iPad, Galaxy Tab or something else?

[sae70]

Spent the day today with the family at a friends house over in Southend, had a nice lunch, some chat, the kids played on their DS's then in the garden with the hose Anyways long story short I spent 44ish minutes handling and playing for the first time with an iPad Nice Me likes But should I buy one or a Galaxy Tab or something else? I came away with their copy of Which mag... that compares a pile of them tablet jobbies and the iPad and the Galaxy come out pretty even with the iPad a smidge ahead I guess what I'm saying really is Apple or Android? It would be nice to have something that will replace my very aged laptop with for general tinternet surfing around the home, but be capable of running some form of OS maps and it would be great if it could be used as a sat nav Do any of them do all of that?

 

[adrianr]

Not tried the galaxy

Used my iPad for over a year now. Won't replace my laptop cos I can't code databases and screen whilst great not ideal cant compare to the twin screens i work from normally when office bound. That said i work on it many times during normal day to day stuff and I would not be without it.


Works well as sat nav to normal driving I use nav free which is great.

Great too to have my books including full Toyota fsm in iBooks. That alone has been awesome.

 

[AndyCook]

Galaxy tab works well for me, music, videos, web, email, camera, navigation
even has a terminal emulator and a work colleague uses that to "talk" to linux workstations
lots apps available and no restrictions

havent tried an ipad - just like to be different to the droves that flock to apple products

 

[sae70]

Well this is interesting two people each with one of each of the top tablets and both seem to be using them for the same purposes I don't need to code databases or use it as a terminal emulator, whatever TF that means I already have a very good spec dual core Compaq desk top that I do all of my paper work on. The tablet would purely be for surfing the internet in and around the home 90% of the time, but if it could then also be used for Sat Naving and with OS maps (preferably Memory Map) and as a file/paperwork store then this would suit me down to the ground.

There seems to be a great number of different versions available of each from £399.00 to over £500! I'm not certain that I require 3G, but the ability to operate as a Sat-Nav is almost essential, do the two come hand in hand or will the £399.00 one work as a Sat-Nav as well as the more expensive ones

The thing that concerns me a little about the iPad is the way that you have to load photos up to it

 

[Chris Green90]

I have a Galaxy Tab see this thread http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=12228 I use it mostly in the car and it has replaced my sat nav, stereo and OS mapping whilst off road (using a 3rd party app with MM maps).
Using CoPilot Live (£30) unless you can find it "elsewhere" there is no need to have 3G as the maps are loaded onto your sd card rather than downloaded.
I find using Dolphin HD as my browser it works brilliantly at home as a web browser.
The single downside that I have found is that it seems to require a propriatory in car charger which at £20 isn't too bad, just wished I had known before I set off for the Lake last saturday.
I have done pretty much everything you are asking from a tab with my galaxy and have found it to be well up to the job. Any questions Steve just ask.

Chris

 

[AndyCook]

I got a 7" version of the galaxy and mount on a ram mount, will get photo later of the mount.

this is close up of oziexplorer on recent dales trip

I was concerned the 10" would be too big.
i got a wifi only version, as got lost with all the 3G contracts and options and ££££££
unfortunately i didnt relaize the wifi only version was slightly lower spec grpahics card and cpu, seems to work ok
angry birds good game too!

I guess for satnav you need 3G to get the images loading for the maps? the system on mine does, so only gets maps on wifi...which is no use when i am driving. not sure if you can download all the maps onto it, like a tomtom

i used a USB plug coming with my pda for charging and the samsungcable - but get noise interference from alternator when its charging, so must need a magnet or something round the cable

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Don't the screens on those tablets tend to be super shiny so they look pretty but are hard to see in sunlight? I have a touch screen netbook that's nice and would do the same job as my car pc except quite often when used outside the screen is hard to read.

 

[sae70]

Don't the screens on those tablets tend to be super shiny so they look pretty but are hard to see in sunlight? I have a touch screen netbook that's nice and would do the same job as my car pc except quite often when used outside the screen is hard to read.

