Help with Nav Tablet

[MojaveMadMan]

Hello all,

So I need some help in planning a gift for my father. I am usually one to sit and do research, but my wife is in the hospital and I have limited time to spend reading about what to do. I have about $140 to spend on the whole project, and with some of the cheaper android stuff out there I am hoping I can make this happen. I need advice on both hardware and software. I have traditionally used apple products, so my android knowledge is rather limited... So I need hardware advise and software advice. I am very grateful to anyone who takes a moment to help, I really appreciate everything you guys have to offer so thank you very much!

Use: Want it to be something he can take in his various cars, either his work car when he commutes or his off road rig when we go out on trips. We frequent So Cal, So W Arizona, and So Nevada, so I need to load up some pre-loaded maps from those areas for both off road and on road. Any extra vehicle features would be cool too, he loves tech stuff, maybe things to add on later.

Hardware: So I have looked on amazon, there are a lot of $100 price range tablets. I obviously want one with a built in GPS receiver (can upgrade to a better bluetooth one later). It does't have to be a 3G/4G/LTE device as he can hotspot from his iPhone if needed, but would be a cool extra feature if it's available I am sure he would add service. It needs to be something with enough memory, or something I can add some decent memory too with pre-loaded maps, and a mount so he can mount this in his various rigs. This might be tight on the budget, but I can spend a few more bucks if needed, just a goal.

Software: I have used MotionX GPS and that worked well for me before. But that was on my iPhone so I am not sure the best for Android. Is MotionX good on android, is there something similar or better? He also like GEO Caching so if there is an app for that, he would be excited about that too. My goal is to load this thing up full of the right apps, and an SD card with pre loaded maps in all the areas he normally goes so he can just use it and have fun with it.

Thats what I know for the moment, again thank you for those who can help me right now with my project in this hectic time for me!

 

[kojackJKU]

I would be careful about buying the cheaper android stuff, You will get crappy performance from them. I would go with either a Samsung or acer in whatever flavor suits your budget. As long as you have Bluetooth. The GPS receivers are dirt cheap off ebay and work great.

As for software, on pavement go with co pilot, and off road use backcountry Navigator. Both of those will get you going really good. If you want some vehicle monitoring Get an OBD II Bluetooth module, and run one of the apps for dashboards.

 

[kojackJKU]

Forgot to add, I am running an acer iconia 210 and it works great.

 

[WOODY2]

Just for grins I'd like to throw the concept of I Pad Mini coupled with a software product called Scenic Maps West. The program is 10 bucks and has pretty much the western United States resident in a single onetime download. It has numerous features, the only drawback is the is only for I products.

 

[kojackJKU]

I think he does not want to spend a fourtune for a tablet. I am guessing below 150 bucks by the sound of it. I paid 170 for my acer, it works snappy with only the normal android lag. Once apps are running its fine.

 

[MojaveMadMan]

Thanks guys for the info so far! The Samsung stuff seems the be priced real well for the latest 7" so that's where I'm leaning so far. I did see some 7" ACER ones too.

Apple mini would be ideal if I had more money to drop, haha. Also this is gunna be a "trail tablet." The idea is you leave your nice stuff at home so that's part of the lower cost (and I don't have much more to spend haha). Almost ready to commit, gunna keep looking/listening/thinking for another day or two then go for it. Thanks so far for all the great help!

 

[Gatordoc]

