After using a bluetooth TomTom GPS receiver for months on end, I got fed up with the slow satellite acquisition and slow bluetooth pairing every time I turned the device on.  I mainly used the bluetooth GPS receiver with my carputer and iGuidance 4 for GPS navigation.  However, it gets annoying when the receiver only connects half the time and waiting for satellites can take minutes, not seconds.

It was time to look for a new receiver that could acquire satellites quickly and require no user intervention to turn the receiver on and off.  A USB GPS receiver was the solution for me since it’s A) powered by the computer, B) turns on/off based on if the carputer is on/off, C) SiRF III chipset, D) waterproof.  I ordered a Globsat BU-353 USB receiver and I was wondering why I didn’t purchase one from the start.

Installation was extremely easy and iGuidance 4 reconized the receiver right away.  Being waterproof, the Globsat BU-353 can be externally mounted.  This is a plus because if externally mounted, the receiver has a better line of sight to the sky, which results in faster satellite acquisitions.  It also has a magnetic base so you could attach it to anything metal on your car (roof, door, hood, etc).  I chose to mount it externally, right outside the windshield where it meets the hood.

Globalsat BU-353 @ Amazon.com

The performance of the receiver is simply amazing.  By the time my carputer boots into Windows and iGuidance is launched, the receiver already has a lock of at least 8 satellites.  So far, I’ve never had to wait for the receiver to lock onto satellites, it is always instant.  I’ve never had it lose it’s lock on the satellites and I haven’t had any problems with it thus far.  Simply said, this is an amazing GPS receiver that I’d be happy to recommend to anybody.  The downside is that the receiver is USB, so it can only be used with a computer, not cell phones.

I bought my receiver at Amazon.com for $36.95, which is the best price I could find; even better than eBay.

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