new pre loaded tablet for marine use.

S

starcrafttom

Active member
So I saw this on the net today and was wandering what you all think about it. How does it compare to your tablets that you have loaded charts on to? How does the price compare? I am not a computer guy. I just type on them and that's it. All the xx gigs and xx meg and xx what ever does not mean that much to me. So any one want to take a look at this and tell me what they think??\

http://weathershop.com/naviotab7.htm
 
The price is less than an I pad and many android tablets plus the cost of charts. The items are useful--and they say they have a fish finder? We don't know much about that.

The issue I have is no Active Captain. Whose charts do they use? How often upgraded. Can you use other apps, For example I like "wind finder" to find out what the predicted wind is going to be, plus sea state. I suspect you can use other apps.

What cellular data user and how much does it cost.

I would say it looks like a reasonable good buy, especially if you are not super tech savvy…(OK maybe a good buy for tech savvy also!
 
Except for the waterproof part and the cellular connection, you can accomplish the same thing with another tablet for less than $150. Any Android tablet will have GPS and wi-fi. You can get a number of charting applications for free or for a low price (>$10). MXMariner, MyNOAACharts, US Tides, and Active Captain apps are all free. Charts are free from NOAA.

The Asus Memopad HD (~$130), HiSense Pro (~$100), Nextbook (~$100), Google Nexus (~$230), Kindle Fire (~$150), Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (~$130) should all do the job nicely (there are many others). Some of these can be found on sale for even less. The ones mentioned are 7" class tablets. 10" ones will be more expensive. The one mentioned is 8". Most of the ones I mention also have higher screen resolution than the NAVIOTAB.

With a C-dory the waterproof feature may not be that necessary. And for the price, if your tablet gets damaged you are not out that much (all the apps will transfer to another device for nothing).

Without a cellular connection (and data plan) you will not be able to get realtime updates of the weather display on the maps, but everything else will be stored on the tablet ahead of time.

The apps mentioned above will also work on most phones (or have iPhone equivalents) so if you really need to see the weather on a map you can use your phone (if you have coverage). You can also tether your tablet to your phone to get the data to the tablet if necessary.

I have used a few apps on a Galaxy Tab and an android phone when cruising and have not ever needed to have a live data connection for the charting applications. The WX radio works nicely for the weather forecast and conditions.

The Deeper fish finder will work with any phone or tablet and appears to cost $225 extra.
 
ssobol":1tb3ilgc said:
Except for the waterproof part and the cellular connection, you can accomplish the same thing with another tablet for less than $150. Any Android tablet will have GPS and wi-fi. You can get a number of charting applications for free or for a low price (>$10). MXMariner, MyNOAACharts, US Tides, and Active Captain apps are all free. Charts are free from NOAA.

The Asus Memopad HD (~$130), HiSense Pro (~$100), Nextbook (~$100), Google Nexus (~$230), Kindle Fire (~$150), Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (~$130) should all do the job nicely (there are many others). Some of these can be found on sale for even less. The ones mentioned are 7" class tablets. 10" ones will be more expensive. The one mentioned is 8". Most of the ones I mention also have higher screen resolution than the NAVIOTAB.

With a C-dory the waterproof feature may not be that necessary. And for the price, if your tablet gets damaged you are not out that much (all the apps will transfer to another device for nothing).

Without a cellular connection (and data plan) you will not be able to get realtime updates of the weather display on the maps, but everything else will be stored on the tablet ahead of time.

The apps mentioned above will also work on most phones (or have iPhone equivalents) so if you really need to see the weather on a map you can use your phone (if you have coverage). You can also tether your tablet to your phone to get the data to the tablet if necessary.

I have used a few apps on a Galaxy Tab and an android phone when cruising and have not ever needed to have a live data connection for the charting applications. The WX radio works nicely for the weather forecast and conditions.

The Deeper fish finder will work with any phone or tablet and appears to cost $225 extra.
Click to expand...

Before spending your money, you should check the specs carefully on those cheaper Android, Kindle, etc. tablets. Actually very few of them include GPS.
 
All the ones I mentioned have built-in GPS except for maybe the Nextbook. The other thing to check for is Google Play. If it doesn't have Google Play installing apps can be a bit difficult.

But you're right, check for GPS. And cheaper tablets come can come with less memory installed. However, you can certainly get an Android tablet with decent memory and with GPS included for not much more than $100 these days.

Older iPads did not have GPS unless they also had cellular capability. The newer wi-fi only iPads do have GPS built in.