I'd recommend a 7-8" tablet as just the right size, at least in my experience; I have a Samsung Note 8, a Note 3 phone, and my wife has a galaxy S5. No complaints about any of them, and I think the price on galaxy tabs has come down to within your price range. I'd look at Acer, Asus, and Toshiba, too, as they all come well-reviewed, as well. For navigation and mapping the lower end hardware will be fine, but be sure to get one with a micro SD slot so you can store your maps off-line. This is also the biggest reason I wouldn't go with an idevice, as I don't believe they support non-cloud external storage. I could be wrong, though, as I am not an iuser. 3G/4G data capability would be nice to have for use with google maps for road trips, but you can get around that by caching the map tiles via wifi connection or tethering to a mobile phone wifi hotspot. I don't think integrated 3g/4g data is a necessity in a tablet at all, especially if you have a smartphone to supplement/provide data connectivity when necessary.
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Back Country Navigator is a pretty great navigation tool for a decent price (around $10, I think is what I paid for it). I haven't played with many of the more advanced features, but it does a good job with recording tracks and such. If you don't end up with a tablet with a data connection, you'll want to download the map tiles ahead of time. There are a lot of options for map servers to play with, paid and otherwise.
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PDF Maps is the app that I use more extensively, mostly when on foot, but it works ok off-road when you're moving slow, too. It's designed to utilize PDF files with embedded geospatial data (GeoPDF) and does the job very well, in my opinion. It's also a free app, and while you can make in app purchases of map tile sets, it also works very well with the free geopdf maps that are downloadable through the USGS map locator and downloader. Quadrangle maps (7.5x7.5 minute) are pretty good resolution and most (in my region, at least) have been updated in the last 2-3 years. These maps are next to useless for on-road navigation though, and do not in any way shape or form support turn by turn, route planning, etc... unless its in the form of a GPS track. This is where you need the microSD, though, as the maps take up quite a bit of memory. The lower peninsula of Michigan west of US-131 adds up to about 5gb if I remember correctly, so it will eat up the internal memory of an 8gb tablet very quickly.
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Torque Pro is an OBDII reader/dashboard/diagnostic tool. It's $5.99 IIRC and worth every penny, even with the $20 or so you will need for a Bluetooth OBDII adapter (I got mine on Amazon for around $25). Not only does it read (and clear) MIL codes, but you can use it as a real-time gauge suite to look at all of the sensors supported by your particular vehicle for OBDII output (this varies by vehicle). Actual coolant temp instead of an idiot light, for example, oil pressure, MAF, boost/vac, etc... All sorts of useful data, which can be logged for later review, as well. Track Recorder is a plugin for that app that I use as a dash cam - it records GPS speed/location, video using your phone/tablet rear camera, etc... very useful tool, and MUCH cheaper than buying a code reader, a dash cam, etc... individually.
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For mounting I use Ram Mount components: a universal x-grip large phone holder (get the one for the 7-8" tablet, in your case) for about $20, a medium double socket arm for about $10, and a 3.25" dia suction cup twist-lock base for about $15. Works great for me, but with a 7-8" tablet I'd be worried that this setup might be hard to configure without significantly blocking some of the view out of the windshield.
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Don't forget about getting a charging solution for the tablet, as well. with the screen constantly on, as well as GPS, Bluetooth, and potentially a data connection, it will eat through battery pretty quickly.
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Given the above, I'd say the $140 budget is a bit low, but you could likely put together something pretty solid for around $200.
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Does your FIL have a google email account? I ask because the Google Play store links content purchases to the arrount, rather than the device. If you're looking at getting him some paid apps for his tablet, I'd recommend doing so by purchasing a gift card or credit for the play store, then having him purchase it through his google account. That way the apps will follow him if he ends up going to a different/another android device in the future.
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Hope this helps & good luck!

 

[MojaveMadMan]

Wow thank you for the detailed reviews and suggestions!!!!

 

[Catfish37]

Another option would be a used I pad. With a Gaia app. I picked up a used ipad 1 with a case in excellent shape for $100. The Gaia app is a bit pricey at $24 but it works well

 

[kojackJKU]

Thanks guys for the info so far! The Samsung stuff seems the be priced real well for the latest 7" so that's where I'm leaning so far. I did see some 7" ACER ones too.

Apple mini would be ideal if I had more money to drop, haha. Also this is gunna be a "trail tablet." The idea is you leave your nice stuff at home so that's part of the lower cost (and I don't have much more to spend haha). Almost ready to commit, gunna keep looking/listening/thinking for another day or two then go for it. Thanks so far for all the great help!

The mini would NOT be ideal. Android has a better setup for nav duties.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I agree with pretty much everything Gatordoc says. I picked up a Dell Venue 7 tablet running Android OS. It has an unassisted GPS (does NOT require cellular or WiFi to operate) and it is nice and fast. It runs an Intel Atom Dual Core CPU at 1.6GHz if I recall and has a lot of features, really good bang for the bucks. I use it in combination with a Dual Bluetooth GPS receiver as it is more powerful than the on board GPS and Bluetooth uses less battery.

Backcountry Nav is excellent.

PDF Maps is great

There are sweet utilities to download Google Maps map source and use it mobile...awesome

7" is an excellent size for a nav setup.

Enjoy!

 

[Root Moose]

...snip...

It has an unassisted GPS (does NOT require cellular or WiFi to operate) and it is nice and fast.

...snip...

Assisted GPS does NOT mean that cell or wifi is required to get a GPS satellite lock.

It means that it can use cell or wifi to get a close approximation quickly while getting a satellite lock in the background. In the absence of cell or wifi it works like any other GPS chipset.

Assisted GPS is the chipset to have all other things being equal.

For the rest of the hardware, decent Android hardware or iPad. Can't go wrong really. It's all cheap consumer grade junk. If it doesn't work for you sell it off and buy something else.

2¢

 

[sweet trav]

Sorry to somewhat hijack thread but I didnt want to start a new thread when this one already had so much good info.

I just recieved a tab 3 and I found the info/app for backcountry navigation but now Im trying to find where to get the pdf maps to download.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

thanks!

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Hey Trav, there is a free app called Androzic for Android (http://androzic.com/ or at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androzic.v2&hl=en), it will work with the OziExplorer map format. Why you ask would I suggest this... because If you install it on your tablet and then grab Terra Incognita for your PC, (http://www.zubak.sk/TerraIncognita/) you can use Google or Yahoo (or others) map sources and create your own files and maps. Pretty handy.

For my area we use the BC Backroads Map Book PDF maps http://www.backroadmapbooks.com/main/index.html (paid) and they are AWESOME for our area and for a lot of Canada. I am not sure where to source PDF maps for your area?

 

[sweet trav]

Thanks!

I'll check into those...I found a few links to pdf maps but not sure they're what others are referring to.