Emprum UltiMate GPS Receiver for iPod touch, iPhone, iPad and desktop/laptop computers

I bought this unit for my iPod Touch, so my review only speaks to what I have found using it with that piece of gear. As I understand it, the unit will work with many other apple products and even other operating systems, and drivers are available on their website. The included USB cord powers the unit and charges your iPod. As with any GPS, it will use up your battery quickly if it is left on, but the iPod Touch has good power management software to help mitigate the drain.Prior to receiving the unit, I downloaded the app specifically for it. The day I received the unit, the app updated itself. I then plugged the unit in and immediately the app pushed a firmware upgrade to the unit. I also pushed fresh AGPS data to it. Initially the unit took a couple minutes to lock onto the satellites, just as the manual said. Once done, I had plenty of satellites. Susequent warm and hot restarts were very fast. The unit also has a small internal battery that helps maintain its data. That charges very quickly. The unit itself does not block access to the headphone jack on the bottom of my iPod Touch. The unit has a couple of multi-colored lights for various states of charge and satellite acquisitions status. It is tiny and light-weight. I do not have a hard case yet, so I don't know which ones would or would not work the this unit.Once satellites were locked, the unit was able to supply GPS data to any app that needed it. I tried it with several GPS programs including Latitude and Google Maps and it was fine. Sensitivity was good enough to pull a GPS lock inside my house.One thing to remember - if your tablet or phone lacks a built-in compass, this GPS will only give you a compass reading when you are moving. You don't have to be moving quickly, just a walking pace, but it must "see" you moving to calculate your direction and display it on the compass. Otherwise, the compass stands still. As I understand it, the iPhone 4S has a compass/magnetometer in it, so you would not need to move to have the compass be accurate. Since an iPod Touch lacks a built-in compass, you need to be moving for it to "synthesize" a compass bearing, etc. Not a fault of the unit, since it never claims to have a magenetometer in it, but something to remember.Customer service is first-rate with this company. I asked a pre-sales question and a tech support question. I barely waited any time to receive accurate responses that were obviously written by a real person, not some email robot trying to parse what I wrote and replying with some FAQ's. The pre-sales answering of my questions were what sold me on this unit. The prompt answering of my tech support questions confirmed that this was the right company to have purchased a GPS receiver from.

I have had this now for about two years. It has guided me through several trips across parts of the USA and has worked great for the most part.The Ultimate plugs into the 30-pin connector in the ipod, and can take a power cord through a much smaller connector on the opposite end. It is this smaller connector that is so delicate. I wish there was an alternate way to get power . I found that the stresses of normal movement of the unit from your hands to the car or boat cradle or where ever you set it down causes contact degradation over time. The connector is fragile and over time, it no longer makes a secure contact anymore causing the battery to drain instead of being charged.The second issue is a known issue by Emprum while Operating on iOS 6.1.6 on the iPOD Touch which is a bug in the iOS6 system and Emprum can not fix it. So, you need to be aware that there are several steps that need to taken just about every time you turn the GPS on. It has to do with privacy settings on location services in the iOS 6.1.6 system.You have to stop/clear all running programs 1st. Then you go to Settings - Privacy - Location Services and turn off everything. Then turn Location Services itself off.Then you have to do a hard shutdown - power off completely.Then you re-power on, turn on all your privacy settings again, and finally start the free Emprum Ultimate Software which only gives you your position, altitude, speed and direction of movement.There are no maps or charts or tracking features.For maps I use Co-Pilot which is absolutely great. And for charts and sailing I use several other programs which work well.One more thing I want to add before I close is that the Tech Service at Emprum is top notch. I get the impression they do care about their customer's success with their product.