Samsung Galaxy Tablet [Android]

[JRhetts]

Anybody have experience using the Samsung Galaxy tablets; either the 7" or the 10"?

In addition to checking email and light web surfing, I want a tablet to replace Garmin GPS units on the dash of my Fuso: both for navigation and for planning off road excursions on topos and recording tracklogs while driving [need to be able to export them to external files].

I like the SD card slot, and with Bluetooth I could input location from my external BT-GPS unit. My smartphone gives me WiFi wherever I have cell reception via FoxFi, so I could have connectivity directly via WiFi and via cell [I have an unlimited data plan so that is not a constraint.]

Anyone tried them out? Costco is selling the 7" for $249 and the 10" for $379 — certainly way less than an iPad.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I have a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and it is great. It is not as powerful as some of the Asus and other quad core tabs, but it is well designed, solid, thin and powerful enough for most everything. If you like the 7" form factor the Google Nexus 7" tab is a smart and reasonably priced choice. It is fast, good and cheap, I thought you could only have 2 of those?

I have not yet set it up as my GPS, but I intend to soon. I loaded Backcountry Navigator and have been poking around with that and topo maps. I want to procure a Ram Mount for it and get serious about it soon. For now all I can comment on is the quality and functionality of the tablet itself.

I would buy it again. Then again if I were looking for overall performance, the Asus Transformer Prime is the bad ******** on the block these days...that might be another good choice, but it is like $150 more here.

 

[chrismc]

I have the Galaxy Note 10.1, and recently upgraded from the Asus Transformer Prime. The Galaxy Note is as wonderful as the Transformer was horrible. Everything just runs perfectly, and the performance is amazing. I had to use a Bluetooth GPS with the Transformer, as the built-in GPS on that model was DOA, and even that crashed regularly when used with any nav programs. On the Galaxy Note, the built-in GPS works wonderfully, and Backcountry Navigator just flies. I also used Sygic Nav for road-/route-based navigation and it works perfectly. The built-in GPS chip on the Galaxy Note 10.1 receives both standard US GPS satellite signals as well as signals from the Russian GLONASS satellites, which increases its accuracy and ability to work in sub-optimal environments. The Galaxy Note line is a step up from the Galaxy Tab line (in performance and price), but the addition of the pen-based computing is extremely beneficial, especially for precise operations like dealing with maps. I plan to upgrade my Android phone in the very near future to a Galaxy S3 based solely on the excellent experience I've had with my Galaxy Note. For what its worth, Consumer Reports just released a report on tablets and rated the Galaxy Note 10.1 with a score even with the iPad 3, the top two rated tablets.

Despite having nice specs on paper, I would never let anyone I know buy one of the Asus tablets. Asus has horrendous software development, and horrible internal design that leads to a very flakey and unreliable user experience. They also use extremely low-grade flash storage chips in their products which leads to abysmal storage I/O speeds and causes no end of application problems.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Despite having nice specs on paper, I would never let anyone I know buy one of the Asus tablets. Asus has horrendous software development, and horrible internal design that leads to a very flakey and unreliable user experience. They also use extremely low-grade flash storage chips in their products which leads to abysmal storage I/O speeds and causes no end of application problems.

This is very good information. Everyone I know has a Galaxy Tab or an iPad. My wife has an Acer Iconia A500 and it has been excellent, stable and gets used many hours a day every day without one crash or issue in that whole time. I really like the Galaxy Note, but it was not available when I got my Tab 2, it was released soon after however...lol. Just missed out. I run a Galaxy S2 phone...it is in one word, amazing.

 

[Finlay]

My wife has a 10" Xoom. I just got a 7" galaxy tab 2 7".

I've used the 10" as a GPS with great success, although it was a bit too large. I think the 7" fits in my cab much better.

The main advantage of the tablet is that you can run multiple GPS programs - I've been using CoPilot and Back Country Navigator. Between those, I've been able to get to whereever I wanted to go. You can also run other programs like Torque - which can pull error codes from the OBD-II port with a Bluetooth OBD-II reader.

One thing - you will want a large SD card if you use Back Country Navigator. The SW corner of South Dakota at good resolution was over 20 gigs in size.

