M-241.: Holux M-241 Bluetooth Data Logger GPS (Runs on AA Battery, MTK Chipset, 130,000 Waypoints)

This is a good compact GPS logger, which is primarily intended for geotagging digital photos.The idea here is that the GPS logger periodically records your GPS location and then, later on, the Holux Logger Utility takes this timestamped GPS information and compares it against the JPG timestamps on your photos. Then for each photo, it can find the GPS record that best matches the photo time and add that GPS location information to the photo.The basic idea works well. The M-241 is sometimes a little awkward to use, but I like mine enough that after I accidentally lost my first one, I quickly bought a second. I use the GPS info for both tagging photos and for generating route maps.Some specific positives: * The logger is very compact and easily fits into a pocket. * The Holux logger utility uploads GPS data as either proprietary TRL files or as Google Earth KML files. The KML files can be easily viewed with Google Earth. * GPS signal sensitivity is quite good. It can sometimes take several minutes to get an initial fix, especially if you are moving, but it tracks quickly thereafter. * The LCD display is useful: I enjoy being able to watch things like direction, or speed, or travel distance as I travel.Now some weaknesses: * A Duracell Alkaline AA lasts me about 15 hours and a Lithium AA about 22 hours. (Fairly typical battery life for a GPS device.) * The battery case cover is rather flimsy and needs cautious handling. * The two button control UI on the logger takes a little getting used to. I can now navigate it quickly, but I initially found it rather frustrating. * The logger utility UI is distinctly clunky and the manual is rather weak. The UI does the job, but not particularly elegantly. * You need to keep your camera time synchronized with the logger's time and you need to compensate for timezone differences when you do the photo tagging.You can use either USB or Bluetooth to communicate with the logger. I've been using USB on Vista, without any problems. I can't speak to the Bluetooth functionality.Some suggestions: * Make sure to download the latest firmware and logger utility from the Holux website. The latest versions have bug fixes and some feature additions. * In the logger settings, turn "AutoLog" to "on". This means it will start logging as soon as it gets a GPS fix, and you don't have to remember to separately turn on logging. * Rather than worrying about time zones, I ended up leaving my camera permanently in UTC+0 (GMT). The logger always writes its TRL records in UTC+0, so this means I can tag photos without having to specify a timezone adjustment. * By default, the logger logs every 5 seconds. I moved it to every 30 seconds, which I find adequate for photo location and lets me store over a month of records.* If you're using USB, it's worth turning off the Bluetooth radio to save power. (This is a new feature in the v1.12 firmware.)Overall, this isn't perfect, but I find it very convenient as a lightweight tool for GPS and photo logging.

I bought this specifically to track our daily 5-hour hikes through the tundra in Denali National Park, Alaska, last summer. Although it took a long time to lock on to the satellites, once it did it was rock solid, hanging around my neck all day. I changed out the batteries every day, but on hindsight I probably didn't need to do it daily. When I got home I was able to use the program (downloaded from the Holux website) to download the resulting files it generates, then used another free online program to convert the Holux data into something Google Earth could understand. I also used the data to add the geolocations to the 2000+ photos I took. Only down sides: the interface on the unit is somewhat clunky and takes getting used to. Same for the computer app -- it's just not intuitive and could use some polish. But for the price and size, I love this thing.

When the product works, its great. It is able to add GPS coordinate to your pictures but only with difficulty and third party software. My biggest beef though is the poor quality. The door to the battery compartment has a contact with the top of the battery and then at the point where the compartment door touches the inside of the gps. I'm not sure if this where the weak spot is on mine but it is very difficult to use in a car and anything out in the woods, biking etc. any vibrations make it totally useless. Once you lose power, you lose your track and whatever you logged for that day. I prefer my venerable Holux 236 GPS receiver over this... This seems to be an ongoing problem and may be one of the reasons Holux doesnt seem to offer too many new products. BTW, the 236 that I ordered two years prior to this is still working great. The 241 is nicer to carry and has a display which is great for geocaching and even tagging. Review dropped to one star as the device has stopped working entirely on battery power but works fine if powered via USB.

If you are a casual user, I would not recommend this product. If you are interested in actively figuring this product out, it could work for you. After 2 days of use, I have successfuly created and uploaded Google Earth files. This is really cool, and the reason I bought the product. However, I have also found the following: 1. This device eats batteries. I have reloaded the single AA battery twice in 2 days, having just used the product for a few brief periods. While indoors near a window, the product take a while to find the satellites. Because it takes a while, I set the unit down and then came back to it later only to find that the unit had timed out and turned off. Turning it back on started the process over again. The PC software is non-professional and is hard to use. It looks like a Windows 3.1 application. 3. The manual is minimal, at best. 4. The UI of the device is not intuative.

Hard to figure out. Better for a professional