Tablet vs. Carputer

[Bdiddy11]

I've read articles/debates on other forums but wanted to get input from people here that put these to the test.

What do you use, and why? What are the pros and cons to each system that you see in the Expedition/Overlanding world.
The reason I ask is because I'm leaning more towards a carputer and want to see if there's any reason I should consider a tablet instead.

My plans for a carputer: OBDII to read my Jeep's diagnostics, GPS with a larger screen (will be utilizing a 7" touchscreen monitor), passenger will be able to watch DvD's on road trips when other programs aren't in use (+ will have a DvD monitor set up in the back seat for my kiddo that will be controlled by the carputer) and possibly run my car audio through the PC as well.

 

[Steve F]

I ran a CARPC using an eepc and a 7" touch screen. It worked well with centrafuse as the front end and garmin mobile pc and oziexplorer for mapping. I've recently pulled it out, around a month ago, to replace it with a Motorola XOOM tablet (Android). The tablet also has Oiexplorer (optimised for a touch screen unlike the PC version) I run Sygic for street mapping, this looks much better than garmin and is cheap. The upsides of the tablet are instant on, much much much better touch screen being brighter etc, all the apps designed for touch use which is better in the Jeep, apps are cheap, newer technology, minimal power usage (10 hours on a charge if I take it out of the XJ), more portable and leaves nothing of value in the jeep. The only thing I dont like is it isn't easy to setup a reversing camera so I have ordered a rear view mirror with reversing camera screen in it.

I also like the way everything is built into the tablet, when I put it in the cradle all I have to do is plug in the audio out cable which goes to my headunit and the power. With the PC if I took it out there was al sorts of stuff to plug back in. I wouldn't go back to the CARPC after using a tablet. Oh and I use Torque on the tablet to talk to the ODBII bluetooth adapter in the XJ, it's by far the best ODBII setup I've used including the PC ones I had.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Bdiddy11]

Thanks for the input.

Do you have an app for topo maps and the sort? Or does Sygic cover that as well?

Which adapter do you have for the OBD2? Those things can get spendy...I wonder if it's possible to get a cheaper OBD2 scanner and connect it to the USB of the Tablet...

 

[Steve F]

Topo maps run on Oziexplorer, http://www.oziexplorer.com the Android version was just updated and has quite a few good features now. You can als get Androzic for free but I dont think it's anywhere near as good as Oziexplorer.

My ODBII bluetooth adapter is an ebay cheapie, less than $20, I've used it for over 12 months with no problems at all

Cheers
Steve

 

[RobRed]

I have used an iPad with motion x gps for off road nav for almost 2 years. It has been very effective and motion x gps has been updated continuously over that time. That's an important point.... New features, maps and interface improvements as well as a very responsive support team.

Hardware wise you need an iPad with 3G. Not because of the wireless modem but because these models have the gps chipset built in.

I would never go back to a carputer.


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