PSP-290 vs GPSlim236

[deniska]

Actually, with extension cable, PSP-290 performance seems somewhat comparable with Holux units.
Creating a good cable is a bit tricky. I got pretty good results with a spring bar from an old watch belt, used as power connector...

[zsc]

i tihnk the biggest pluses with the GPSlim 240 are the internal battery and the built-in bluetooth.

the battery - even when it's disconnected from the PSP, the receiver still receives signal from satellites, making it easy to resume using MapThis even if you have to turn the PSP off for a few minutes, say while you grab coffee at starbucks. It's supposed to last about 10hours on its own...i haven't tried this though...the longest I've gone without recharging is about 5 hours or so.

bluetooth - I can use the GPSlim 240 with the PSP, my motorola SLVR L7, my Dell laptop running Vista and OS X. Google Earth Plus (for $20 a year) lets you use the GPSlim 240 as the receiver to give you real-time location. Did I mentioned that I can do these things all at the same time? (except running Vista or OS X, it's one or the other) The GPSlim 240 lets you use BOTH serial and bluetooth connections at the same time.

The down side is that I won't be able to play PSP games that use the GPS receiver, eh, I don't play that many games anyway. That and the fact that bluetooth is broadcasting all the time. If only there's a way to turn that off, then i think the battery life would really skyrocket.

[Qman46]

I bought a cable from the first site that Deniska posted as selling premade cables. The thing fell apart yesterday, never even pulled on it or anything, plug part on the end kind of just separated itself from the rest of the cable, so I went to unplug it and the plug stayed in the psp and the cable went with my hand. I have the 236 and a 290, and the 236 blows the 290 away. It takes about 15 seconds to get like 7 fixes where I am. The 290, I sometimes wouldn't even get a fix, let alone 13 satellites compared to the 236. PLUS I put TomTom on my Tmobile MDA and use the 236's built in bluetooth to navigate if I'm not in the PSP mood.

[Codaz]

zsc you can open up the Holux (void warranty maybe) and manually disconnect the bluetooth module. That improves batterylife.

[killa12345]

My 290 works very well it takes a little to get a fix but i really dont care i just leave it on in the car for ten min and i get back and i have 10 sats sometimes with 8 fixes.....i live in s. fl where there is not much trees due to the hurricanes..but im buying a holux unit this week to test between the units....

On another note.....i find myself getting fixes faster in my car with siruis satellite radio....its very weird...everytime im in my suv with satellite radio i get almost full signal strength even with the psp on my seat...i can go under bridges and keep a signal and if i do lose signal the second i get back out of an obstruction it links again.....once again nice work guys the program is the sh*T.:thumbup: