Haicom HI-405BT Bluetooth GPS
Price: TBA
www.Haicom.com.tw

The 405BT GPS is a Bluetooth and USB GPS system. The system is all in one and not separate parts. The system looks like Haicom took the BT Slipper (401BT) and one of their 303 GPS units and combined them. The 405BT uses the same battery and has the same BT and Status lights as the 401BT Slipper, along with the same port on the side. But then, the 405BT bumps up to accommodate the GPS components.

The 405BT GPS comes in one of Haicom's great presentations. It comes in a nice looking box that has their logo and name on the outside. Then on the inside, the GPS is in a small box, under an insert there are the rest of the cables and manuals. All together you get:

• The GPS Itself
• Quick Start Manual and CD
• Car Charger
• AC Adapter
• USB Cable

First I will go over the GPS unit itself. On the top there is a red button that is used to turn on and off the GPS. On the front there are two lights, one blue one for the Bluetooth status (it blinks when it is on, and goes solid when it is connected to your PDA or other Bluetooth Device), and one amber one for the charging status (it lights up when you charge the GPS). On the left side there is a mini firewire port (used to connect the charger and accessories (note that it is firewire but does not work to connect the device to a firewire port)), and a red light that is to show the GPS signal status. On the left side there is a port to connect an external MMCX antenna.

One of the unique things about the 405BT is that you always use the USB Cable for Charging. The AC and Car Adapters do not have a cable attached, rather they have a USB port on them. To use either the AC or Car Adapter, you plug the USB Cable into the GPS and then into the USB port on either the AC or Car Adapter. The USB Cable does not work with your PC and the GPS to use the GPS as a USB GPS, but it does work to charge the GPS from a USB port.

The GPS setup is very easy. Using Pocket Map Navigator I did not even have to pair or install any drivers for the GPS. All I had to do was turn on the GPS, then click scan for GPS Device in Pocket Map Navigator. Once connected the GPS started to scan for GPS Satellites. The first time you start up the GPS (cold start) the unit took about 3 minutes to get a lock. Then once you have turned it on once, you can turn on and off the GPS and still get a lock in about 10-20 seconds. I was pretty impressed with this although my Haicom 303S gets a lock from a cold start in about 1-2 minutes.

The 405BT has very good accuracy. When using it out in open spaces, it keeps locked to the road very well. This GPS does not keep a lock when going into very covered areas like a parking garage or garage (the 303S being SIRF2 keeps a lock even in these places, but this is not unusual that the 405BT loses the lock since most GPS units (like the itrek and Deluo) will work great on the road, but not as well in covered areas). Overall I liked the performance of this GPS. It kept a good lock on about 11 satellites when going down the road. Also when it does lose a lock when going into say a parking garage, it is able to recover it quickly when you pull out.

Overall the 405BT is a very nice compact package. It has great functionality and good accuracy, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a moderately priced GPS with good performance for average use.

Thanks to Haicom for the Review Sample!