Tablet or Garmin, what's your poison?

chet6.7

Explorer
iPad mini 4 running leadnav.

54599833018b3f86156a7db3ea6f7e17.jpg


I hope to supplement this with a lowrance hds unit soon.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What mount are you using for the Ipad? Are you happy with it?
Thanks.
 

dlh62c

Explorer
A Garmin GPS for me.

I like that it shows me where I'm at, points me to where I'm going and if I have tracking turned on and displayed, where I've been, all at the same time.
 

Joe917

Explorer
There is no comparison Tablet over Garmin hands down. I don't know what algorithms Garmin uses to calculate route, but it is total s#%t. Maybe OK in big cities but that is it.
We run a 10" Samsung tablet (Ram mount) with Maps.me. Side by side comparison with the Garmin Nuvi over more than a year and most of the continent. The Tablet routing is better, the tablet's map data is more accurate and the software is free.
One note in running the units side by side. We found they interfered with each other unless they were 2' or more apart.
 

screwball48

Explorer
I average 5000 miles a month for work. Most of my travels are on interstates and local roadways. My GPS of choice is an iPad mini mounted in a ram mount.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ChadHahn

Adventurer
I don't know what algorithms Garmin uses to calculate route, but it is total s#%t.

One time I was in California and using a Garmin GPS. I entered the address of a restaurant that was close by and it figured the route. I wasn't familiar with the town but it seemed to me that I went straight that I'd head right to the place, but the Garmin told me to take a right so I did. 10 minutes later I was at the restaurant. After I ate I decided to go back the way I thought I should have gone. I was at my starting point in two minutes.

Chad
 

Comanche Scott

Expedition Leader
Lack of GPS lock got me thinking

For the past year or so, I've been using BCN, with different map packages on a Galaxy Note 4 (it's also my Verizon phone). It's been working great, with the exception that the screen is too small to comfortably do on the fly routing.

Yesterday we were up in Eldorado National Forest, and for the life of me, I could not get a GPS Lock. Clear day with just some light cloudiness. We went up to the top of a bare ridge with a huge view of the sky, and it could see plenty of satellites, but just would not acquire a lock. Did a reboot for the phone (even had limited cell reception).
I know the area well. Have ridden dirt bikes up there for a lot of years, so it wasn't a big deal. I really wanted it to see how accurate the Offroad Atlas MVUM is.
Today, I'm sitting in the house, and it gets a lock in less than 30 seconds. Go figure... Ha!

That glitch got me thinking about reliability. I was just about to pull the trigger on tablet, but think I'll spend some time to look into a dedicated GPS that will port to a tablet.
In the end, it really reinforced my stigma about maintaining paper maps and compass though. I guess old habits die hard. lol
 
Google maps will allow you to download maps via wifi so that they can be used without a data connection. You have to update them every 30 days via wifi, but that takes no time to do.
 

jschmidt

Adventurer
Galaxy S2 with Viewranger, or my phone. But even Google Maps shows most of the trails I ride in the Santa Ritas and Rincons.

Been doing it this way for years. I also use a small program, Positional, for a quick lat-long-elv. It's the quickest, simplist way to know where you are.
 

Coachgeo

Explorer
GPS and Data Plan on a tablet or phone........ While you can download maps with WiFi...... don't you have to have Data Plan for the GPS to work? My understaning; which may be incorrect, was that you had to have a Data Plan for the GPS portion of the phone to work and also that some of the "I am here" location capabilities of the phone/tablet also came from triangulation from cell towers which for sure requires data plan.
 
Speaking strictly about Android phones and tablets. All phones have built in GPS. Cell connection is NOT required for you to know your own location. If you can run Google Maps or Back Country Navigator then you can navigate without a Cell connection. The built in GPS will be used to locate your position. GPS is more accurate than cell triangulation regardless of what you have seen on TV. All U.S. cell phones are required to have a GPS receiver. This was done for 911 location service. Any cell phone even with no service plan as long as it has signal can call 911. We keep a spare phone in the glove box just for this purpose. OK back to navigation. As far as I know all phones and most if not all tablets have wifi. With wifi you can download maps of the area you will be traveling before leaving out. Those downloaded maps and the GPS will be all that is needed for you to navigate without a data plan.

Some tablets do not have a GPS receiver built in and will require a Bluetooth GPS receiver to pair with the tablet. The tablet will then function same as phone..

If your travel plans change and you decide to travel into an area where you have not downloaded the maps, locate the nearest fast-food, Lowe's, home depot, hospital, and sometimes hotel parking lots. These usually offer free wifi connection. Sometimes you have to open a browser window for a user agreement before you can download new maps.

Do not depend solely on GPS to do the navigation, always carry a paper set of maps.
 

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