BlackBerry® PlayBook™

[jimmy_mccrillis]

Much slower than the BB, but it does eventually work.

[peter9477]

If you're still having trouble with GPS, make sure you give it adequate time to download ephemeris data from the satellites, especially if you haven't used it for a few days or if you've changed locations much since the last time you used it.  This process appears to take well over a minute, in some cases several minutes.

Also critical, perhaps, is that the GPS antenna appears to be located in the lower right corner of the device.  If you're holding it fairly tightly in your right hand, or otherwise blocking that corner much, you could be significantly affecting the readings.

[constructionlaw]

I'm new to the playbook, and love it, but I can't seem to get the GPS to put me anywhere but Chapel Hill, NC!  Wierd.  I am in Richmond, VA

[Xandrex]

@constructionlaw :
I use BING to find my GPS position. After 30s it stops searching, so I just close it and restart. After 3 or 4 tries, it finds me. at my exact position.

[constructionlaw]

I get accurate readings when not logged into my office Wifi.  Does wifi have any effect on the GPS chip?  Everywhere but here it gets an accurate reading, slow but accurate

[peter9477]

@constructionlaw, WiFi should have no significant effect on the GPS, but anything's possible, especially if a software defect is involved.

How inaccurate would you say the readings are?

Also, how slow is it when "slow but accurate"? And which app are you using to measure the accuracy and speed here?

[constructionlaw]

I have done this with both Bing Maps and Magellan Compass.  I get a strong reading, but the location comes up as Chapel Hill, NC when I'm at work and logged into the office suites hotspot.  When at home on home wifi and, I would assume, logged into other Wi-Fi networks, I get an accurate reading,  FYI- I'm in Richmond, VA

[peter9477]

The GPS doesn't give locations as city/state, so I can't quite say what that all may mean. 

Try this instead:

1. Download the Compass app.

2. Run it and wait for it to stabilize... since you can't trust its "accuracy" reading, try waiting for a few minutes and possibly watch until only the last few digits of the lat/long coordinates are changing regularly.

3. Plug those coordinates into Google Maps and see where you are according to it.

By the way, you can do this test with and without WiFi enabled, as the GPS does NOT itself need WiFi to get your position.  It does, however, need the PlayBook to have line-of-sight visibility of four or more satellites, not much atmospheric humidity, no tall structures nearby that may reflect the signals and confuse the receiver, and perhaps most importantly not have your hand or anything covering the lower-right corner where the GPS antenna seems to be.

[constructionlaw]

I did this while logged in to wifi, but got a chapel hill set of coordinates.  I'll update from somewhere else and with no wi-fi

[only1maher]

there is no built in A-GPS device on the playbook, it's using the internet connection to get the locations, playbook has only wi-fi and bluetooth connections only