IPad with Android on board????

[davil]

Hi
All my tablets are Android and Windows, have all Apps to go with them like chart plotting,GPS,etc,have always stay away from IPads because cost.
Noticed Amazon has these specials today
https://smile.amazon.com/apb/page/?h...7390_362915840

prices are tempting.
Do you carry both? just another level of complication?complement each other systems with different apps?
thanks

[Sailorman Ed]

Davil, Amazon was showing only wifi models, these do NOT have the GPS chip built in so these are not what you want for navigation.


I am also an Android person and the only Apple device is a used iPad I bought solely for navigation. Really no issue to have on board. But you want the version that has cellular capability. Difference for a used one is slight and uses less power than a plug in GPS chip for the non cellular version.



Doing over again, would certainly consider one of the Samsung tablets.
Ed

[Tornadosailing]

Best android tablet I've found is the Sony Xperia Z4. You can still find them on amazon and ebay. Waterproof, built in GPS of course, and the brightest screen I've ever found in a tablet. Easily readable in full Florida sun.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by Tornadosailing

Best android tablet I've found is the Sony Xperia Z4. You can still find them on amazon and ebay. Waterproof, built in GPS of course, and the brightest screen I've ever found in a tablet. Easily readable in full Florida sun.

Whoa ... $600. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that. The Z4 is a great tablet but still too much for me.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by davil

Hi
All my tablets are Android and Windows, have all Apps to go with them like chart plotting,GPS,etc,have always stay away from IPads because cost.
Noticed Amazon has these specials today
https://smile.amazon.com/apb/page/?h...7390_362915840

prices are tempting.
Do you carry both? just another level of complication?complement each other systems with different apps?
thanks

I'm definitely in the Android camp, but came into an iPad through work. The lack of internal GPS is annoying, but quite honestly, it's got great battery life and runs the few apps I use quite well. Of course, I'm comparing it to all my aging Android devices.

I don't find that having it for "exclusive apps" is particularly useful, as there's nothing exclusive I'm looking for. If you have the money to throw around and enjoy playing with gadgets, that is a good price on Amazon and you might enjoy having one just for something different to play with and experience.

[Tornadosailing]

Here, grab this one. Even brighter than my Sony, and way cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-2.../dp/B00ODFJDHY

Edit: Crap. Sorry. It's a windows tablet.

[Tornadosailing]

Have a look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5. Looks like a good option.

[billknny]

As an "all Apple" boat, I am probably not the most useful comment, but I use my iPad every day.

My iPad lives in a hard waterproof case to give it what protection I can.

All of my boat and equipment manuals live on the iPad and are organized and accessed by the iOS only GoodReader app. That use and application alone is enough reason for for me to have one. Sooooo much better than flipping though binders, or random PDF files on the computer. Maybe there is a reader program as good or better on Android, but I doubt it.

For those apps that I know are also available on Android:

We use our iPad to interact with out Iridium GO. Messaging, email, and PredictWind Offshore weather.

iSailor we use to access TRANSAS chart data as a "2nd Opinion" for what the chart plotter card and the paper charts say. I would never use the iPad as a primary chartplotter, but as a nav station check on the other data, this is great.

[mikedefieslife]

I have an iPad Pro. In terms of the boat, and general travel I should have got an android tablet instead.

Much more freedom, and more crucially, OpenCPN

[Calaban-Alleria]

I use an older IPad with Navionics. So you don't have to have one with cellular (unless you want it for other reasons). I opted for an external GPS device (XGPS160 Dual SkyPro GPS Receiver) that connects via BlueTooth to the IPad. Much faster and more capable GPS solution than any IPad built in GPS. As a bonus multiple devices can connect to it at the same time if redundancy is important. Just another way to go.

[svmobert]

Garmin and Bad Elf both make bluetooth GPS devices that can be used with a WiFi only iPad or Android tablet. In fact the Bad Elf has a screen and can be used independently as well for things like marking a paper chart.

WiFi iPad plus bluetooth GPS might be more than a cellular ipad in cost but it may not be especially if you can find a used WiFi ipad or have uses for the bluetooth GPS.

[LeeV]

I also use the Sky Pro GPS with an iPad Air 2 and have iNavX with AIS, and used it from the Chesapeake Bay offshore to Martha's Vineyard and back with no problems. Eventually only used my chartplotter for the radar.

[svmobert]

One more option..

If you have an AIS with WiFi, or an NMEA to WiFi device on your boat you can use the iPad WiFi device by streaming all the boat data to it over WiFi.

[davil]

always get it wrong as to the IPad with GPS,so the one with GPS is NOT the WIFI model?

Well,looks like an IPad will NOT add any app exclusive to IPad,that was perhaps my uncertainty,otherwise I think my Android/Windows current system provides the same functionality and I am already quite loaded with navigational software in addition to dedicated charts and gps.systems.
thank you all your help.
David

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by Tornadosailing

Here, grab this one. Even brighter than my Sony, and way cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-2.../dp/B00ODFJDHY

Edit: Crap. Sorry. It's a windows tablet.

Crap? If it's a Windows tablet that will work for at least two years, I might buy it! My cheap $100 Azpen Windows tablet touchscreen died one week out of it's one year warranty and it's useless now.