ATP GPS Review
- Brand: ATP
- Subject: Mobile Imaging
- Category: GPS Navigation
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PMA 2008 Report
The ATP Photo Finder comes in four different colours; besides the green with black model we tested, black/white, white/black and white/orange versions are also available. The bright green part feels a bit like rubber. The black parts, used for the edges of the GPS Photo tracker, are made of plastic. With its dimensions of 3x1.5x1 inch, I wouldn’t exactly call the ATP Photo Finder compact. However; the included carbine clip - completely carried out in black plastic- offers a great solution. Furthermore, the ATP Photo Finder features a 128x32 Dot Matrix FSTN monitor which puts this ATP a step ahead of the competition, since most GPS photo trackers lack a monitor. The monitor offers information about your position through coordinates and the current date and time. Besides the Photo Finder and the carbine clip, a mini USB cable and a quick user’s guide in English are included in the package. The whole set is delivered in a simple cardboard box.
ATP Photo Finder
Besides the on/off button there are two more buttons placed on the top side of the Photo Finder. Looking at their functions these buttons have a rather special symbol. The symbols used are 'back' and 'forward' where as in fact they just serve to select 'Yes' and 'No'. You use these buttons to transfer pictures to and from the device to the computer. On the back of the GPS device, the battery compartment is found, which houses two AAA batteries. To the right we find the connections to plug in a mini USB cable and an SD / MMC / MS memory card. Furthermore, three LED indicator lamps are placed to the right of the monitor, showing the status of the memory, GPS reception and battery. Applying a monitor is great; however, it should have been developed further in my opinion. The light of the monitor is rather weak, which makes it difficult to read anything at all in broad daylight. On top of that the monitor is extremely scratch-prone which does not add to its readability.
GPS Geotagging
As soon as the ATP Photo Finder obtained sufficient GPS signal, I synchronized the time of my digital camera with that of the GPS picture tracker. This way the GPS device is able to tag your pictures; meaning that it is capable of registering your route and remembering where and when the associated pictures were taken. Once the times were synchronized, I set off. Unfortunately I had to stop several times en route to retrieve the lost GPS signal. There is no indication whatsoever, such as a beep, when signal is lost. Just as well, perhaps, considering it would have meant a constant beep in my ear…. The information is shown on the monitor, so covering the monitor with your hand to create some shade will allow you to read it. Still, you don’t want to have to deal with this all the time. If however you want to make sure the GPS data of your pictures is stored correctly, you have to check the ATP Photo Finder regularly to see if it is still receiving the GPS signal, otherwise you might get terribly disappointed coming home without the proper data in your device. Read the full ATP GPS review at LetsGoMobile.
