GPS: A Tale of Two Playbooks
After listening to so many people complain about the PB's GPS function, and after considering how the reported experiences differed greatly from my own, I decided to do an experiment. I took two of my three PBs - both 32GB models running OS 2.1.0.1562 - and, after a security wipe, side loaded Google Maps 6.11.1 onto both of them.
One of the PBs has been my workhorse for nearly 18 months and has always given me a reliable GPS fix. The other is a brand new PB that I've kept in reserve as a backup in case my primary device keeled over (prudent planning when you live on an isolated 3rd world island).
I cold booted (from power-off) each device, then took them outside my front door and tapped the "Compass" icon in Google Maps to trigger the GPS fix function. Here are my results:
Workhorse PB: Google Maps fixed the location in 7 seconds with only one tap on the icon.
Brand New PB: Google Maps fixed the location in 1:40 seconds after 4-5 taps on the icon.
Conclusion: Not all PBs are made equal. It seems that my "daily driver" PB, which has been by my side every day and has gone through every OS update since the 2.0 Beta, does a much better job of acquiring and locking a GPS signal than the brand new PB, which has been sitting unused in its neoprene sleeve since I received it last August.
Alternate Conclusion: The PB "learns" how to better acquire GPS signals through constant use and exposure to the sky?
Anyway, I thought I'd throw these results out there for discussion...
RCK