Accessory GPS for iPads plus: Dual XGPS150 vs Bad Elf
... written for Panbo by Ben Ellison and posted on Mar 19, 2011
Over the last few weeks I've enjoyed testing two of the very few Apple-certified devices that can supply GPS to a WiFi-only iPad, as well as the iPod Touch. They are the Bad Elf, which is available at Amazon for $99
Please disregard the differences in position, altitude, and accuracy seen on the screens above. In actual testing, as opposed to a quick photo shoot, the Elf and Dual were usually in close agreement about all those values (and I swapped them between iPad and Touch multiple times). But the screens -- MotionX GPS HD on the iPad, and Memory Map on the Touch -- do indicate that both devices can supply ancillary GPS values like signal strength and accuracy if the software will display it. The same is true for COG, SOG, and even individual satellite positions and receive strengths, though I've yet to see an iThing program that can display the latter (and so I only know for sure that Dual supplies it, as it can also work with PC apps). {Correction: Dual recently released a free iThing app that shows GPS satellite status, and Bad Elf is planning to add the feature to its app, as noted in a company comment below.}
The refresh rate of a GPS is another important factor and while I can't find specs for either the Elf or the Dual, I can tell you that both can keep up pretty well with my truck at around-town speeds (too early for on water testing around here). The Bad Elf system does include a utility app that easily updates it with firmware and/or the A-GPS info which purportedly helps it to get a fix quicker. In fact, I was amazed to see it acquire a location when I was 50 feet inside a mid-town Manhattan street level garage, but I didn't have the Dual then and up here can see little difference between their start-up times. Both are decent, and both units seem to hold their fixes inside buildings and vehicles about as well as what I've seen from fairly current handhelds and high-end phones (like my Droid Incredible).
The refresh rate of a GPS is another important factor and while I can't find specs for either the Elf or the Dual, I can tell you that both can keep up pretty well with my truck at around-town speeds (too early for on water testing around here). The Bad Elf system does include a utility app that easily updates it with firmware and/or the A-GPS info which purportedly helps it to get a fix quicker. In fact, I was amazed to see it acquire a location when I was 50 feet inside a mid-town Manhattan street level garage, but I didn't have the Dual then and up here can see little difference between their start-up times. Both are decent, and both units seem to hold their fixes inside buildings and vehicles about as well as what I've seen from fairly current handhelds and high-end phones (like my Droid Incredible).
But of course you can give a Bluetooth GPS a nice sky view somewhere on your helm or dash, especially well with the Dual as it includes that nice soft rubber mount. And the Dual worked fine for me when twenty feet away with a wall in between and a lot of home office type interference possibly in the air. You do have to keep the Dual charged up, but it does seem to provide the promised eight plus hours of duty, it does go into sleep mode when no app is active, and you only need a very standard Mini-B USB cable. You can use the Dual while it's charging but it will not serve USB GPS to a PC without Bluetooth (or log tracks on its own, like the solar-powered i-Blue I tested in 2007 and still have).
I've never been able to use the i-Blue with my Touch or iPad and apparently never will because now that Apple finally supports Bluetooth GPS it apparently does so in its own damn way. Which is why the Dual XGPS150 has that little switch you can see in the diagram below. But the switch works and I didn't have any trouble pairing the Dual with a netbook running Coastal Explorer Express or Polar View. And it was only on the netbook that I could see all the GPS info the Dual has to share and, maybe more important, only there did I get serious alarming if I turned the Dual off. I digress, but all of you using iThing charting apps ought to check into just what notification you get when the fix is lost or the GPS fails completely.
I've never been able to use the i-Blue with my Touch or iPad and apparently never will because now that Apple finally supports Bluetooth GPS it apparently does so in its own damn way. Which is why the Dual XGPS150 has that little switch you can see in the diagram below. But the switch works and I didn't have any trouble pairing the Dual with a netbook running Coastal Explorer Express or Polar View. And it was only on the netbook that I could see all the GPS info the Dual has to share and, maybe more important, only there did I get serious alarming if I turned the Dual off. I digress, but all of you using iThing charting apps ought to check into just what notification you get when the fix is lost or the GPS fails completely.
With the Bad Elf, you can not only avoid charging and Bluetooth-pairing hassels, but it comes with the newer Micro-B style USB cable which can be used to charge/synch instead of the proprietary Apple cable. In my case that means one cable can handle phone, iPad, and touch (and I've learned the hard way that having exta charging cables to leave on the boat is a good thing). However, it is a little awkward to have the Elf sticking out of your iThing, and I suppose a wrong move could damage the port. On the other hand, the Elf is fairly trivial when peeking out of an M-Edge Leisure Jacket or sucked into a Dry Case (iPad case reviews here) or when clipped into that Pad Grip I just got (more details later but it does hold, tilt, and turn an iPad very nicely).
At any rate, my personal first choice is the Dual XGPS, because I like the wireless trade-offs, but the Bad Elf ain't bad. And easiest of all is just to get a 3G iPad, and I must note that they're making the data plans so flexible that folks who think they'll never use one just might. By the way, the third iThing GPS accessory I know of is the GNS 5870 MFI GPS BT, which comes from Germany but is also available at Amazon for about $100
. And finally there's the interesting but tentative news that those with iPhone mobile hotspot capabilities can stream GPS along with Internet to WiFi-only iPads.
At any rate, my personal first choice is the Dual XGPS, because I like the wireless trade-offs, but the Bad Elf ain't bad. And easiest of all is just to get a 3G iPad, and I must note that they're making the data plans so flexible that folks who think they'll never use one just might. By the way, the third iThing GPS accessory I know of is the GNS 5870 MFI GPS BT, which comes from Germany but is also available at Amazon for about $100
. And finally there's the interesting but tentative news that those with iPhone mobile hotspot capabilities can stream GPS along with Internet to WiFi-only iPads.
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The sample Dual XGPS is headed home, but I'll get to test the Bad Elf long term, and -- hot diggity -- that likely includes in boats on the Mediterranean next week!