The Pantech tablet used by the NAVIOTAB is available on eBay for between $100 and $150.
 
Yes, there are cheaper 8" tablets though not all with GPS.

The selling point on this is that it's waterproof. I think that's a big plus for a boat computer. Also, it's loaded with all the navigation "stuff", so you don't have to sort through all the apps to get the best. That may not be a plus for everyone, but it is for me.

Judy got a tablet last summer and we found out that it's not as handy as we thought. Wi-fi connections aren't always easy to come by. We're finding that few restaurants have wi-fi, marina wi-fi hot spots are hard to find, etc.

Boris
 
I had been thinking of getting a tablet and just loading Navionics charts on to it. But I could not find on with built in gps and cellular connection all in one unit. It was either or and over 400 bucks.

I hear that there are free charts on the net but every time I try to down load then they don't or they suck. Just don't want to mess with it, which is hard because I like DIY just not on a computer. I want to buy it and have it work.

I'm interested in this unit for the water proof and it seems to have everything I need in one unit. I'm not interested in the fish finder. humming bird has been doing that for years.

I need an second chart plotter in the back of the cdory, but I also need a chart plotter for the jet boat, canoe and two kayaks I have. This unit would be great to carry between all these boats. And I may have some uses for work with it as a way onto the net.
 
The reviews (e.g. CNET) of that tablet say that it is more like "splashproof" than waterproof. However, the IP57 rating means it can be submerged in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes and still work after the excess water is removed.

IMO this is a fair to middling android tablet that has some software installed that aids boaters. For $400 you are paying for the convenience of someone else installing various software packages for you (e.g. Navonics charts). I think that you can get a better tablet with equivalent features for about 1/3 the cost.

You can also buy a waterproof case for a number of other tablets, or simply put a non-waterproof tablet in a ziplock bag. There are waterproof bags that allow the touchscreen to work even when snorkeling or diving.

There is no guarantee that the apps that come with the NAVIOTAB are the best available. They are just the ones that someone has decided (or been paid) to put on that tablet. Like PCs, most tablets come with a lot of "stuff" that a lot of people find only marginally useful, uninteresting, or down right wasteful. About half of the stuff on my Samsung tablet I wish I could delete, but the manufacturer has decided these apps are something everyone is going to get and there is no getting rid of them (e.g. Ya**o Finance).

Pardon my rant.
 
ssobol":qrr89qsp said:
...
Older iPads did not have GPS unless they also had cellular capability. The newer wi-fi only iPads do have GPS built in.

...
Click to expand...

I tried to find this information and came up with nothing from Apple stating that the newest wifi-only models have a GPS chip. User forums state that the wifi-only models still do not have a functional GPS chip, but rely on signals from triangulated wifi... if true, GPS would not work away from a wifi signal.

Having used the iPad as a marine navigation device since Apple first came out with the wifi/3G original iPad, I understand there is a LOT of confusion about an actual GPS chip in iPads. Everything I am reading about the newest iPad Air says nothing about a true GPS chip in the wifi only models. Adding to the confusion, I can't find anything about the GPS chip on the cell/data chip in the 4G models, either (this had been listed under specs in the past).

Can you point me to where you are finding this information? I still get a lot of folks contacting me about iPad marine navigation, and I don't want to be giving any incorrect information.

Thanks in advance for a link or reference.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
m2cw

The hardware is dated, I would like 10" screen, the OS is 4.0 compared to latest which is 4.4 Kit Kat. Will it be upgraded?
I expect no. I bought a 10" ASUS TF700with a removable keyboard for $360 a couple of months ago, today it is much less and will be upgrade to KK. I really wat a 13" screen like my iBook and it is coming one day

I switched from iPhone to a Samsung Note 3 phone then bought Galaxy Note tablet and returned it. It was different from the phone and bought ASUS and learning Android. It was a PC to me except no multi tasking but like the file system accessibility, USB ports, battery life (keyboard has a battery and then connected to tablet, the battery life is very long) I upgraded the memory with a mini SD card for next to nothing compared to iPad prices also I tired of using iTunes and how controlled iOs devices are then delve deeper in functionality issues. The tablet has high end cpu and great iPad like image quality and videos

Having said all of this, for you I recommend purchasing iPad, waterproof case, RAM mount, and car charger along some software, music, books, apps
Spend a little now and enjoy it was years

Maybe compare it your Canon down riggers vs the other common ones. You really like your down riggers and explain the advantages in easily understood words

