Question : DOD LS430w GPS or GT550WS GPS?

[kmd1970]

A while back, I bought the DOD LS400W and have been having issues with it since day one. Broken mount, Micro-SD incompatibility, Random lockups and going into MASS Storage mode while driving.

Foxoffer won't help and DOD gave me some line about "The DOD USA couldn’t support the warranty service for those products bought outside of the North America. Please be understand. " - Cecilia Feng. She finally said "Let me check how to help you out.", but never came back. :/

So now am looking for a new camera and I want GPS. The Ls430w has internal GPS and can be had for $185 on Ebay and the GT550WS has external GPS and is $129 or $147 (express shipping) on Foxoffer.

Any thoughts on which one to get?
Are the features the same?
Which GPS is faster/accurate, the internal or external?
Does the external GPS module need unobstructed view of the sky (mounted on the glass)?

Thanks!

 

[niko]

In most cases external GPS module is better choice. It is bigger in size ( stronger receiver can be built in ) and also gps antenna module can be mounted away from other gadgets ( like mobile phones, GPS, etc ) to prevent causing an interference. Of course it's all depends on how good "other" gadgets in your car are shielded.

 

[forcedfx]

I can't speak for the GPS aspect, but I have the GT550W and it has been rock solid for me for the past month or so using a 16GB Class 4 Sandisk card. My only complaint is that the motion detection is not sensitive enough when sitting at a traffic light and while driving at night. Perhaps if there were a setting for it to wait 2 or 3 minutes after last detecting movement.

 

[REyewitness]

Both GPS receivers are the latest high speed units. With our testing DOD LS430W seemed to be a bit better at grabbing the signal...but not a huge difference. Antenna on GT550W does not need to be laying on the dash to work.. we tucked it behind rearview mirror with no issues.
Image quality is the same, both have a nice custom GPS player with Google map integration.