New GPS dongle for I pad

[Denek]

Hi all. Looking for advice on which gps device to buy for my I pad. I have an old I pad with a gps Bluetooth device but the I pad is quite old and has been playing up lately. Freezes sometimes which can be a little disconcerting. I have a new I pad well new ish and the dongle will not pair with it so looking for a new option. Looked at bad elf but this plugs into the I pad and so will not allow it to be charged up while in use. Any suggestions?

 

[MarkCX]

Garmin do one that is reported to work well.

GLO™ 2 | Garmin

 

[Denek]

Good price too. The bad elf is £140

 

[dansaskip]

I have a bad elf ( Bad Elf pro GPS Bluetooth) which connects to iPad via bluetooth and so can be plugged into charge at the same time . Quite expensive yes but good battery life Its a good piece of kit and recommended.

 

[Denek]

Thanks I will take a look at these.

 

[Rocksteadee]

Do either of you iPads have the ‘cellular’ option where it can take a SIM card?
It is only with this option that includes GPS within the iPad. I bought my first iPad not knowing this, so location was only known if I had a wifi connection and sometimes took 10 min to update position.

 

[Turnnidge]

I have had the plug in Bad Elf for some time now and it works very well. It has a charge through socket so that the iPad can stay on charge while in use.

 

[Denek]

Do either of you iPads have the ‘cellular’ option where it can take a SIM card?
It is only with this option that includes GPS within the iPad. I bought my first iPad not knowing this, so location was only known if I had a wifi connection and sometimes took 10 min to update position.

Sadly neither do

 

[Denek]

I have had the plug in Bad Elf for some time now and it works very well. It has a charge through socket so that the iPad can stay on charge while in use.

I was not aware of that. This could work then. Mind you the Garmin one looks good value.

 

[Hadenough]

The garmin dongle is excellent.

 

[laika]

I have a Glo and can confirm it works with Navionics on an ipad. Being bluetooth rather than a lightening connector means you can easily use it with your laptop or other tablets.

 

[steve yates]

Another vote for the garmin, worked well for me with my ipad

 

[KompetentKrew]

Weird that your existing dongle won't pair.

I have quite an old bluetooth GPS - there was a fad for these around 2005, before cellphones commonly had GPS built in, before iPhones and when smartphones were for geeks. I'm sure they all used the same chipset, and mine still pairs with my current Android tablet, Windows 10 and (I think) my MacBook.

I don't mean to doubt you, but I'd have another go before discarding the existing dongle. Usually the passkey is 0000, and maybe there's something in the iPad's bluetooth settings - you should probably have those open when you try to pair.

 

[Daverw]

+1 for badelf, had one for 3 years, perfect and being able to charge through it really useful, also converts lead to mini usb which gives other charge lead option to ipad

 

[Adrian62]

+1 for Garmin Glo 2 connects easy and can be connected to up to 4 devices at once .