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Road testing the PSP GPS

Posted Jan 19, 2007 at 04:38AM by Tim Y. Listed in: Accessories, Opinions & Analysis Tags: GPS, Panasonic
Ó

If you ever fancy using the PSP's GPS function outside playing Portable Ops, this may help you think it over. Somebody decided to put his portable to the test, and matched up a PSP GPS/Maplus Portable Navi UMD to a Panasonic car GPS.

The Results:

  • The Panasonic starts at the same time as the car, while the PSP requires a 5-minute warm-up time.
  • The Panasonic didn't have problems when going through tunnels, while the PSP suffered connection problems.
  • The Panasonic's system menu could access addresses, names and phone numbers. The PSP allowed only provides info for addresses
Yeah, we know - it just doesn't sound fair comparing the PSP to a dedicated car GPS. The author didn't either apparently, as he tried the unit out for something a little more lucrative - mounting it on a motorcycle. He placed the PSP in a map case built for bike touring, and loaded up an external battery pack to boost service life to 14 hours. Also included in the pack were a pair of earphones to allow him to hear the PSP's voice messaging on the rode.

PSP mounted on a motobike - Image 1 PSP mounted on a motobike - Image 2 


The verdict on this side? The system worked well at night, though it was difficult to read in daytime driving. The software felt somewhat old compared to other dedicated GPS nav systems, and there was no way to distinguish between national and prefectural roads.

Now, before we hear the flaming, do understand that the GPS function is built as an Add-On, meaning it's an accessory to the unit rather than the meat of what the PSP's all about (cough*homebrew*cough). Secondly, the comparison was done between a portable gaming system and a GPS navigation system, which was purpose-built for this sort of thing. We'd be more surprised if the purpose-built GPS system flopped.

if anything, this just tells us that GPS tech for the PSP may be long in the tooth at the moment, though homebrew devs may see this as a challenge - think you guys can do better than this? And lastly, this argument stands - can the Panasonic play homebrew, UMDs, MP3s movies and images? We think not. Then again, we strongly advise against playing any of these while driving.

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13 Comments


Sort by:
   by g (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » g
*****arama

   by Vipre77 - 2007-01-19
 » Sounds a little flaky
It sounds as though there's some hardware and software deficiencies with this setup. I guess for $50 or whatever you shouldn't expect a top-of-the-line GPS unit. 5-minute warm-up? What exactly needs to "warm up?" It's all solid state electronics, so there should be no warm-up period required. Slow to sync with a satellite, perhaps, but actually "warming up?" As for losing a signal when the Panasonic unit didn't, the only thing I can think of is that the antenna/receiver is a bit weak. Perhaps this is why the unit hasn't been released outside of Japan yet? Perhaps they're working on revising the design a bit first?


   Re: spanky (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » Panasonic can't get sat sig in tunnel
Maybe the panasonic just kept the current route/speed when entering a tunnel. I'd ***** myself if it actually got a signal un a tunnel. I have had MANY GPS units and none of them could consistently even get a signal in a house. Most of them would lose a signal even if my windows are dirty, or any bad weather.
   by gomez (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » warmup
by warmup, its generally referring to the initial seek time for 3 satelitte connections n replies. (3 needed to triangulate exact position on the globe)

id love to see a comparison between this and Deniska's GPS hack. As stated in the article, homebrew is what the PSP has going for it most. Thanks to dedicated programmers/tinkerers/designers our PSP units arnt 'just another' solid state device that has a life span of


   Re: gomez (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » continuing on...
(previous msg didnt like the 'less than' character)

less than 2 years.

Lets hope we can keep it this way.
Imagine what kind of message would be sent by nobody buying PSP2, if it exists, and continuing to purchase downgradable PSP units. Not that Sony would listen.
   by urmom (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » *****
actually almost every gps addon take 7seconds or more, so 5seconds for the psp that is pretty damn good .
plus u can go wrong with $50 compare to hundreds if not thousands $$$


   Re: Assneck McGee (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » duh
It says 5 minutes wanker. Anyway, I don't wanna here about this sh7t; these f**ks need to get their a55es in gear and get this POS add-on to other parts of the world!
   by deniska (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » apples and oranges....
It's kind of stupid to compare build in car nav system with a stand alone portable GPS receiver.
They differ in price, underlying technology, size, etc..

Price: 20-50 times (!!!) difference.. ($50 vs $1000+)

Technology: build in car nav systems are not 100% gps, technically speaking)...They also employ other technologies to keep track of where the car is (inertial backup system, "stick to road" coordinate approximation algorithm, powered gps external anntenna, etc..) This is why car systems work in tunnels and have no warm up time - (the system assumes that the car does not move with engine off)

Size and aplication: try placing the car system in your pocket or use it off the road - you'll be dissapointed...

   by Advertising -
   by fdsaf (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » fdsaf
Can't wait till this hits north america.. seems like one of the only cool things sony has come up with in the last few months for the psp.

   by Kenny (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » wow
rode=road. Spell check in FF works.

   by gerry a. trik (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » keke
QJ is like a time machine... that can only go into the past.. old newz!

   by j (Unregistered) - 2007-01-19
 » japanese?
im assuming this guy is japanese...

hope seriously hope sony do it right with this..not some half-baked ***** as usuall

   by goober (Unregistered) - 2007-02-18
 » PSP GPS - Built in vehicle GPS differences
All the comments above regarding car GPS systems are pretty well accurate.

I used to work for a major car manufacturer as a Hi-Tech diagnostic technician - and its true even a car GPS cannot receive signal from a sattelite unless in direct line-of-sight, so in a tunnel or similar, the GPS system receives feedback signals from wheel speed sensors (the same sensors that operate feedback for ABS systems) and steering wheel turning sensors - the car can be pretty accurate in determining its position on a vehicle restart from these sensors, providing it has memory of the position on the globe it was in prior to power off. That is how they dont need warm up time they still effectively need to tri-angulate between 3 sat signals to determine where they are (remember they must be line-of-sight to the satellite too).

No GPS including the PSPs GPS is capable of determining exact position without 3 sat signals.

As a final note, I live in Japan and use the said GPS system nearly everyday to negotiate my way around the country, apart from a few quirky instructions it gives me - the system works wonderful, and for the price - even better. and I can take it with me when I leave the car to listen to music, play games, use walking mode GPS, just about anything as long as it aint a brick...... ;)



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