Whistler Galileo Elite Handheld GPS with Map Software – Customer Reviews
Not a very good product
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I purchased this product from ubid for about $100. I thought for a fully integrated gps product (inclusive of maps and in-depth functionality) this product would be a great bargain. I was wrong! It worked really well when it found enough satellites (3 minimum) ...the problem was that 9 times out of 10, it couldn't find any (and when it did, it took almost 15 mins to lock). We are not talking heavily shaded overcast days ...I mean bright, sunny days in Colorado with a clear view of the sky. In the end I was convinced there was something wrong with it. I called Whistler and was told it sounds like it was working fine - but if I needed warranty work, they do not support ubid. I called Ubid and they offered me a full refund (they were actually pretty nice about it). I mailed it back to them and bought a Garmin Geko for around the same price. I've only used the Geko a few times but so far it's been great. It has always found satellites (usually within 30 secs) and has yet to act up the way the Whistler did. It does not have maps like the Whistler but I figure what good are maps if your gps cannot find where you are on them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Geko always works this well. My advice to anyone out there is to stay with a well known product like Garmin or Magellan. Even if it doesn't cost a lot - it may still end up being a waste of money.
4/21/2005 12:00 AM | Rating:
frequent satellite drops make this unreliable
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This is a fully featured GPS unit, let down by its skittish satellite performance, inexcusably poor backlight, and its battery consumption. However if you can get it for under $80 at uBid, it's a fun toy when it works. I wouldn't buy this as a primary GPS, but as an experiment, it will lose its signal too often to make it a reliable odometer but its useful when it is working
The other reviewers in the epinion's forum have hit the highlights and lowlights of this unit so I will just summarize and ad to theirs:
It eats batteries, especially NiMH, use fresh alkalines if you want decent performance, I get about 3-5 hours max (not continuous but in 30 minute shots) and as batteries get weaker the units performance drops;
Using an external antenna with a 180 degree (not 90) mcx connector is almost a requirement to use this in a car - you can get one for under $30 shipped from Navsphere;
The backlight is a joke, works more like a contrast control;
Maps are pretty accurate, though dated, and when the unit locks on tracking is as good as the $200 units from Garmin (rino) and Magellan (meridian);
The software is not intuitive, e.g. if you try and save a second map to the unit it will erase what you already have there - need to load them all at once;
I had to brute force install the software in XP, but it works after a simple drag and drop;
Port protectors will be lost soon as you first use them - they are not permanently attached, and I would not assume that the unit is water tight at all, someone put a coffee cup on it once and the condensation stains are still visible inside the screen;
Use an external CF reader to move data to the unit, life is too short as it is, though if you want to move data from it make sure you have a good book handy;
The unit will easily lose its lock under trees, moving under an overpass, or if you make sudden accelerations - the better external antenna helps a bit here;
Altitude calculation is a joke, even with 9 satellites locked in it varies +- 200 feet, and I am at sea level;
I haven't been able to test the external power supply for this since I can't find it anyplace other than a reference in the owners manual, it is not on the Whistler site - the power plug for this is a bit odd and my attempts to wire up a 3.2 volt power supply have not been successful (see comments about battery life above);2/19/2005 12:00 AM | Rating:
Whistler 200 GPS
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This GPS, for the price, is a very good deal. However, it lacks all of the bells and whistles of the more expensive models. The GPS takes a few minutes to acquire satellites and has a lot of difficulty acquiring them indoors. In the car it accurately reports roads (if downloaded from the mapping software), however sometimes it lags behind or freezes up for a few minutes. The software is not very user friendly, it takes a little work to understand the sequence in which to download the maps that you desire. However, once downloaded the roads are very accurate. This is not a top of the line GPS, however, for around 200-240 dollars you do get a lot for the price. It is hard to find a decent GPS in this price range that comes with the software necessary to use it for detailed navigation of streets and landmarks. I recommend it for the price, it will do what it is promised to do, it will just take some work at the computer to figure it out as the manual is not very well written or in depth.
10/3/2003 12:00 AM | Rating:
