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The XGPS150 is a small (2"x2"x0.5") self powered device. It is small enough to fit easily into a pocket. It works with all iOS devices that have Bluetooth. To use it, you just turn on Bluetooth in the General Settings. It takes just a few seconds to discover the XGPS150. Click on its name in the list to pair with the device.
When the GPS is paired with your iOS device, you will get a message asking if you wish to download the app required to use the accessory. Click yes to launch the App Store and download the Dual GPS Status Tool. The Status Tool is worth getting. You can use it to display the signal strength of each GPS satellite just like you can with a stand alone GPS receiver. This screen is extremely helpful if you want to use the GPS indoors or in some other location where reception can be challenging. I know I will use this feature when I am on an aircraft.
One accessory that comes with the XGPS150 is a rubber dash mount. The mount uses simple friction to keep the GPS on your dash board. It is soft rubber so it will mold to any shape. It stayed on my dash for several drives without moving at all.
The XGPS150 has numerous advantages over the built-in GPS on an iPhone or iPad 3G. First it seems to get much better GPS reception. I can easily track my location on an aircraft, in a car or even in my house with the XGPS150. In fact I typically get 10 satellites showing almost full bars indoors. Of course there is no way to know what reception my iPad is getting but being able to see the signal strength of each satellite is another advantage of the XGPS150. The really remarkable thing about using a Bluetooth GPS is how little power is required for an iPod Touch to track your location. If Scenic Map is tracking your location in standby mode (GPS centering turned on with the screen turned off) it can run all day long and still have a full power bar. The XGPS150 has about ten hours of battery life. You charge the XGPS150 with a standard mini USB cable and it comes with a cigarette lighter adapter for your car.
I only have one small complaint about the XGPS150. To turn the unit on or off, you have to press and hold the center of the circular red pad for several seconds. Unfortunately the power icon is near the edge. It is very difficult to turn on the device if you press directly on the power icon. The device makes a plastic crunching noise if you try and it may even be possible to damage the device if you push too hard or too near the edge. If you press the center of the pad (where there is no icon) it is quite easy to turn on or off. Dual should move the power icon to the center or have some other indication of where you should press to turn on the power since there is no visible switch.
Combined with the XGPS150, the iPod Touch becomes an extremely capable GPS receiver. With a high quality mapping app such as Scenic Map, the utility of the Status Tool plus all the other great iOS GPS apps, it is easy to say that the iPod Touch is the best GPS money can buy. It costs a lot less than a high end mapping GPS receiver and you won't have to pay hundreds of dollars more for additional maps.
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It's simple and it works for everything, Laptop, IPad, IPhone. I like the non slip dash mount it comes with, seems to get good signal from weak areas. I bought it for use with Foreflight and I just used it for a 3 hour flight. It worked great even during steep turns of 60 degrees. I like that it has a simple push on/off button and an app to see how many satellites it is picking up. Great little device. Included car charger works with 24 volt systems and the device turns on automatically when it gets power.
I've used the GNS5870 and found it to turn off when I didn't even press any buttons then when I finally got it on I couldn't turn it off... The GNS5870 is sleeker and smaller, but this Dual Bluetooth GPS just works right!
The bad elf GPS looks pretty good, but I think i'd break it with it attached to the bottom of my ipad all the time.
This is the #1 way to go for Foreflight.
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I just purchased this last week and have been very happy with it. I use it with a WiFi only iPad. It picks up the satellites quickly and hasn't dropped the signal yet. I am a pilot and use it with ForeFlight for in-flight tracking and have been very pleased with its performance. It's a nice compact size too. I like the non-slip pad that it comes with. I recommend it!
Honest reviews on Dual Electronics XGPS150 Universal Bluetooth GPS Receiver for iPad
I got this handy little device because I'd had reliability problems with the built-in GPS on my iPad-3G. It works well, allowing me to locate the GPS sensor up on the dashboard where it can see the satellites and position the iPad or iPhone wherever I'd like. With Navigon app it has proven a complete substitute for my Garmin GPS as well.
Only dislike I have is that it automatically syncs to the last bluetooth device that used it, so sometimes I need to go get my other device to turn off bluetooth in order to use it with the one I'm holding. It would be nice if there was a simple button on it to ask it to be receptive to an active bluetooth request. It also can take a minute or so to get position lock and in the meantime you'll get false data in some apps. Not really a fault of the device, all GPS requires a bit to lock on. Just something to watch out for.
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I had wanted this GPS device ever since its debut. Fortunately for me I found an awesome deal for $50 so it was a no brainer. When I first opened the box, for some reason the unit appeared much larger then I had expected, but it is still small and manageable. The description stated 2" X .5" and that would be accurate.
When you turn the unit on the acquisition time is blazely fast. In fact it is faster than any other GPS unit that I had ever used, and I own a lot of units which mostly are Garmin's with the SIRF chip. The chip in this unit is scary fast and is even faster than the DUAL XGPS251 which I wrote a separate review on in 03/11. When I first turned the unit on which was in-doors from a cold boot it had acquired 7 or 8 satellites in less than one minute, and DUAL claims 30 seconds for a lock regardless of a cold or warm startup. I tend to believe there claim as the unit uses a -65-channel SkyTraq GPS chipset-. That is phenomenal. The unit appears to work with every GPS application that I have thrown at it so far. I am using the device with a 2nd GEN iTouch. Setup was a breeze which is primarily the Bluetooth pairing. If you plan to use the unit with an apple device be sure to download the DUAL utility from the app store. The utility only has 2 stars, but I have no found a problem with the utility and it does exactly what it was designed to do, which is to provide status on the device and signal strength. I think most people have give the device two stars because they expect a full blown navigation utility, but that is not what it was designed to do.
