Real GPS Battery Life And Performance

This little baby may not look like much but it's hard to deny its benefits. The Nokia LD-3W with an estimated 22 hours of continuous tracking or 7 days standby and the newer LD-4W with A-GPS an estimated 11 hours continuous tracking and 4 days standby, might be just what you've been looking for and not even know it. I dare you to get even come close to that kind of operating life out of the N95.

Whether or not you purchase this Bluetooth GPS module or another it could be in your best interest to check one out. Users of GPS in the N95 know it is a battery killer. Those with the N810 know GPS is down right disappointing. On the other hand these devices have GPS, something other N and ESeries users may envy.

In the case of the Nokia LD-3W it uses a BL-5C, the same battery used in many popular Nokia models, better still it uses the same micro plug as most of the latest Nokia devices and accessories.

For a little cash users can drastically improve performance of their GPS reception not to mention battery life. Using GPS in the N810 can take several minutes for it to acquire a signal, if it ever happens, don't even bother if indoors. Using this unit changes everything! Paired to the LD-3W I can use GPS under 30 seconds from a cold boot, half the time on a warm boot even indoors (in my house at least).

Bluetooth is much less of power a drain than the internal GPS of either the N95 or N810, making extended periods of GPS away from the car charger much more practical. N800 and other S60 users can enjoy GPS without a costly upgrade. I have been able to use this module on a N73, N95-3, N810 and an E65 as seamlessly as the built-in GPS of the N95 on Nokia Maps and Google Maps.

Something to consider and think about should your devices lack GPS or have extremely poor battery life or functionality.

-- Matthew Stevens

Comments

[Mark]

The LD3W is a great bit of kit. I got it when i had my N80 so i could use GPS and I use it all the time now with my N95 8GB. The N95 is great when you are out and about but for proper navigation while driving switch off the internal GPS and use the LD3W

[Rich Hoeg]

Why even purchase a N810 ... get a N800 and an external bluetooth received. See my own evaluation of the two systems. Click upon my name for a direct link.

[Johnny Jones]

Has anyone been able to connect the n800 to a tomtom go 720? I can get the two to pair, but neither will do anything else. The tomtom will try to connect, on which it displays needed information not found. Any ideas?

[Jaakko H.]

Especially for those with an internal GPS I recommend "Energizer cell2nok", an extra battery pack, which only costs $10-20 and to which I can feed standard AA batteries, rechargeable or normal. This is a good option for many other purposes, too.

[pravin]

Hi
Did you pair this with an n95 using bluetooth?

[Matthew]

@Rich indeed you could save some money buying the N800 instead. Having used both I like the smaller form factor and the keyboard is nicer than the tap-tap method.

@pravin Yes, the unit is a BT GPS unit, there is not connector for anything else but to charge the battery.

[charlie]

Heh. Depending on what I am doing, I sometimes turn off the internal N95 GPS and put a GPS module, turned on, in my backpack. Then I can have the N95 constantly connected (or connected when I need it to be) when navigating a place without having to keep the N95 out and open (a pain if you are navigating a foreign town by foot or cycle).

[gps batteries]

Very fine!