I did think about this yesterday when using the iPad so I sat next to a large picture window bathed in sunlight and spent 5/10 min playing with it with no problems viewing the screen In the Which mag that I've borrowed they do compare the Galaxy Tabs screen brightness and rich colors very favorably with the iPad, but they do mention its shiny screen Something that they don't mention with respect to the iPad

 

[Chris Green90]

Don't the screens on those tablets tend to be super shiny so they look pretty but are hard to see in sunlight? I have a touch screen netbook that's nice and would do the same job as my car pc except quite often when used outside the screen is hard to read.

Not had a problem with the shiney screen, the brightness can be turned up far enough to make the screen still very readable in direct sunlight.

I guess for satnav you need 3G to get the images loading for the maps? the system on mine does, so only gets maps on wifi...which is no use when i am driving. not sure if you can download all the maps onto it, like a tomtom

As I said earlier, I use CoPilot Live for SatNav. This has all the maps loaded onto the tab(Either internal mem or Micro SD). This allows for a full SatNav experience without the need for 3G.

I went with the 7 inch as it fills the stereo space nicely plus I picked it up for £100.

i used a USB plug coming with my pda for charging and the samsungcable - but get noise interference from alternator when its charging, so must need a magnet or something round the cable

I got a Ground Loop Isolator from maplin http://www.maplin.co.uk/ground-loop-isolator-33172?c=froogle&u=33172&t=module and it sorted the noise out straight away.

this is close up of oziexplorer on recent dales trip

Whose maps does ozi use. Is it similar to MMTracker which uses MM Maps through a 3rd party interface.

 

[sae70]

I picked it up for £100

Really! Now that is interesting

 

[Chris Green90]

A mate ordered one from tinterweb and they sent him 2.

 

[sae70]

I've just had a good read through your linked topic Chris about your own Galaxy Tab It's all very interesting Very interesting Iam being slightly held back (leaning more toward the iPad by the Wife ) but I do like what I'm seeing and reading of your experience with the Galaxy tab You do use a lot of terms and language that I have no idea of what your taking about such as 'third party app' is there any chance you could simplify in simple talk what you've done and how much each step cost you forgetting the steal of a purchase that you clearly made for the Tab itself

 

[Chris Green90]

Ok Steve here goes, not sure how much you want to know about the install or if its just tha apps etc. so i will got through both.

Install:
galaxy tab car mount from ebay about a tenner. got rid of the suction cup thingy, (though did try it with this at first just on the windscreen and it held up pretty well) lenght of 6mm threaded bar between the rear most holes on the stereo mounting brackets threaded through the joint in the mount and a cable tie just to keep it up.
then ran a headphone jack to 2 phono plug cable around the back of the heater controls (this is where I had to add the Ground loop Isolator to remove interferance £15) and drilled through into that little cubby at the bottom where my amp sits.

Amp was £16 from the bay and a couple of quid for the cable from maplin.
I had an ISO adaptor for my old stereo so chopped the live and neg feeds for the power and used them to power the amp. Chopped all the speaker connections, joined them together keeping all + and - together and wired them Left and Right into the amp outputs.
I now get all music, SatNav instructions and video sound through all speakers in the car.

Tab Setup
First Thing First...When I say 3rd Party App all I means is.
If you get an IPad then Memory Map(MM) have an app for apple (£20) where as someone else has written an app for android which uses MM maps and waypoints etc and costs about £5 this app is called MMTracker. there is a free version so if you have an android phone for example try it before you buy it. Great Value if you have MM on your PC with maps. (If you dont drop me a PM)

I use Dolphin HD for browsing at home. it is spot on, allows tabbed browsing and is a very intuitive interface.
I use a combination of winamp and Mort player for music. The use of 2 different one is because winamp organises music the same way itunes does so unless you have all the music descriptions right you can end up loseing songs from albums, I organise in album folders and Mortplayer will select a full folder and play it.
Both of there are Free Apps from the Market

Finally the SatNav. I use CoPilot Live 8. This offers Full Turn by turn navigation, and in my opinion is just as reliable and feature packed as my Garmin was and the user interface is if anything more intuitive. Its £30 inc maps (PM me for other options)