I believe iDevices have the best quality touch screen, easy to use but requires iTunes on a PC for some functions, the best value and what Apple does best, that beautiful end user experience and touch and feel of a well built device plus endless sources of support, apps, etc. Apple created it and still the leader

Yes it will cost more but it is built to last years and mostly likely if you ever upgrade it will be because on new features and functionality along with it is plain fun and handy that your family will be using it and want one

I firmly believe the Apple apps are better and function nearly faultlessly compared Android apps... I have 100 of Android apps and a lot were deleted due to crashing

Another recommendation is go a big box store and play with the display models and for the Android powered gizmos, be sure to check the OS versions. Kit Kat OS is game changer but limited availability of devices as of this posting and many repeat devices the Android OS will not be easily upgraded to KK from the manufacturer but can be with a custom ROM, etc basically hacker and dan method but an iPhone can be modified using a Jail Break software
 
I'm also interested in a source I can look at for the "newer wi-fi-only iPads have GPS built in." I researched them just recently and didn't see that anywhere (I bought a cellular model).

What I did notice is that the new retina iPads (at least the Mini; I was not shopping for the larger one) now all have the same "radio" (or whatever you call it that makes the nano-sim work). Previously, if you had an iPad that was for a certain carrier (say, AT&T), you couldn't necessarily change it for any/all other ones (say, Verizon). Now apparently you can (they still come in a specific "flavor," but that is apparently now just the nano-sim that happens to be installed, and one can change that.)

However the non-retina Mini is still the "old" way. For example, I got a T-Mobile non-retina iPad mini. I could use it with some other carriers' nano-sim cards, but not with Verizon one (I think it has to do with CDMA vs. GSM but don't quote me). The "radio" is different between them. I got it for a great price, and wasn't planning to keep an active cellular plan, so it didn't matter to me. However the retina ones can be interchanged between all carriers with the appropriate nano-sim. It's not exactly spelled out clearly on Apple's site, but you can sort of tell by reading between the lines (and testing has borne it out).
 
It seems that I was mistaken about the wi-fi iPads having GPS. I believe I read somewhere that the new ones were going to have GPS because people were complaining that the old ones did not have it and Androids did.

I apologize for the error.
 
Well, hey, at least it was a change from the (usually salespeople) who say the cellular one *doesn't* have GPS :D

Thanks for the clarification.
 
I have no real experience with Android, except the Kindle HD Fire 7". I use all Apple (Mac Book Pro, Mac Book Air, i phones and I pad (air gen 5 currently). I kept my first generation 1 pad, which has worked flawlessly for about 4 years. The one problem--and one of the reasons I updated the i pad was that a faster processor was needed for the O S upgrade and some of the most recent apps. The I pad air (gen 5) is much faster than the original i pad. I don't see a lot of difference with the Retina display--but if you look at high def TV there will be a difference. Also be aware that there is a new faster Wi Fi 802 .11 ac available now--and coming next year 802 11.1 ad, theoretically 7 gigabytes per second….Neither of these are available on the I pad or i phones yet, but the latest Mac book Pro does have the 802.11ac.
 
We have the second generation Nexus 7 table. It is Wi-Fi and includes GPS. I loaded the Navionics Android app that covers the US and Canada. I believe it cost $55. We used the app at Lake Powell and it was on the money all the way from Oak Canyon to Wahweap Marina. According to CNET it is the best small Android tablet and the screen is better than a retina screen. Active Captain has written about the Nexus 7 and I believe they also use it. The key is it must be the second generation Nexus, not the first. My only wish is that it have an 8“ width as opposed to 7“. It is a great tablet, if you want Android (which we did).
 
That Deeper device sounds really gimmicky. I extremely skeptical. Even on the smallest boat you'd be better off with a small Hummingbird or something. Throw it over the rail on a fishing line?? hahaha.
 
Big misunderstandings on which tablets have a physical GPS chip and which do not. Did some searching and cannot find a very useful list or chart to refer to. Best to check on a tablet by tablet basis as you shop.

This unit is interesting but that does not mean I would recommend it. The sonar portion is suspect to me and the charting can be used on nearly any tablet so I would encourage a person to first decide on Ipad or Android, then choose a tablet with real GPS on its own merits and price, then start adding the apps that work for you. This forum has discussed many useful apps and I find the bitterend blog and PANBO site to be useful guides to marine apps.

Greg
 
Back
Top