Freedom Input Keychain GPS 2000

List Price: $99.95 Discount Price: $68.98

Features:

• Box Contents - Freedom Keychain GPS 2000, 12/24v Car charger cable, USB Home charger cable, Key link, Quick Start Guide and hints manual
• Dimensions - 1.81 x 1.26 x 0.58 (46x32x14.5mm)
• Weight - 22 grams, 0.77 ounces

Customer Reviews:

Works as advertised [Posted on 2008-09-21]
Bought this to synch with my Motorola q9m smartphone. Once I adjusted the settings on them q9m (no thanks to Moto found on a forum)it worked great. Amazing actually. Once it obtains satellites it doesn't lose them. If your looking for a bluetooth GPS receiver, look no further.

Great GPS receiver in a small package [Posted on 2008-09-30]
Very happy with the Freedom Keychain GPS 2000. Works with Garmin Mobile XT on my Palm 680 just fine. Very fast in locking in position, and battery life seems ok (about 6 hours for me). Quite sensitive--I can keep it in my pocket or in the car center console and it stays locked on the satellites--doesn't need to have a direct view of the sky. Only thing I wish it had was a "battery meter" like Garmin's Mobile 10x receiver (maybe it does, but Mobile XT doesn't recognize or display it, as it does with the Mobile 10x receiver).

Fantastic performance from a tiny device! [Posted on 2008-10-23]
I bought the Freedom 2000 keychain GPS to use with my BlackBerry Pearl, which didn't include a built-in GPS. The Freedom 2000 has worked extremely well. Once the GPS locks onto a signal (~30 seconds), this receiver doesn't let go! You can place the receiver in your pocket, and it will continue provide tracking information.

I have since used this tiny GPS to power Google Maps, Microsoft Live Search, the free NAV4ALL driving navigation program, and more on my BlackBerry. I even found a free program for my BlackBerry that would let me record my bike rides and upload the tracks to the internet!

I truly believe this GPS is best in class, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it!

Small sized miracle [Posted on 2008-11-28]
The Freedom 2000 Key Chain GPS 2000 receiver is truly a small miracle. When I took the unit out of the box it needed a charge, and after charging I went to work hooking it up with my BlackBerry 8320. The user manual is relatively short and cryptic. It does not tell you a lot about the system, but I did find the Bluetooth code required for the GPS receiver to latch on to the Blackberry. After the link was established, I went outside to find the satellites. It did take a minute or two before it had gathered enough signals to determine my location and transmit the same to my Blackberry, where I use Google maps as my GPS software. Returning indoors, I did not lose the GPS links.

The next day I took my combo on the road for a test, with the keychain GPS receiver dangling off the key chain below my ignition. Google Maps and the GPS receiver had my position mapped out in about 30 seconds and the connection remained solid for a 100 mile road trip. I have not experienced a drop of synchronization as some of the other reviewers have indicated. I also tried the receiver with the BlackBerry Maps software and it worked well, except that the Blackberry Maps update was too slow for my travel speed, so that I saw my position in a "blank" map, which of course is no help. When waiting for a traffic light, I would see the map loading catch up, so that I could see where I was. I guess BlackBerry Maps will work well when I take it for a walk. But remember, all BlackBerry GPS software systems mentioned here require data communications to retrieve the maps, so this GPS combo will not work for a hike in the boonies.

The only issue I noticed was that the battery life of the Keychain receiver is shorter than the 9 hours advertised. I would put it more around 5 hours. That said, since it uses the same standard USB charger as the Blackberry, it is not too difficult to pump some additional power into the GPS receiver while driving.

In short, I am happy with this purchase. It works and it is affordable.

Impressive product, terrible documentation [Posted on 2008-12-02]
This little unit performs impressively and the build quality is better than I expected for the cost. It reliably gets precise GPS readings to within 30 feet or less and works very well with my Samsung i760 smart phone using Google Maps. So far it has easily kept the satellite lock even inside a moving vehicle in residential neighborhoods. But the lack of detailed documentation for connecting it to a PDA or smartphone is lamentable. They do offer a simple one-page setup guide plus a link to their (terrible) website, where you can find barely adequate configuration instructions if you look hard enough. Nowhere do they even tell you that you can charge the device with your computer using the USB cable -- you can, and it's a great feature -- but providing hardware with no instructions on how to use it is inexcusable. If the documentation weren't so laughably inadequate for such a great product, I'd give this 5 stars without question.

Click here for more details and discount information...