There are a few reviews on the net of the Blue i's arch rival, the Morpheous Geodesy, but none so far (that I have found) of the Origin system. So here is a brief review of this latest GPS trap detector, comparing it with the Geodesy.

The Blue i is about the size and weight of two decks of playing cards and works on the same basic principle as the Geodesy GPS detector, which has been on the market for a while now. Both give a visual and audible warning of the close proximity of fixed speed enforcement apparatus (GATSO, SPECS etc), and both are kept updated via a desktop modem. However, the Blue i goes further than the Geodesy in terms of the amount of information presented to the driver, and has a more flexible user interface.

Having driven a few hundred miles around the North of England with mine this week, I'm able to report that it does exactly what it says on the tin. The warnings given are accurate and timely, and the database of trap locations seems comprehensive and up-to-date. I've encountered well over a dozen traps in various locations so far, and the unit hasn't faltered once. The only minor slip-up so far has been the unit detecting the trap on the central reservation of the Felling Bypass in Gateshead, but not reporting it as reversible (such traps are supposed to get a REV indication upon alert).

All in all, I'm pretty impressed. I'm confident I made a good decision to swap my BEL Vector Europa for one of these.

You can get more details of the functionality of the unit at Origin's website by clicking the image below

Geodesy v Origin Blue i

The question that is always going to be asked is, which should I go for, the Geodesy or the Blue i? Well, basically, the thing to remember is that the Geodesy was designed with bikers in mind. It's shockproof, weatherproof, and, as I've said, very portable. The Blue i requires a separate GPS antenna to be installed in the vehicle and plugged into the unit. Originally, Origin included a very neat custom antenna that clipped onto the base unit itself. It now ships with an antenna on a long 2m cord which is a royal pain in the arse to deal with. Origin claim that the longer antenna is now required "because of September 11th", but it seems more likely that they're saving money shipping a generic GPS antenna, rather than a bespoke one. On the other hand, it does mean that you can mount the detector unit remotely (say, near the gearshift) -- if you want to do this with the Morpheous, you have to buy an additional antenna as an option. The downside of the Geodesy's form factor is that it doesn't offer as much in the way of information, and doesn't have anything like a self-conatined user interface. In comparison, the large backlit dot matrix screen of the Blue i provides good, clear, useful warnings accompanied by voice alerts and a cacophany of beeping and flashing. The screen display also offers a useful advantage over the Morpheous, in that options such as alert range, brightness, volume etc can be altered by the user on the unit, rather than requiring a phone call to Morpheus, or Morpheous's PC-based software (which is, again, an additonal cost item on the Geodesy). It's also possible to download software updates to the Blue i, as and when new features are developed. Some have argued that the Geodesy's visible warning is much clearer, which in a limited way it is, but the ability of the Blue i to inform you of the prevailing speed limit along with the warnings is a nice feature that takes advantage of having a proper dot matrix display.

Since the launch of the Blue i, the a new "Geodesy Plus" has emerged from Morpheous, which among a few other minor enhancements and bug-fixes, adds a Blue i-style speed filter. It now generates the build-up warning lights as before if you're within the speed limit, but only flashes them and gives an audio alert if you're above the posted limit for that road. One thing they haven't fixed, however, is the direction sensitivity. Unlike the Blue i, which can be programmed to alert the driver only to those speed traps which are a threat to his or her direction of travel, the Geodesy simply assumes that all traps are reversible, which means a false alert where they clearly can't be — eg. a fixed camera mounting on the opposite carriageway of a motorway. That is a real shortcoming of the Morpheus system versus Origin's, and makes the whole idea of the unit being direction sensitive a bit pointless. One of the main reasons I decided to get rid of my (third) BEL radar detector for a GPS-based device was that I was attracted to a no-false-alerts solution. Alerting you to the presence of GATSOs pointed in the opposite direction, and which are no threat, reduced the appeal of the Geodesy when I was trying to decide which device to go for.

As an aside, I should point out that while I have found my Blue i to be a fine product, I have found Origin's service somewhat lacking. My unit originally arrived faulty (it was unable to achieve satellite lock, and the database downloading didn't work). I contacted Origin, who were friendly enough and asked me to return it. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a carry-on to get it fixed and get it back. Firstly, it wasn't returned within the week, as promised. When I chased it, it turned out that my unit had been separated from its covering letter, along with some other returned units, and they didn't know which unit to return to me. When I called to time, they'd tried to send it to to a completely wrong address, suggesting that this was my fault (despite the fact that they had my full, correct address on a printed letterhead!). So the back office support ain't very impressive, which is a great shame, because the Blue i itself is a marvellous device, and one which I would otherwise have no hesitation in recommending.

That said, both the Blue i and the Geodesy are great devices, and either of these two competing systems is a must for any enthusiastic driver. Of the people I know who rushed out to buy the first Geodesy, none have been disappointed, nor are they desperate to trade in their choice for the new Blue i, which merely takes the technology a logical step further. I'm sure that Morpheous will be working on a "Geodesy II" that will match or even exceed what Origin's device offers. What is certain though, is that 80% of all speeding tickets are generated by fixed camera installations, and that alone makes a GPS-based device a much more sensible proposition than a conventional radar detector these days.

Glenn Roberts, February 2002