexian Handy GPS Springboard Module

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I can not even tell you how disappointed I am in it. It isreally hard to see how anyone would sell this as a finishedproduct. It takes 5 minutes to pickup a signal, then it looses thesignal if you move around. As a bonus,... I sent mine back and got aGarmin eTrex from Amazon to connect to my Visor Deluxe.....not as tinybut it actually works. The HandyGPS is just not suitable for any realusage. I mean, it wont even work in a car! Come on! END

I also had nothing but problems. Could not maintain a lock to track position even while walking around my yard, forget about moving around in a car. It simply devoured my Visor's batteries. Took 5 minutes to even get a lock to track position which was immediately lost when I moved. Their customer service at the manufacturer was non-existent, they would refund the cost of the unit but not the $... shipping. Even argued that it was not defective as they has "tested" it when it came back to them. Do yourself a favor and wait for the next GPS module to come out.

I'm in the process of sending mine back now. My luck wasn't even as good as the previous reviewer's. After over an hour of trying, I still haven't even managed to establish contact with a single satellite. Nexian support has been essentially worthless, just telling me it takes "3-5 minutes, and I must be in open air and not near any buildings". I live in a city and travel to a lot of cities on business. A GPS unit that won't function in an urban setting is of no value to me.

I saw that the HandyGPS got some raves and some rants on this site, but went ahead and bought it anyway (a present, actually). While I have little experience with GPS, I have been pleasantly surprised with its performance, as I expected more problems with a new module for a (relatively) new platform. It turns out it's a handy little item to have for car trips, sightseeing, etc.

Positives: -generally reliable and simple to use -fairly fast lock on satellites, slower with a Cold Start (new batteries). I can usually get a lock in 2-3 minutes. -works fairly well even in urban environments (Manhattan even!), overcast weather, rain, and snow -works rather well on the dash of a car, well under the glass and away from the metal roof. -recovers well after tunnels -fairly accurate, corrects well when it strays you can definitely tell what road the unit thinks you are on -map software sophisticated in certain respects (lets you set a goal and count down miles to it, let's you save Points of Interest and come back to them -has record and playback -rather accurate speedometer

Negatives -crashes the Visor once in a while, once necessitating a reload of the whole thing -eats batteries (its own and the visors) -mapping software is sometimes inaccurate-- missing roads here and there -no overseas maps on the Nexian site -no topographic maps on the Nexian site -doesn't measure road mileage, only straight line (as the crow flies) to your goal -some zoom views erase roads (better contrast in display is needed: see, for instance, Mapopolis's maps)

Suggestions/Wish List -customizable display of data -heading/speed displayed on the map pages -toggle between map moving and dot moving modes? (position indicator dot sometimes nears edge of screen and is hard to find) -better contrast in display (see Mapopolis) -playback/record while displaying the map (instead of just a blank screen) -overseas maps (if even just the big cities) -fully customizable maps (adding and saving graphical detail relevant to the user would be handy). As it is, only "snapshots" of the current map view map can be saved, but you can make notes on these shots, which is nice. -state maps showing county locations on the Nexian site would be rather helpful-- as it's sometimes hard to discern your route by county

Overall Among the cheaper modules for the visor, and also very handy and fun to use.

Chris

I've had the same problems as everyone else, trouble tracking satellites, trouble maintating a signal. The main reason I'm returning it though is power consumption. I can't feed my visor 8 triple A batteries every day just to play with gps, and even then the sporadic functionality is very frustrating. The fact that no car adaptor is available for this product is ridiculous. Wait for a better company to release a springboard gps.

I've had the unit for about three weeks now, and have taken it on several trips. The main problem is the time it takes to receive the initial satellite info -- up to 5 minutes on the average. But once the GPS is locked, then it maintains the lock very well. In a recent trip of about 3 hours each way, it kept the sync in the car very well. Re-syncing after turning off the Visor is much quicker. The mapping software by Ubigo is both excellent and limited. The detail of the free maps, available for download by county for the whole US, is incredible. In my tiny town with one divided road, it even showed the turn connections between the sets of roads! But the actual mapping software if fairly limited. In summary, this is not as powerful a GPS as a standalone unit. But, it is the size of a matchbox, and doesn't require you to pack yet another electronic gizmo. For 150 bucks, it's well worth it.

