INTRODUCTION
Have you ever found yourself on the road and needing
travel directions? I typically use Windows Live Search to get turn-by-turn
directions while on the road, but I’ve sometimes found that when I need directions
I’ve left my mobile GPS at home. The Qstarz BT-Q1300 nano is a keychain GPS
and data logger. Is it a worthwhile investment that might help prevent such
situations? Let’s take a look…
Here are the key features:
WHAT’S HOT
- Very small footprint
- 66 channel MTK chipset
- Dual Bluetooth/USB interface
- Data logging capability
- Photo geotag and Google Map support
SETUP
Here is a shot of the box.
The BT-Q1300 Travel Recorder nano (BT-Q1300) GPS comes with a USB cable, car charger, manual
and software CD. Setup is straight-forward. The GPS should be plugged into a USB
port or car power adapter for charging. Though the battery had some initial charge out of the box,
it reached a full charge in a few hours. The battery indicator light on the top of the unit
glows green during charging and begins to flash when fully charged. Unlike other Qstarz GPS units,
the battery is not removable.
The software CD can be used to install a Windows USB driver for communicating
with the GPS and two Travel Recorder applications. You can use the Windows Device Manager to
determine which serial port has been assigned to the GPS before using the Travel Recorder software
or you can have the software search for the GPS.
Setup on a phone or PDA will vary depending on the device, but should follow
the typical procedure used for configuring any Bluetooth device. The GPS is identified as “Qstarz GPS”
and uses the usual ’0000′ Bluetooth passkey.
The BT-Q1300 does not install navigation or tracking software, so you will need
to purchase that separately or use one of the free software applications available on the internet,
such as Google Maps for Mobile or
Windows Live Search.
The most noticeable thing when you first pull the BT-Q1300
PRODUCT FEATURES
out of the box is its size.
If you are familiar with other Qstarz or i-Blue GPS units, the BT-Q1300 is
about the size of the battery from one of these devices.
The width of the unit is approximately the width of a pencil.
LEDs on the top of the device indicate signal fix (yellow),
Bluetooth status (blue), and battery status (green).
A USB port on the right side of the device is used for charging
the Li-ion battery or connecting to a PC. Above the USB port, a push-button switch turns
the device on and off. Pressing the button for four seconds will
toggle the power. When powered on, a quick press will record your
current position to the unit’s data log. Holding the button for two
seconds will enable/disable data logging. (Unlike some other Qstarz
data loggers, the BT-Q1300 will perform data logging and navigation
simultaneously.)
The Qstarz Travel Recorder software has undergone a
significant upgrade from previous versions. Version 3.1 of Travel Recorder
has added features for geotagging
photos by matching information from the device’s data log to photo timestamps.
Travel Recorder version 4.2 provides the same geotagging
features in a much more polished application. It will also allow you to
review data log tracks using Google Maps and examine speed and altitude changes
along your journey. Online connections to Flickr and Google Earth are also
provided. The new Travel Recorder features make the BT-Q1300 useful even
without a Bluetooth mobile device.
It’s not possible to see the battery provided inside the
BT-Q1300, but it’s obviously smaller than the one provided in other Qstarz
GPS devices. Battery life is obviously reduced compared to those other devices,
but the BT-Q1300 will still provide 12 hours of data logging capability.
However, with the included car adapter, there shouldn’t be any reason to worry about running out
of battery power while on the road. The BT-Q1300 includes an auto on/off feature when
connected to the car adapter so it will power down when the Bluetooth connection is lost.
I’ve used this feature with other GPS devices, but since the BT-Q1300 is a keychain device,
I never left it plugged into the car charger when leaving the car.
Because the BT-Q1300 includes WAAS/EGNOS/MSAS support, it is able to make use of
additional ground-level GPS signaling to improve accuracy in the US (WAAS), Europe (EGNOS) and Japan
(MSAS). Signal accuracy is more than sufficient for automobile navigation and should be fine for
geocaching as well. Qstarz specifications indicate the BT-Q1300 has a signal sensitivity of -165 dB,
which appears to be better than other Qstarz GPS devices based on the MTK chipset. Surprisingly,
I was able to acquire a signal from within my house and even while in my basement (though
signal acquisition from my basement is not consistent).
As for signal acquisition times, the BT-Q1300 performs very well in this area.
Signal acquisition always takes longer when the GPS is started in a new location
or after being turned off for an extended period of time (cold-start) versus being
turned off and back on in the same location (hot-start).
Typical acquisition time for a cold-start signal fix is advertised as 35 seconds and
I found this to be accurate, averaging roughly 35-40 seconds. Hot-start signal acquisition takes less than a second.
These signal acquisition times are almost identical to other Qstarz GPS devices using the MTK
chipset.
For anyone needing a GPS solution for a laptop computer that lacks Bluetooth
capabilities, the BT-Q1300 will also serve as
a wired GPS through a USB connection. This allows you
to use the GPS with laptop navigation software such as Microsoft Streets and Trips or Copilot
Live for Laptops.
HELP SUPPORT
Qstarz offers e-mail support
for its GPS devices and places its manuals online as PDF downloads. FAQs
are also available on the Qstarz web site.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The BT-Q1300 can be used with any Bluetooth-capable cell phone, laptop or other device.
It can also be used with a laptop through a wired USB connection. You will need additional tracking or
navigation software to actually use the device for navigation. Fortunately, you can use free software, such as Google Maps
for Mobile or Windows Live Search, on Windows Mobile devices.
Configuration of the BT-Q1300 requires a USB connection to a desktop or laptop PC.
BUGS AND WISHES
The keychain design is a nice approach to a mobile GPS solution. It’s convenient
to always keep it with you. However, during my short experience with the BT-Q1300,
it looks like the front of the device will quickly show a lot of scratches. This
is to be expected with keychains, but I wonder if a brushed aluminum case might be
less likely to show scratches.
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