GPS Upgrade - Looking for Options for a Rugged Android Tablet

[red02tj]

Late to the party but the Amazon kids tablets are bombproof and come with a 2yr replacement warranty . If they can survive a 5yr old in the airport, you’re probably good.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL5SZ3VV?tag=wranglerorg-20

Caveat being you’d need to side load the google play store for full android functionality, but only takes about 30min.

 

[OldBuzzard]

Late to the party but the Amazon kids tablets are bombproof and come with a 2yr replacement warranty . If they can survive a 5yr old in the airport, you’re probably good.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL5SZ3VV?tag=wranglerorg-20

Caveat being you’d need to side load the google play store for full android functionality, but only takes about 30min.

But do those have a GPS chip? I thought about one of those several years ago, but the ones I was looking at did not. And I don't know if you can add an external USB GPS receiver. It's hard to get descent technical information on that Amazon stuff.

 

[red02tj]

But do those have a GPS chip? I thought about one of those several years ago, but the ones I was looking at did not. And I don't know if you can add an external USB GPS receiver. It's hard to get descent technical information on that Amazon stuff.

No native gps but apps like this will pass gps from a phone to tablet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details

 

[macleanflood]

The Amazon tablet I purchased has a GPS chip and it was plenty accurate. Matched my One Plus phone. It was also $90 not on sale and I got mine for $60.

Not exactly sure why one needs "rugged." It's basically going to hang on a mount. Shouldn't be flying around the cab. You might dismount it for taking into the house for preloading maps and coordinates...but again... nothing I see a need for "rugged."

"Rugged" to me are industrial electricians using a tablet to red line prints and reference drawings, inventory and code books while actively working in an industrial setting with big machinery, oil, water and other stuff everywhere and a lot of organized chaos.

I currently use Avenza for mapping, and a custom app my neighbor and friend wrote...Fall Creek Trash that uses the Forest Service GPS vector database to do mapping on and off line...we use the app for scouting and cleaning up trash...tracking volunteer hours and lots of useful things that generate reports for the Forest Service...which in turn gets us more funding.

I use Avenza for navigating roads and trails. It was great on the Rubicon trail...but the map we had could have been a lot better with obstacle identification (what's the name of this one?) and bathroom locations.

My ten cents.

I'm happy with the roughly $100 I spent on my system. I need to modify and clean up the bracket and I need to box out the airbag space to increase it's functionality... dedicated USB port for the tablet and some storage potential.

-Mac

 

[Apparition]

Late to the party but the Amazon kids tablets are bombproof and come with a 2yr replacement warranty . If they can survive a 5yr old in the airport, you’re probably good.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL5SZ3VV?tag=wranglerorg-20

Caveat being you’d need to side load the google play store for full android functionality, but only takes about 30min.

If you ever meet Jeff and see his yellow shortbus you’ll understand why he prefers crayon eating Marine in the sandbox level gear to crayon eating child covered in blowout gear.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

The Amazon tablet I purchased has a GPS chip and it was plenty accurate. Matched my One Plus phone. It was also $90 not on sale and I got mine for $60.

Not exactly sure why one needs "rugged." It's basically going to hang on a mount. Shouldn't be flying around the cab. You might dismount it for taking into the house for preloading maps and coordinates...but again... nothing I see a need for "rugged."

"Rugged" to me are industrial electricians using a tablet to red line prints and reference drawings, inventory and code books while actively working in an industrial setting with big machinery, oil, water and other stuff everywhere and a lot of organized chaos.

I currently use Avenza for mapping, and a custom app my neighbor and friend wrote...Fall Creek Trash that uses the Forest Service GPS vector database to do mapping on and off line...we use the app for scouting and cleaning up trash...tracking volunteer hours and lots of useful things that generate reports for the Forest Service...which in turn gets us more funding.

I use Avenza for navigating roads and trails. It was great on the Rubicon trail...but the map we had could have been a lot better with obstacle identification (what's the name of this one?) and bathroom locations.

My ten cents.

I'm happy with the roughly $100 I spent on my system. I need to modify and clean up the bracket and I need to box out the airbag space to increase it's functionality... dedicated USB port for the tablet and some storage potential.

-Mac

For me, the main benefit with a “rugged” unit is the strength of the case, and therefore the ability to hard mount it to the rig and not worrying at all about someone walking off with it. I do not take my GPS in and out of the rig, it is in there to stay and that is what works for me.

The typical mounting approach for a normal tablet is not secure at all, and would not prevent someone from reaching in and yanking it out of the rig. Or in many cases allow the tablet to become a projectile in a hard hit. My current GPS is hard mounted to the dash bar, and would be virtually impossible to steal - you would have to cut the mount. And I certainly don’t worry about it coming loose on the trail. Again for me, I like not having to worry about it.

I’ve personally had bad experience using normal tablets outdoors. They tend to overheat in the sun, and one hard hit shatters the glass. Now granted, this comes out of my adventure biking experience, but most regular tablets are not designed for this type of abuse.

I beat on my rig pretty hard, and I tend to build things in a way that I don’t have to worry about said things breaking when I do. But again, that’s just me, and I enjoy the challenge. I also tend to look for interesting and unique ways to solve problems - this one included. It is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

If you ever meet Jeff and see his yellow shortbus you’ll understand why he prefers crayon eating Marine in the sandbox level gear to crayon eating child covered in blowout gear.

Ryan, that is the funniest - and likely most accurate - description if how I do things that I have ever heard.

 

[deserteagle56]

I’ve personally had bad experience using normal tablets outdoors. They tend to overheat in the sun, and one hard hit shatters the glass. Now granted, this comes out of my adventure biking experience, but most regular tablets are not designed for this type of abuse.

^This has been my experience also, with both tablets and an Android phone. If you run topless, raindrops cause havoc with the touch screen, for one.

 

[Apparition]

I can't fucking wait until Steam and Proton develop far enough to take windows off my gaming PC. Last device I have that has it. Gaming just isn't quite there yet unfortunately

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Well, after two complete trips across the country due to an address issue, I finally received the Minno tablet. It is pretty beefy, and I'm happy with the mount. Looking forward to learning Android (which is new to me) and seeing how well this thing will do as a GPS.

The carrier plate bolts to the tablet. Could you rip it out of there with some effort? Sure, but it would likely destroy the tablet, and would definitely defend against a grab and go.

I won't be using the ball mount, as I'll build a permanent mount for the dash bar which will attached to the mount plate. But it does make for a great stand to fool around with it on the bench.

Overall, it feels pretty sturdy. In fact, while showing it to my wife I dropped it from shoulder height onto a hard wood floor. It did survive...

It is very close to the same height and width of the Lowrance, but has an 8" screen where the Lowrance is 7". It will easily hard mount in the same spot.

I'm looking forward to trying this out. I'll do the install over on my build thread.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Just to wrap up this thread, I completed the install of the tablet over on my build thread. Here is the link:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/nashville-tjs-build-continued.42035/post-1610418

Now that I've had some time to work with the unit, I'm pleased with the purchase. Still having some issues connecting to the AT&T network, but hopefully that will be resolved soon. I can connect via the hotspot on my iPhone, and of course via wifi. This thing works very well off-line, and it is easy to replicate satellite imagery and .gpx info to the tablet - because it happens automatically from work done on my desktop or iPhone, and vis versa. It's pretty slick how well that all works.

When I am wheelin', I would probably run offline anyway. It has 640G of storage. That will hold A LOT of maps.

Here is the result:

Thanks for all the input, boys. I appreciate the help as usual.