This thing eats batteries for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The first time out it killed the 2 AAA cells before it got a single satellite. With fresh Duracell Ultras I was able to get 4 sats after about 15 minutes, but after another 1/2 hour or so of reading through the manual and going thru the menus, dead batteries again, this time it killed the 2 in the Visor as well as its own.

As far as any obstructions, I was on a beach in Key West, FL. No trees, buildings, etc., etc...

With 4 fresh batteries I was able to get a lock on 5 sats and display a very poor looking map of my location. Elevation read 307', yet I was on a pier only 4' off the surface of the Atlantic ocean.

I can think of better things to blow $150 on. Glad I wasn't lost when I was trying to use it, or I might never had made it back to warn you....

I bought this item and sent it back almost immediately. Performance is sub-par, as it only locked onto one satellite on flat ground under a clear blue sky. Two is the minimum to calculate position with three are required for altitude info.
The AAA batteries only last for about 4-5 hours under the best conditions and are expensive. Plus, it uses power from the battery in the Handspring as well. Not a very efficient design IMHO.
It comes with no GPS software, save the basic firmware. Contrary to advertising and info in the manual, you must purchase software from the Nexian website ...to make it useable beyond the most basic GPS functions!
Overall, if you have a Visor Prism and want the color capability I would recommend getting the HandyGPS PRO version which includes a rechargeable/replaceable lithium ion battery, mapping software, and options for an external antenna and car charger...
Don't waste your time with this... If you have a B&W Visor, save your money and buy a Magellan, or at very least, make sure you buy the PRO version of this product and also purchase the external antenna if you want it to work. You can always add the software and charger later.

I have one of the early units as I ordered direct from Nexian when they became available back in May. I travel extensively throught the US on business and have found the unit to be quite usefull and has worked flawlessly.

I would recommend this to anyone that could use a basic mapping GPS to work with their handheld.

I have a review I have written and here is a short excerpt:

GPS Operation during the trip was very stable. It showed a difference in speed of between .5 and .9Mph between my speedometer and what the GPS was showing. I have no complaints here as this is close enough, and I have not had my speedometer calibrated, so I do not know how much it is off, but on timing runs on a measured mile, at 60Mph, it is off by about 3 seconds

On the return again, I used the mapping software to set a goal for an address I had to find (was dropping my boss off.) Since I was not familiar with the area, I selected first the road and got a distance reading, then the intersecting road and got a reading. Needless to say this was very useful as it let me know how far away we were from the goal, and the directions we got were not that great. I did find the address, so the GPS with the Maps was an extreme help here.

Turning off the unit and turning in back on again after a half hour or so, and having left the GPS unit plugged in, it would sync up again after about 1 1/2 minutes or less.

Taking the unit out and putting it back in after an extended shutdown or changing the batteries, will take longer to sync up (about 5 minutes to change the date, and another 3 or so to display your position. Though this is an inconvenience, I did not find it that bothersome.

Battery usage is what Nexian Claims it to be. I used up my Visor batteries in about 4 hours. When the charging kits that plug into the car lighter become available, then this is the way to go. To use the unit to find an address, it make sense to have it on and have it synced before you need it.

All in all, I am pleased with my purchase, and this is going to do for me exactly what I want, to help me navigate in strange cities where the roads are all named and make no sense

Mike Vidal Director of Sales, North America, Memotec Communications, Inc.

So far, I am enjoying the HandyGPS. I have found the mapping software very detailed but has a strange and cumbersome UI.

My main problem is that it seems to REALLY eat batteries. If you're planning on using this, then I recommend investing in some rechargable AAA's

All-in-all, the product is a nifty gadget -- and worth the price tag.