 

[gophere]

Hey, I can chime in here.
I have been using a galaxy tab plus 7in to explore Montana for the last 6 months and have no issues.
just upgraded to ICS and the interface is great.
I use Copilot app for on road and Backcountry navigator for trails.

sent from montana, usa

 

[mhiscox]

And I can chime in, too, as I now have the Galaxy Tab 2 7 inch, bought a couple months back at Costco.

No downside to it that I can see, except what you'd expect from the modest screen size versus big fingers. It's not a rocket, but more than fast enough to do what you'd want to do while traveling. And it is not so big as to be ludicrous when put on the dash of a car.

The one thing, though, that always disappoints me with any of these units (including the iPad3 and Galaxy 11.1" tablet computer I have) is that they are pretty hard to use when the sun hits the screen. Much worse than what you get in even a cheap dedicated GPS unit, to my mind. There's nothing to be done about this, of course--sunlight-readable screens like they use in marine displays cost a fortune--but it does take away some utility. That said, it's extremely vehicle dependent. In the XV-JP, with two little windows and a tiny windshield, life is good; in my Sprinter (with a giant windshield and virtually encircled by windows) I spent a lot of time with my displays unreadable.

And since you mentioned checking e-mail . . . One other thing is that I have had a number of times around here (like last week camped by Yaquina Bay) where my iPad had no Wi-Fi, even off my Virgin Mobile (Sprint Network) Mi-Fi 2200, but I could get connected on the Verizon 3G signal. It's undoubtedly less important in more densely populated areas, but in places in Oregon, Verizon's signal will get you internet access when others won't. It won't matter if you'll routinely pull into a McDonalds or Starbucks to get Wi-Fi, but if you want to stay in camp, having a unit that can do a cell connection as well as W-Fi might be worth the money.

 

[JRhetts]

Thanks, Mike.

My Verison Droid plan gives me unlimited data, and with FoxFi to produce a local hot spot I can do WiFi for other devices wherever there is Verizon cell service. For example, it was a piece of cake out at the Alvord Desert while landsailing a week ago.

With my vision [great at distance but a bit less acute closer in] I was think primarily of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet; I am concerned the 7" screen could be a bit small to be easily read while driving. Do you have a 10.1? You wrote 11.1 above and I wasn't sure if that was a typo. If you do have one, how does the sun affect it compared to the iPad? I'm willing to pay more if I really get more, especially on critical aspects like legibility.

John

 

[JRhetts]

....Do you have a 10.1? You wrote 11.1 above and I wasn't sure if that was a typo. If you do have one, how does the sun affect it compared to the iPad? ....

Mike replied to me off line: he has an 11.1 which is a computer not a tablet; he thinks the iPad and Galaxy screens are equally affected by sunlight.

 

[mbuckner]

Does the Galaxy have a built in GPS that uses a satellite vs wifi for navigation?

I looked at one at Costco and they said you had to be connected to the internet
for navigation.

Best regards,

Mike

 

[Finlay]

Does the Galaxy have a built in GPS that uses a satellite vs wifi for navigation?

I looked at one at Costco and they said you had to be connected to the internet
for navigation.

Best regards,

Mike

Yes, it has a GPS chip in it.

You will need to be connected to the internet to navigate unless you have the maps downloaded for offline use. This is the default in CoPilot, but in Back Country Navigator, you need to select the areas you want to use offline.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Yes, it has a GPS chip in it.

You will need to be connected to the internet to navigate unless you have the maps downloaded for offline use. This is the default in CoPilot, but in Back Country Navigator, you need to select the areas you want to use offline.

Yes...this is important to remember. Last weekend, I forgot this, makes for a useless app without the maps! lol

 

[Fish]

Yes, it has a GPS chip in it.

Regular GPS? GLONASS?

 

[Finlay]

Regular GPS? GLONASS?

Yep.

 

[haven]

Google Nexus 7 vs Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 -- most every reviewer likes the Nexus 7 better, despite the Tab 2 having a microSD card slot.

http://www.androidauthority.com/google-nexus-7-vs-galaxy-tab-2-7-0-98062/
http://www.theverge.com/products/compare/5831/2506/3767/5147/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408987,00.asp