Below are a couple of screen shots of various apps in use. (GPS not picking up as I am in the house)

My Home Screen

MMTracker

CoPilot Live

Winamp

Mort Player

And The best App ever

Any more question just ask Steve

 

[AndyCook]

like the beer app!
ive got Camra waypoints on tomtom for those thirsty moments!

you can get stickers for the screen that reduce the glare, but havent needed one yet

i got the maps from anqent maps which i use on pc, and exported areas as georeference files and merged them with ozi on pc

 

[sae70]

Ok Steve here goes, not sure how much you want to know about the install or if its just the apps etc. so i will got through both

Oh yes That's bloody awesome m8 Not read it yet, looks like it's exactly the kind of info I'm after & many others I'm sure

Here's an interesting comparison site that I've found http://deviceguru.com/galaxy-tab-10-1-v ... smackdown/

About halfway down there's a good comparison of features and specs table that's very interesting

 

[sae70]

Very nice Chris

Can you have all applications running at the same time and just switch between them as on a normal PC? For example can you have your CoPilot sat-nav running at the same time as the Memory map software and just switch between the two without the need to restart each and with out either of them loosing your GPS position? I like to have my sat-nav running at the same time as my memory map so I know how far I'm from home at any point in my days laning Are both of the navigation apps using the Galaxys internal GPS chip

 

[sae70]

Oh So many questions

Can you use the Galaxy as a hands free kit for your existing mobile phone via Bluetooth

 

[Chris Green90]

Yes you can steve. there is a small pull down status bar at the top of each app drag it dow and press the open app you want or just press home then press the other app(I find this easier) both will keep running in the background and "Emma" will still give directions.
Both use the internal GPS.
They will also both run whilst running music aswell with as far as I can see no affect on how well they run. "Emma" will also mute you music playback whilst she gives you directions (She has a very Sultry Voice)

Can you use the Galaxy as a hands free kit for your existing mobile phone via Bluetooth

This is one thing I am still working on. I will get there in the end. I don't like not being able to figure something out. but if I can't I should be able to route a Parrot bluetooth device using the cabling from the ISO adapter for calls. this should just kill the input audio signal to the amp and replace it with the one from the parrot. but this is still a work in process

 

[sae70]

Can you use the Galaxy as a hands free kit for your existing mobile phone via Bluetooth

This is one thing I am still working on. I will get there in the end. I don't like not being able to figure something out. but if I can't I should be able to route a Parrot bluetooth device using the cabling from the ISO adapter for calls. this should just kill the input audio signal to the amp and replace it with the one from the parrot. but this is still a work in process

Mmmm....it's a shame that you can't just buy an app that makes it happen

I've been looking at mounts and accessories that you can get for each this evening and I've noticed that you can get a lead for the Galaxy that allows you to plug it into your TV via a set of phono leads to view your photos and videos Does anyone know if you can also use the lead to watch iPlayer or the like on your TV as well?

 

[Chris Green90]

Can you use the Galaxy as a hands free kit for your existing mobile phone via Bluetooth

This is one thing I am still working on. I will get there in the end. I don't like not being able to figure something out. but if I can't I should be able to route a Parrot bluetooth device using the cabling from the ISO adapter for calls. this should just kill the input audio signal to the amp and replace it with the one from the parrot. but this is still a work in process

Mmmm....it's a shame that you can't just buy an app that makes it happen

I've been looking at mounts and accessories that you can get for each this evening and I've noticed that you can get a lead for the Galaxy that allows you to plug it into your TV via a set of phono leads to view your photos and videos Does anyone know if you can also use the lead to watch iPlayer or the like on your TV as well?

The answer to that would be a great big yes Steve. It basically just brings up whatever is on the screen at the time. I am still working on the hands free thing. I think it must be just a case of typing the right combination of words into google.
Btw. Dont know if it helps but everything I have posted in this thread has been done using only my galaxy tab and have found it no more difficult than using my laptop.