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I purchased the PhotoTrackr with bluetooth in the hope that I could leave my Magellan eXplorist at home and rely on this unit to track my position while photographing in the field. It works perfectly for this. I also like the automatic "sleep" feature which stops recording if there is no movement for a set period. The software is cleverly designed and works well with Google Earth. The bluetooth capability is handy for connection a laptop or PDA for realtime map positioning, which I occasionally do. I did have some problems with the USB connection to the unit becoming read-only after a version upgrade; and the documentation could be better.

The hardware side of this device works great. Long battery life, easy to use, fast satellite acquisitions. The documentation could use an overview of the buttons and lights and how the hardware controls work. This info can be found on the GiSTEQ support forums, but not in detail in the included documentation. The major hit is that this is advertised as having support for the Mac platform. The only part that works on the Mac is the bluetooth serial device connection. As of 8/26/08 the Mac Phototrakr software cannot communicate with the device to download the tracks and way points or to configure the device. The is no Mac firmware flashing utility either. The hardware doesn't work under Parallels running Win XP either. The only way of accessing the hardware to get the tracks/waypoints or to change settings or clear the memory is to use Boot Camp and run Win XP on your Mac. This is not "Mac Supported" hardware.

If you are a Windows user, I'd give this hardware/software package 3.5 stars, the software has quirks that are annoying so it wouldn't get a perfect 5 star. You can't delete out track points that are irrelevant or have bad fixes. Sometimes things seem to lock up and you have to kill the app via taskmanager. The software isn't the most user friendly thing out there, but it is functional, and the hardware is great. The documentation being lacking applies to both the Mac and Win side, and that ticks off at least 1/2 a star.

overall this is a very good product.
I used it when I traveled to NY. it is worth mentioning that it has a hard time locking the GPS signal when there are tall buildings all around (Manhattan).
but after it acquires the lock it keeps it.
the provided software has some quirks.
The fact that they decided to include a software activation machnism is very annoying.
I'd much rather if they verified that I am allowed to use the software by making me connect the GPS to the PC.

The software writes data (downloaded GPS log files, database) to a location under c:\program files, which is a bad practice, it will require the user to have admin rights in order for it to work.

Also, there is no easy way to export all GPS data logs and the rest of the data from the one instance of the software to another instance (i.e. an installation of the software on another PC).
which means there is no easy way to backup and restore it. hopefully this will improve in future versions.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3F5H05T2GPNN5 Works for standalone photo geotagging, plus interfaces with my Nokia N800 tablet for map navigation. 5 stars with the caveat that it is a bleeding-edge device. Bundled software has a nice feature set and interfaces with the major photo-sharing sites, but is a little unstable.

Has a small built-in speaker that says, "Satellites positioning", "Satellites locked", "Bluetooth on" and "Bluetooth off". The volume of the speaker can be adjusted or turned off. Green LED indicates power, red LED indicates satellite lock, blue LED indicates Bluetooth on.

I have only used the GiSTEQ a few times. It works as a good tool for finding where you have been. The online maps are generally accurate until you are in a rural area, then you have to figure out the names of streets and locations from the local county maps. The road I live on has been here for years but it and many other roads in rural Alabama are incorrectly named. I wonder if the maps were drawn by an Auburn Grad?

Roll Tide