Positives and negatives | Holux M241 Bluetooth GPS receiver Data logger with LCD Display

simple logger that works | Holux M241 Bluetooth GPS receiver Data logger with LCD Display

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	• Holux M241 Bluetooth GPS receiver Data logger with LCD Display Holux Holux average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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A useful, compact GPS and photo logger

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 ten minutes or so to get an initial fix, 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.

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Positives and negatives

Cute little gadget. It is a comparatively fast and sensitive little Bluetooth GPS unit with a tiny display that can show Lat/Lon/Alt/Speed/Compass/etc. and has a backlight. It will also automatically or manually log waypoints and routes with a modest number of configurable options. It works great with my Treo 680 Smartphone and DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2006 Handheld Edition. In fact it is more reliable than my DeLorme Bluetooth GPS's. Running 12 hours on an alkaline AA battery is rather amazing. The fact that the accompanying software can export the saved waypoint and route data in a number of formats, including NMEA and Google Earth KMZ format is cool. The software is a bit primative but it seems to work. I hope they come out with some updates.

Now for the negatives.

The USB driver doesn't seem to work properly on XP!!!

It seems to work okay on Win2K Pro.

Fortunately it is possible to connect your XP PC and the data download software to the M-241 over Bluetooth and get the data off of it. Slowly.

And Holux Technical Support (email to China) seems to be strictly a one-way communication medium. You send them emails and nothing ever comes back.

Would I buy it again? Yes! It's cheap and works great as an amazingly sensitive and fast little GPS. And if you can negotiate the usual quirks and user hostility of Bluetooth, you can make it do everything that Holux promises it can do. However it sure would be nice if Holux fixed the stupid USB driver for XP!

-Christopher Erickson

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simple logger that works

I've had this for a few months, and it works. I take it hiking and use other software (GPicSync, free) to geotag the photos. Make sure you set your camera to the right time (get the "true" time from the logger). I seems pretty accurate, finds the satellites after a little while (< 1 min), and has enough recording options. I really like that it uses AA batteries; it will run all day on a lithium rechargeable (2700 mah) that I also use for my camera. When I'm away for a few days, I just bring extra AA's. It can store a lot of waypoints. It has distance and time logging options, can display speed, distance traveled, location, can be locked to avoid accidentally turning logging on/off. And it's been knocked around without complaining.

The USB and bluetooth work fine on a couple of computers (XP); it is important to install the USB drivers before connecting it. I find the USB much easier than the bluetooth. You can adjust the settings from the software, which makes life easier.

OK, some quirks: the software appears to offer geotagging, but does not; the GPicSync works great though. With the USB connection, you have to figure out which COM port it connects to; this is trial and error (COM6 for me), but it stays the same each time you connect it. If it runs out of power while logging, the file is lost (same thing if you accidentally turn it off); there is a low-battery indicator, but you need to be checking it pretty regularly, or have a good idea how long your battery will last. The battery cover feels pretty fragile. You can't tell it to start logging until you get a fix on the satellites, which means each time you turn it on you need to remember to start logging a minute later.

I think for money and convenience (AA, reasonable memory, accuracy), it's the best logging option - at least in March it was!

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