The CoPilot Live Pocket PC GPS package came with everything in the pic (Bluetooth GPS receiver, mount, power adapter/cable, and software).

The discs were actually double stacked on the same side.  We didn't really like the way the disc holder worked.  It had a long central stem to hold both discs and we had a little bit of trouble getting them out.

The GPS receiver is about the size of a typical cell phone.  The power slider is at the top of the unit, along with the indicators light, power connector, and the external antenna jack.

Since this is a Bluetooth unit, the Pocket PC must also be able to communicate via Bluetooth to work with this GPS.  We have a pretty old iPaq (HP 3850 running PocketPC 2001), but after checking around a bit, we decided to see if we can upgrade it to work with this GPS.  Based on the listed system requirements, it will take a little work, but we think it is possible.

We couldn't resist opening the unit to take a look at what was inside.  We didn't really know what we were looking at once we opened it, but we thought some of our readers may...so here you go.

Clearly the rechargeable battery is on one side and all the electronics is on the other.  We would guess that the SiRFstarIII chipset is the stuff in the middle of the gold rectangle.  The Bluetooth module appears to be on the other side of the circuit board (right pic).  Both of the bright silver sections are probably antennae...one for the Bluetooth module and the other for the GPS.

Most of the newer GPS are now using the SiRFstarIII chipset because of its high performance and small form factor. 

We are eager to put this unit to the test.  We'll be updating this project over the next few weeks as we try to get this state of the art GPS receiver to work with our discontinued iPaq 3850 PDA :-)  It is a perfect RainyDayProject!

We have been using GPS devices for about six years now.  The earlier devices were hard to use, had little in the way of features, and were expensive.  The newer devices (Navman, US Globalsat, Magellan) are much easier to use, have a lot of different viewing options, and are a lot cheaper.

We have been using a version of the CoPilot GPS software with our iPaq for about 4 years and have been fairly happy with it performance.  We have not kept up with the software upgrades mostly because it worked "well enough."

However, we knew that GPS hardware has had significant improvements in the past few years (faster satellite acquisition, Bluetooth, etc...) and we wanted to see if it was time to upgrade.

The ALK folks have always been at the head of the pack when it came to GPS software, so when their 6.0 version was released, we decided it was time to take a look.

The FirstLook review will take a quick look at the device and what we'll need to get it working.

In the other reviews, we will take you through the steps needed to get this GPS to work with an iPaq 3850 PDA.

Reviews:

1. FirstLook

2. Bluetooth Install

3. Software Install

4. Load Maps

5. FirstUse

6. InTheWild

Review Summary:

Initial Impression- No wires!

Usability- 3D Views

Durability- TBD

Price- $350