GPS Tracking Key Pro Review

Hacked Gadgets was sent a GPS Tracking Key Pro by Land Air Sea to review. There are many GPS device types available these days, this one acquires a GPS signal and records the time and location of the device to internal memory. Later the system is connected to a computer and the data is retrieved from the device. There are two ways to view the data in text form, or you can view the data on Google Earth. When viewing the data as text it shows things such as locations that the device was, driving time, stop time and distances traveled. When Google Earth is used you are presented a map with routes shown on the maps, there are tacks in the map that indicate where stops were made. Clicking on the tack shows when you arrived there and how long you were there for.

The tracking system is very small and light. There is two openings, one is protected by a rubber flap, this is where the USB cable is plugged. The other opening is where the two AA batteries are housed. The battery housing is sealed with a rubber gasket. While this device is not waterproof they have gone to considerable measures to keep the elements out.

There is a magnet on the unit that is there to facilitate affixing the unit to a vehicle. I don’t think I would trust the magnet to hold the device in place to the exterior of a vehicle though. While the magnet is quite strong a few well placed potholes would be sure to dislodge it from a wheel well of a vehicle. The other issue is the placement of the magnet, it is mounted to the battery compartment which is a removable part of the unit. I have never had the battery compartment open when it was being bumped around but I’m not sure what would happen with a few good jolts. I would hate to retrieve the unit and find only the battery lid left behind.

There are lots of other places that you can place the device though and not have to worry about the magnet holding though, I tried it in the glove box, my pocket, dash board, center console, in the wife’s purse (She put it in there) and it worked fine in all those locations.

The supplied software was simple to install and the manual indicated that Google Earth was also needed, both of these software packages were simple to install.

There are two small lights on the unit, one green LED indicated power and the other one flashes when the system is recieving a GPS signal. When in my basement it doesn’t get a signal but when it was upstairs on the kitchen table which is about 5 feet from a large window it got a signal and was flashing away.

There was only one time in the day of testing where the vehicle was driven out of a parking lot after about 1/2 hour of shopping and about 400 feet of driving was not recorded. Since the unit goes into a low power standby mode when it is at rest I can only assume that it took awhile to scync up to the satelites and that’s what caused the gap in data. Have a look at the image below to see what that gap looks like when viewed on Google Earth (Portage Ave. image).

Overall I was impressed at how small and robust the unit is. If you are looking for a method of tracking the movement of a vehicle this works well. I would just not recommend using the magnet to affix to the outside of a vehicle.

These devices are good for Fleet Management since if your employees know that you will have a GPS tracking where they drive your vehicle all day they are less likely to abuse their vehicle privileges.