Some of the review that I wrote for XGPS251 can be applied here which include several free GPS applications that can be used with this device. Unfortunately the device does not include a microphone, speaker or the ability to charge your device like the XGPS251, but they are two entirely different devices. I had also looked at the Bad Elf unit, but I decided against it for reasons that I won't state as I don't want to impact sales one way or another for something that I do not own. Another plus is that the unit is firmware upgradeable by the end user, unlike the firmware issues that plague some user of the XGPS251. If your XGPS251 does not have the 10/10 firmware and you are using an iTouch 4 then your investment just got a whole lot more expensive since a upgrade to the firmware will be required, which is another $60 +/-. I got extremely lucky when I purchased my XGPS251 from Amazon in 03/11 and I don't even have an iTouch 4 model. In my opinion it is not worth rolling the dice on the XGPS251, and that is exactly what you would be doing until someone announces that their units are the new 10/10 firmware. I would suggest this unit or the Bad-Elf as a better option for future compatibility with your Apple or in the case of the XGPS150 model your non-Apple products as well.
Now for the quirks:
Quirk #1:
For some reason the outsourcing that DUAL does with this type of hardware provide several quirks. The quirks are mostly with the I/O of the power source and on and off switch. There are quirks with the XGPS251, and there are to a lesser extent quirks with the XGPS150. As others had mentioned the on and off button is buried under the RED top of the unit, and it can be difficult to accurately press the button to turn it on or off. Although when the unit is plugged into a power source it comes on automatically. The unit should have been designed so that the power button actually comes through the red top where the on/off symbol is. It would not have been difficult to do with the existing switch and no hardware modifications would have been need as all that would have been needed is an extended button preferably made of dense material (plastic, silicon or rubber)r to require less energy to push.
Quirk #2:
OK the dash mat that is included with the unit is nice, in fact very nice. But for the love of humanity why wouldn't the manufacture design the dash mat with a hole in it so that you can plug a car charger into it. DUAL include a car charger, but the only way to charge the unit is out of the Silicon dash mat. So you have to insure that the unit is charged prior to your trip or keep the mat out of the unit while charging. Go figure, this is a huge oversight in my opinion. There are issues with the XGPS251 ability to charge in the car as well which again is in a separate review. Even worse is that even if I cut a hole in the mat I still wouldn't be able to charge the unit while it is in the mat, because there is a plastic door that covers the USB port and the operating mode switch. The door swings out of the way to access the USB port, but once the door is swung out of the way the GPS won't fit in the mat until the door is closed. The door is necessary I suppose for boating and or outdoor sports, and it is not easily removed.
In order to resolve the USB port accessibility I am going to attempt to punch a whole into the silicon mat using a paper punch. This may not work because I would expect that the silicon would just stretch instead of punch out. If it does not punch out I will be using an exacto knife most likely. To remove the door I will have to take the unit apart and collapse the door keeper from the inside. I suspect that just like the XGPS251 there will be a screw under each rubber plug on the bottom of the unit. Four screws total.
All in all a fantastic unit, but DUAL come on please pay more attention to the user's I/O needs of your devices.
Update: 07/16/11:
I was correct that there is a screw on each of the four corners under the plugs. I removed the plugs and the four screws and the top came right off. Once I was able to remove the top I removed the USB cover and cut a small piece of tape to cover the pass trough hole for the cover. the tape was not required, but I figured why not since I had it apart. I then put the top back on, the four screws and the rubber plugs. All in all took less than 5 minutes. If attempted just insure that you don't rip the rubber plugs when removing, as there is mild adhesive on the bottom of each plug. I recommend a small screwdriver, and be sure that the plugs go back in adhesive side down. You may ask why the rubber plugs are even used and should you put them back in. I would answer by suggesting that they are used for three reasons:
Reduce the amount of moisture exposure that could make it's way past the screws (remember that this unit is not water proof and is even less moisture resistant if the plugs are left out and the USB door is removed. This is not a problem for me since my unit won't be subjected to moisture. Give careful consideration if you plan to use the unit in harsh environments. I'll stick to my Garmin for those type of environments. My unit will be primarily used for vehicle navigation.
Conceal the location of the screws to keep someone like me from taking the unit apart
To keep the fours screws from falling out if they should happen to become loose for any reason
The paper hole punch worked flawlessly. Actually I was surprised at how easy the unit punched through the silicon. Just make sure to take your time and get that hole position correctly for the USB port. The hole should be on the same side as the embossed word "DUAL" What I did was just put the GPS into the dash pad, and feel with your finger where the USB port of the unit is, and mark the spot with a Sharpie marker. Once you have done that just take your time and align the Sharpie mark with the punch of the paper puncher. You only get one shot so do it right the first time. Once done you will be able to charge the GPS unit via the USB port while the unit is located in it's dash mat.
Save the USB door and the silicon that was punched out. I would put them in the unit's retail box if you still have it. The modification made to the GPS unit is totally reversible if needed by repeating the steps outlined above to reinstall the USB door cover. As for the reversal of the dash pad the only thing that you can really do is re-glue or tape the punched out piece, which I would do from the inside of the dash mat, not the outside.
I can't think of a reason to reverse the procedure but the option does exist.
