Tablet for Navionics

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mdonnelly

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My old mate Bill is 80 on Friday so a few of us are going to chip in and buy him a tablet to display Navionics and allow him internet access in the marina. On their site Navionics have several tablets on their compatibility guide:
iPads
Acer Iconia A501
ASUS Google Nexus 7
ASUS EeePad Transformer
ASUS Transformer pad infinity
HTC google Nexus 9
Naviotab
Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Galaxy Note

Anybody recommend one of these or suggest another?
Regards,
Mark
 
Easy choice for me as I have an iPad 2 which still seems to be working fine so downloaded Navionics about 3 years ago and it has been great as I had no particular interest in getting a chartplotter, and wanted to see if I would become a convert.

I'm not sure any tablet is good value for money unless you really do use it for multiple things already.
 
my £80 ebay second hand lenovo works great

S2130048+lenovo.jpg
 
Whichever one you choose just make sure it has GPS. eg Only iPads which have a slot for a SIM card have GPS.
 
I asked the same question a few months ago and following advice bought a Samsung galaxy tab E with which I am well pleased. Cost just over £100 from Tesco's.
TBH any reputable tablet will do the job with the usual caveats about visibility, charging and waterproofing.
 
mdonnelly said:
My old mate Bill is 80 on Friday so a few of us are going to chip in and buy him a tablet to display Navionics and allow him internet access in the marina. On their site Navionics have several tablets on their compatibility guide:
iPads
Acer Iconia A501
ASUS Google Nexus 7
ASUS EeePad Transformer
ASUS Transformer pad infinity
HTC google Nexus 9
Naviotab
Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Galaxy Note

Anybody recommend one of these or suggest another?
Regards,
Mark
Click to expand...

Assuming that he's a sailor, all the Sony Xperia tablets like mine are waterproof and work fine with Navionics so can be used in the cockpit when there's spray around.

Mine's a Z2 but it's been replaced by the Z3. I don't know whether you can still pick up a Z2 cheaply.

Richard
 
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab - it manages to cope with quite a lot of abuse and we sometimes put it in a plastic case if it is getting really wet. The charging plug is the biggest vulnerability and needs to be kept dry. The built in GPS is pretty accurate but I am not sure if it is using GLONASS as well as GPS... my newer Samsung phones from S5 upwards do use GLONASS which is probably why they are more accurate. I have monitored their NMEA and never caught them using SBAS (the European version of WAAS).

I wish though I had got a more waterproof tablet, like the Sony Xperia. My new Samsung S7 is water proof and I have used it on a bicycle bracket above the helm. The touch screen gets a bit confused if it gets sploshed with sea water! Have the Samsung tablets caught up with the phones yet?

That said Navionics on a tablet or phone is not really meant for navigation, it is handy some times for a quick check but not to be relied on. I suppose it is a different thread to list its deficiencies and what better charts and software you can get on a Tablet. You need to know its limitations.
 
And the usual caveats about how your Tablet or Phone operates regarding it's positioning calculations, GPS drivers, power saving modes etc.

I am not saying the devices are not fit for purpose. I am saying get intimately aquainted with how your particular device operates, particularly with respect to positioning/power saving and app switching.

99% of the time, the positioning will be pretty damn good, not as good as WAAS but certainly good enough, the issue is that 1% when the batteries are low, power saving kicks in or you use other apps in parallel that may also influence GPS usage. Simply be aware, not a criticism of tablets or phones as navigational aids.

https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-improve-your-gps-signal-on-your-android
http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/pho...droid-phone-tablet-google-maps-11364044999319


I've been using navionics for a couple of years on various phones and tablets, currently a Galaxy Tab S2 and an S6 phone. Works very well as a backup/alternative to the WAAS plotter and I haven't yet noticed a major difference between the two but occasionally the positioning on the phone and tablet are not quite as fast or accurate as the plotter.
 
I asked this question a few months ago and ended through recommendation on this forum a refurb Lenovo tab 2 A70 (£110 I think it was) on ebay from Argos. It has run superbly with Navionics and the battery last a long time but generally keep mine plugged in. The Lenovo A30 is slower than the A10, although it appears not to be an issue for running Navionics.

With regards to a post recommending Sony Tablets, I had a Sony Z4 tablet because it was waterproof, but found it too fragile for boating, the screen cracked and hence I ended up with a Lenovo. To this day I don't know what caused the screen to crack as it was never dropped and Sony wouldn't cover it under warranty, so it was £162 to repair!
 
Have you had a look at Londonchartplotters they offer tablets for sale with charts etc loaded on. Great value for money and great service from Steve Wozniak runs the business.

No connection just a happy customer.
 
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