Question to T400s owners - do you have GPS?

I just ordered a t400s, but never saw any options or details about a GPS reciever. I even talked to a Lenovo rep and they didn't know either. In notebookreview's review, they mention the GPS reciever, so I want to know if it's automatic - meaning my t400s will have one.

 

I believe GPS is only a feature if you have a WWAN card.

 

Lenovo has an AT&T WWAN for $80 and a Verizon WWAN card for $125. If I would be able to call and add one of these to my setup, would I need to pay for a service to use the GPS receiver? (If the WWAN card has the GPS receiver that is)

 

To my knowledge the cards don't have GPS they allow triangulation based on cell tower info to give your approximate position.

 

It was pretty accurate, well beyond any standard triangulation. When I reviewed the T400s, it worked for speed tracking, plotted my point exactly with my Garmin GPS handheld unit.

 

Ah, not having paid particular attention to the T400s specs. Was it the WWAN or was it AGPS hardware in the laptop which requires a connection to the network to acquire satellite position data. That would explain your results. To my knowledge the current cards do not have on-board GPS, but I could be wrong.

 

I think it was an aGPS function of the wireless card. We had the ATT card with SIM card, but unactivated for service.

 

My amended guess is that it has internal aGPS. You do not need to have a WWAN card. The question is if they have it configured such that the downloads of epherimesis data can be made over WiFi (or altered to be made over WiFi). If so, the time to acquire a fix will be very short, and your experience will be a lot better because of it.

 

You must have the WWAN card to enable GPS function

ThinkVantage GPS (Global Positioning System) receives signals from the GPS satellites and determines the location of your ThinkPad.

GPS function in the following adapter cards are supported.
- Ericsson HSDPA Wireless WAN Adapter
- Qualcomm UNDP Wireless WAN Adapter

The following ThinkPad systems are supported:
- ThinkPad SL300, SL400, SL500
- ThinkPad T400, T400s, T500
- ThinkPad W500
- ThinkPad X200, X200s, X301

The following OS are supported:
- Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit, 64-bit
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Professional

 

That largely clears it up for me. I still wonder if the aGPS can be configured to grab the data over WiFi from 3rd party servers. Anyone have the application that accompanies it? I'd be willing to check it out...

 

If I get a unlocked WWAN card compatible with my T400, can I then just use any sim card with it? How does that work

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. I see that most of you think it will only work with a WWAN card. My t400s (without WWAN) gets here in a couple days, so if I can figure out if it has GPS I'll let you guys know.

As a side question - anybody know if can I open up my t400s and put in an aftermarket WWAN receiver?

Thanks, Brent

 

The GPS chip is on the WWAN card - without WWAN you don't have GPS feature. The Ericsson card used by Lenovo is model F3507g. It's specifically mentioned in its datasheet that the module supports stand alone and assisted GPS.

Yes, you can add WWAN aftermarket fairly easily (all the wires and antennas are already pre-installed) but you have to buy a Lenovo branded one! Others (i.e. generic) won't work because of BIOS lock.

 

Thanks dawn. I found the two WWAN cards on Lenovo's site that can be put into the t400s.

I still have a couple questions though, if you are anyone knows them.

[1] Does the gps functionality rely on antennas (meaning you basically need cell phone reception), or rely on satellites (meaning they work anywhere, like real gps's)?

[2] Do the WWAN cards provide this gps functionality even without a subscription to the wireless service?

Thanks a lot!

 

I'm afraid I can't provide conclusive answers for you... perhaps others may help more. I know that the card contains standalone GPS chip, which means it would work without cellular network signal. I remember to have read somewhere in the forums (not sure if it was here or over at thinkpads.com) that the GPS was functional without subscription to cellular service provider but SIM card was required to be inserted in the slot anyway (the SIM card didn't have to be activated).

 

Thanks again. If anyone else can help me with these two questions I would appreciate it:

 

Its satellite based (I have used several 3rd party apps to verify this). Its a 12 channel gps chip (meaning it can use up to 12 satellites)

works pretty good outdoors and driving. not so much indoors. I used it in camp sites all over Europe without any problems.

I also dont have a data plan, I just use the gps standalone (no monthly fees)

hope this helps

 

That seems like pretty good verification.

 

Thanks a lot batman, I appreciate it. If you do read this, please let me know what brand WWAN card you have - like I was saying, I see an AT&T or a Verizon one available to me.

 

I have the AT&T branded one (an Ericsson card)