tablet programs & tablets vs gps units

[Jeep or Tacoma]

I have a fair amount of experience with gps units lowrance garmin older soni and others I have no experience with tablets and programs I was on google earth finding all these really cool places to go. and fun offroad ways to get there. So my questions are with Tablets what do you have to do to make them act like a gps and what programs/apps are used. When you do this then can you use google earth as a base map and track real time progress on the base map. But because google earth sort of flattens things is there also a program or app that you can either over topo or toggle back and forth between the topo and the airp hoto of google earth? can some one sort of give me and lots of other folks here a primer on how the whole tablet nav thing works? or post a link?
Like do you have to have cell coverage?
if not do you need a satellite antenna or whatever that thingy would be called?
Are you paying data rates?
what are the pos and cons of tablet travel vs dedicated gps travel?
Can I somehow transfer the cool trails i made on google earth to a gps unit or a tablet unit?

 

[98OzarksRunner]

If you have an Android tablet (pretty much anything but an iPad), there's a lot of good info here:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/61195-Best-Android-Overlanding-software

For using most mapping software (like Backcountry Navigator, which I use), you don't need data service. You can cache the maps before you go (onto your data card or internal memory). Most of the tablets have good GPS built in, and don't need an external antenna (I have a Samsung Tab 2 10.1, and it works great). You can download FREE maps from from USGS or USFS (with the Backcountry Navigator app). I don't know about satellite maps; I just use topo maps. With the USFS topo maps, resolution is down to about 50', and very accurate (the GPS, not the maps - most are terribly out of date and the roads don't go where they say). Backcountry Navigator is $10.

The nice thing about a tablet is you can also use it for other things, like remote control of the GoPro camera, run apps to monitor the truck's electronics. It is also a lot easier to see the 10" tablet than my small Garmin GPS (with almost unreadable topo maps).

 

[robgendreau]

Look at some of the other threads here about GPS apps and tablets. It's been discussed before.

For iOS, I like GaiaGPS, Motion X GPS, and Trimble's apps. All allow downloading of maps ahead of time, which is essential if you're going places without wifi or cellular coverage. If you have experience with self-contained GPS units this is familiar; the difference is that you don't have all the maps automatically stored on the device; you have to go get them (which these apps do IF they have an online connection). The big advantage (aside from cost) is that with these apps you can choose your maps, or aerial photos. There are tons of different ones, tons. And the good apps allow you to layer one upon another. I think Google Earth is very nice to futz around with, but I think you'll find not that many use it for navigation (the ones I mentioned and Backcountry Navigator are more popular).

You can always use the tablet, if it has GPS, as just a GPS unit, just as we did before Garmin and Trimble began including maps with those units. You can mark GPS points, or use various apps to record a track, so you can follow it back. No map required. You can use them as compasses, since unlike many dedicated GPS units they have built in compasses, and also accelerometers. You can record tracks in order to geotag photos. You can use the camera in the tablet to look through the iPad or iPhone like a theodolite. You can do logging along with OBD data from your vehicle to keep sophisticated records of performance. The list goes on forever; it's not really a fair comparison. It's like compared a whole tool box to a hammer.

And yes, if you make "trails" in other applications or on the internet or whatever in commonly recognized formats (KML, GPX, or even CSV) you can import them to any of these or millions of other GPS apps.

I'd suggest you just search on the names of apps we've mentioned and take a look at their sites. They usually have tons of screenshots of the functions and that's a good way to see if it's for you. What tablets lack, in general, is robustness, weatherproofing, state of the art GPS units (and antenna connections, which can help in reception), and dedicated controls for GPS (touchscreens being tough with muddy hands or gloves on say the handlebar of a dirtbike).

Rob

 

[Backroad Explorer]

ipad, Dual GPS150, MotionX, Galileo, ScenicMaps West & PDF Maps make a Great Nav Tool.

 

[RubiconGeoff]

I absolutely love BackCountry Navigator. I use it on my Android phone and my Google Nexus 7 tablet.