As an outdoor person, we were most delighted to be given a chance to try out this new USB GPS travel logger by i-gotU. For those not familiar with what a GPS logger actually does, by attaching this tiny gadget to a backpack or just pocket it after turning it on, we will then be able to keep a record or show others when and where we have been to together with details like the exact longtitude and latitude, speed, altitude, etc. To make sharing the details mentioned above even more easier, i-gotU comes with an extremely easy to use “@trip PC” (linked to www.a-trip.com account) software which functions as a data import client quickly allowing you to manage,geotag and share your recent trips onto blogs as well as photosharing sites such as Flickr and Picasa.

Design

This little gadget is about the size of a digital wrist watch in a little white box and fits into its own rubber jacket weighing approximately just 20g, supposedly water-resistant and thus suitable for all kinds of weather condition. When you go on a trip, it is of such a tiny size that it is hardly noticeable. There are some GPS loggers on the market at the moment offering similar functionality but nothing as small as the i-gotU. Should you decide to bring it with you on holiday, you will not be disappointed at the convenience its tiny design brings.

Features / Functionality

When you take the i-gotU out on a trip or for sports for the first time, all you need to do is connect the i-gotU via its USB cable and allow it to charge its internal battery for four hours. After this, whenever you need to charge it again, only two hours will be fine. To switch it on, press the button in the centre for 1.5 seconds, i-gotU will then start searching for satelites. When both red and blue LEDs blink, this indicates that your location is now being logged and recording of your trip’s journey via GPS will begin. When you want to stop recording, simply just press the centre button again for 1.5 seconds and its LEDs will switch off.

Here are more detailed features which some of you may want to know about:

• It allows the user to auto-map photos with GPS location information
• Organize and present the journey on 3D Google map and Google Earth
• Compatible with all digital cameras &camera phones
• Easy-to-use @trip PC software user interface (requires internet connection to run its maps), the software can also be downloaded here
• Export in multiple file formats, support web albums
• Water-resistant hardware design, suitable for rainy days, skiing, water sports

Practicality

After taking it out for a couple of trail runs, we are a bit disappointed to have to say that unless we start and end the journey in a wide open or non-built up area, it looks like the i-gotU will have difficulties in connecting with satellites. This resulted in sometimes missed logging or as we noticed when we imported its data, “skipped” journeys as it thought we had gone on multiple trips on the same day as opposed to actually just one. We had largely expected this to happen, indeed, this is one of the most common problems experienced by portable GPS logging units such as this. i-gotU website’s FAQ section also explained that this isn’t necessarily surprising. So it does not really work in urban areas where there are just too many tall buildings, and thus do not really live up to what its designed for! At the end of one trail journey, it had even indicated side trips to places we have never been to (below), this is likely to have been a result of intermittent receptions with the satelite in areas with poor signaling. Despite this, if you don’t live in a very crowded city or areas with plenty of tall commerical buildings and want to log trips when you visit the countryside, the i-gotU is an ideal gadget for doing this job.

To briefly conclude then, this is a good and useful gadget if it can record every position throughout the journey both indoor as well as out,  but if this is not the case or proves to be unreliable then it will not sell or may ruin its reputation despite its incredible, small size, light design. Looks like more work needs to be done to make this gadget stand out from other similar gadgets out there!

Pros:

• Excellent design, lightweight and convenient to carry while on the move
• Equipped with easy to use software bundle
• Well thought out for those who enjoy social networking (blogging, photosharing)
• £48 in the UK is within reasonable pricing (find it where and how much it retails in your area)
• Should you run into problems, you can always expect good technical and customer services via i-gotU’s website

Cons:

• The one and only problem with the i-gotU is the difficulty it experiences when trying to properly locate satelites for those living in crowded towns and cities, if that’s not you, we highly recommend you check it out

For those who are interested in the i-gotU, also check out this 3D virtual reality travel video: