Motorcycle GPS Vs. Tablet??
 

Ladies, Gentlemen, Scoundrels:
I am looking at a motorcycle GPS. Their cost ++ the costs of map coverage for travelling has me wondering if a GPS enabled Tablet would be a better choice [ battery life, other capabilities, etc.]. Has anyone have opinions or experience using a tablet[ with suitable waterproofing and mount] on their bikes. Was it relatively easy to set up or not for a Luddite?
Thanks in advance .

I would use a proper GPS mounted to a bike, not a Tablet. A GPS I would say is far more robust than a tablet and easier to mount on the bike
As for battery life, my Garmin Montana lasts between 16 to 18 hours before it needs charging. I can however charge it on the hoof.

There are lots of mapping apps available for phones and tablets and there are threads about this on here.

Maps for GPS..you can buy the proper maps from whoever you get your GPS from, Garmin etc but a lot of folk use the OSM mapping, again there is a large thread on this kind of mapping and how to use it.

Wayne

For me, I want a GPS that I can use both on and off the bike, so it needs to be hand portable (walking) and water proof (riding in the rain). A tablet would not suit me.

'Free' maps tend to be what people use - especially on a world trip where the costs of maps tend to be high for the amount of use you would have. OSM tends to be the source of these free maps in various forms - on a GPS, a 'smart' phone, a tablet. While you might see the app called 'maps.me' for example .. the base data is OSM, only the way in which it is presented and the amount of data used changes from one app to another.

I used an iPad mini for navigation round the USA last autumn but not mounted on the bike. It was kept in a pannier and brought out as and when I was lost (quite often!). Even if I could have found a stable cradle it would have been way too big

I have mounted it in a cradle inside my Land Rover and used it as a regular sat nav and it works ok, but no better than a normal sized dedicated one or even an iPhone. There's plenty of free app based sat nav software around.

In reality unless you're navigating somewhere really tricky you don't need the screen working all the time. Just turn it on when you've no idea whether to turn left or right (or slightly before that point anyway)

In your position I'd buy a second hand car sat nav and either buy a cheap waterproof case for it or put a plastic bag over it in the rain.

Not using a dedicated GPS anymore. Not sure about a tablet, nor luddite but the android platform has loads more options. Main weak point is bypassing the USB gremlins. Also an issue with some dedicated GPS units though. USB was never designed for high vibration and outdoor use. Doesn't hold up to serious off road for sure. Phones have cradle options that can bypass this issue though with a USB port on the mount that can be hard wired easily.
My fav app for riding is Locus. Others like OSMand. Depending on your needs there may be a learning curve. Although basecamp isn't easy for some either.

No such problems with the Montana in an AMPS cradle. Used in the car, road bike and dirt bike.

I think you would be better off with a dedicated motorcycle GPS, rather than trying to kludge a tablet onto your handlebars.

With a dedicated GPS, you don't need to worry about waterproofing, readability of the display in sunshine, ability to operate (tiny) buttons while riding with gloves on, a user interface that was not designed for ease of use while controlling a vehicle, getting spoken directions connected to a Bluetooth helmet without an electrical engineering degree, etc., etc.

Personally, I use a dedicated GPS (a Garmin) while riding, and a small laptop computer for constructing routes and doing navigation research when not riding. It is true that some of the Garmin units are quite expensive, but there are other manufacturers of motorcycle-specific GPS navigators - such as Tom-Tom - who provide similar capabilities at a more attractive price.

Michael

I tried once with my ipad and rode approx. 5000 km Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria.Trust me my friend it is not comfortable. Also it is very dangerous cos where you mount your ipad should be on tank but when you need to look at your route your look drops and you loose your consantration. I recommend you to put a motocycle navigation and mount it up not down. I mean 10-20 cm down where you look for riding.

Last thing when you put ipad or iphone in a waterproof case it reaches the max heat and the device shots itself down. Then you have to wait for 15 mins to gets it cold.. Not easy to use...

The bigger the screen, the more power is drawn to make all those millions of pixels do their stuff.
I've settled on a 5" screen "water proof" (nothing is water proof) android phone for now, and it does the job without any tendency to get even slightly hot - I guess this depends on how hard the processor is working, so more recent phones should not be working too hard when used solely for navigational purposes.
I have also experimented with a nexus 7" screen tablet but I use that only when on 4 wheels nowadays.
Some people have written in here about using a tablet mounted in a tank bag, but that would be a pain with the issue mentioned above.

My Garmin nuvi car-type GPS must have a flat battery by now. :innocent:

I spent a long time using smartphones for navigation and moved on to a Garmin 590LM on my current bike.

Ultimately it was worth the expense, it's a better solution. The phones tended to overheat and at the time few were waterproof. The Xperia I have now would probably be better though and can be charged with the magnetic port, staying waterproof even when charging.

What remains an issue is screen clarity in bright sunlight and control in gloves. No tablet or phone yet invented is very easy to see in direct sunlight, which is a massive pain in the ass on a bike. I never found a good solution for making a normal touchscreen work with thick gloves.

The Garmin I have bypasses all of those problems, it plays music, can stream it from my phone, it accepts OSM maps gladly when I leave Europe. It's just a better all round package. A luxury item, no doubt, my GF won't be forking out on one, she's happy to use her own Xperia, but I'm glad I got mine - right tool for the job.

I think the Garmin users are sticking with the method of use Garmin project. Programme the box, clamp it to the handlebars, spend all day with the septic tart on some slide show telling you you are " off rout" and need to " make a ewe turn" .

As I don't want woodwork and farming advice all day I don't do this. I memorise or make a rough list each night and bimble along enjoying the scenery or music. At the afternoon tea break I switch phone batteries and if faced with a city centre etc. Turn on the GPS and listen to advice via headphones. My 14 quid app, 20 quid charger, 10 quid second battery and 2 quid headphones modified with a tenners worth of earplug putty are lighter, smaller, cheaper, multi functional etc.

The question would seem to be how controlling against useful you ( and it is a personal choice unless your mates all insist you leave gang if you don't have the right Touratech bits to hold your GPS and spare GPS and GPS tracker ) find these tools to be.

Andy

Now you're talking!:thumbup1:
Though some will need a translator.

It's all good feedback in here so far regarding the technological side of things.
Replies have dealt with the tablet aspect quite readily but, thereafter, are varied because no one knows enough about your philosophy toward navigation and what you want to get out of the different possibilities.

For the :offtopic: "benefit" of those divided by a closely related language:

Septic; mockney rhyming slang, septic tank, yank, a US person of the the loud and chequed trousers (pants) variety.

Tart; I should look up the origin of this one. I suspect it is Georgian slang referring to something you can buy on street corners. As a reference to a female person it suggests a lady of negotiable virtue.

U-Turns are not made on this side of the Atlantic. This would require men in orange jackets and a lorry load of tarmac. We turn around instead.

Rout (pronounced rowt) is either something armies do after they get their arses (small donkies) kicked, or the action of using a sort of electric chisel to cut slots in wood. A route (pronounced root despite the Australians sniggering) is followed.

Had I purchased a Garmin in the US this would all make more sense, but it was Bradford doh

Andy

Interestingly, or maybe not, sat nav units have just been removed from the goods used to calculate UK inflation. We aren't buying so many, so they join nylon slacks and domestic coal supplies in the history of stuff whose prices once increased.

Andy

I don't understand what the cradle mounting system's impact is in the secure connection of a USB port. Sure, some connections work. Others don't. This inconsistency proves the fact is not designed for it. I even had burnmoto ports fail in Baja. Had to tape it to ensure the flat contact points connected. It only did to a point off course. Pin connector are used in these environment for this reason. The garmin 4 pin connector was great. The 2 pin is too small and the USB not up to the task. Off course it depends on the amount of abuse.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

Which apps did you use and didn't you use a case?

I find all screens troublesome in direct sun. But that's easily dealt with in use though.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

I used a RAM X-Mount when it was dry and popped it in the tank bag when raining.

Used Google maps and Sygic.

Interesting, those magnetic plugs. How strong is the magnet? Between looking at those mounts. As you said. It needs a waterproof phone. But USB ports would be direct to the phone which doesn't work for me. The magnetic port would suit Sony to these mounts well if it's strong enough.

The other thing with this mount is that there is no isolation from vibration.

I'm not sure on overheating. Didn't have that at 30C in sunny Baja in a black case riding first and second gear single and double trail. I covered it when standing still though. Never felt hot.

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I just bought some ram stuff and put my full size iPad straight into the cockpit of my KTM. It's waterproofed and whatnot. Have an app with read-out of everything from altitude to speed, and there's also a GPS map thingy. When bored I can switch to telly. Heck, there's even an app for roadbooks! Haven't tried the set-up in really heavy terrain when doing the shake-down test, but I will soon.

https://ridenorway.files.wordpress.c...1&h=461&crop=1

Hi Andy:

That will work well if the rider has some familiarity with the country in which they are riding. For example, I live in Canada, and if I was to ride 4,000 miles across Canada, from coast to coast, I would probably do exactly what you suggest and only turn on my GPS (a Garmin 590) when riding through the center of large cities.

But, when I am riding in a foreign country (e.g. the UK) where I have no familiarity at all with the lay of the land, and even less familiarity with the local language, traffic protocols, signs, where the speed cameras are, and stuff like that, I find that having the GPS on all the time takes a lot of the uncertainty and stress out of navigation, and actually lets me spend more time "enjoying the scenery" than I would have without GPS guidance.

I do agree that the 'recalculating' prompts and voice guidance can sometime be irritating, but they can be turned off (via configuration options within the GPS navigator) as desired. The 'recalculating' voice prompt can be very useful at times... if I hear that the GPS is 'recalculating' a route when I don't expect it to do so, that is a fairly strong hint that I missed a turn somewhere and ought to take a second, more critical look at where I am going, and where the GPS is suggesting I should go.

Michael

It's the software that is responsible for all that. Doesn't matter if it's on a dedicated GPS or not.

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Do you pop it into your pocket when the bike is parked somewhere in public?
(it looks pretty vulnerable).

I just bring it along when leaving the bike. Not exactly pocket friendly, but it works.

Start with a normal GPS, I would recommend a motor-oriented GPS: rugged, waterproof, for normal naviation (my LM390 has hit stone-pavement with 80km/h, still working, hehehe).

I dislike the small screen, I dislike the lack of "overview" in general and the l dislike the slow-slow-slow repsonse to finger-commands.

So.. for map-reading, I mostly carry a 7Inch Tablet (I lost my first google-nexus on the Transfagarasan in 2014... Stupid). The tablets tend to be slow as well, but at least they offer a better overview for map-reading (OSM, maps.me, and maps.google.com if on-the-net).

Screen-size not ideal for map-reading yet, but Larger then 7inch is hard to stow away in the tank-case.

In addition to that, I have now dedicated an old-phone, a GS3, to "tracking": it runs ramblr and myadventure.bike to record my whereabouts and allows me to easily record a map+logbook (separate thread). I also use that old phone as additional camera and for OSM maps.me reading (but the screen is too small for that, hence the tablet!). Last but not least, that old phone, with cheapo simcard is my emergency-backup in case the main phone gets lost or damaged.

For true-map-reading, I also still carry paper maps, but less and less.

For planning, I tend to do my rough layout using paper and laptop and then program a few via-points into the Garmin. Plus some pen-on-paper-notes (city-names, road nrs) under the plastic of the tank-case.

Wow. That's quite a bit of redundancy. Some would say the Garmin is somewhat redundant.

Grinning right at you...

The Garmin is the only device I will use while actually Riding.
it is water-resistant (hell it survived an 80km/h drop on brick/stone road), and it is the only device I use to navigate streets/roads.
All the other devices are either for
map-reading (tablet) or
track-recording and route-logbook (old phone with myadventure.bike + ramblr).
And then there is my actual "phone" or making calls and doing messaging.

A recorded trip of 4 weeks looks like this:

OUG tour spring 2016

this took me close to zero effort: recording is automatic, any picture on Flicr is auto-inserted into the trip, and text can go in via phone or via web-page. And the web-page is "up" from day one so my friends can follow me, and I can brag and show it to ppl I meet on the road.
Anyone with a computer+internet can find you instantly via google myadventure-dot-bike, then T R I P S -slash- one three seven -enter-.
Like I said: a Great Brag or conversation-starter (you just came down from Helsinki???)

All other systems require me to tweak and figet to put route + picure + notes together..
MyAdv is "instant-ride-report". not perfect yet, but a good help for a lazy person like me.

Suggestion: Download Locus and try it out. This gives you the ability to scan in your paper maps and upload it into Locus. That way what you see on the paper is what you see on screen which makes it much easier to relate to it when you ride. I personally don't find turn-by-turn necessary but with a plugin and the right maps Locus can also do that. I use it on an S4

Screenshot of T4A paper maps in Locus
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...4-10-25-38.png

BC with my route drawn in to follow.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...4-10-25-15.png

Used it in Baja as well with the Baja Almanac which is really the only decent mapbook of the place.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6999301190.jpg

Locus: I need to look at my notes (am at work). I've had it on one of my phones for a short while.
From memory; locus seemed excellent for route + trip, and it could "Export" the route-data (export-function was how I found it).
But if I remember well, it didnt do the "web-page-display" e.g. the sharing-to-friends was missing (and I like to show-off, hehehe).

Locus: I'll put it on the list to re-visit.

Questions I generally have when evaluating an app (checklist is at home):
- Does it easily record month-long trips (and display them) Several apps crash when too-much-data is collected and you have to do day-by-day fidgeting and then "glue" the trip together.. sigh.
- Does it survive phone-battery-dead and continue tracking on switch-on? (most apps will have to start a new trip..)
- Does it easily integrate text-notes and pictures ? my-adv simply picks up my public flckr pictures, hence anything I put on flickr goes into the ride-report with zero effort, no cables, no drag-n-drop-hassle. Some others will indiscriminately harvest _all_ pictures from the phone.. ai.
- Does it allow me privacy? Can I erase pieces of a trip (Myadv cannot yet dot this - I'm pushing for that option!).

Not sure on most those. I'm not that demanding, but you should try and let me know. beer

It does restart the track recording. My phone ran out of battery because I kept it plugged in and on with the engine on. It started right back up where it left off. Not sure on the max number of points either. Try it. It may be published somewhere as well. I do daily route recordings so I can back it up. But in reality I don't really need to record unless I change course from the plan I guess.

My main demand it the ability to use whatever background I want. Whether it's a map, vector or otherwise, or aerial imagery. It's super easy with Locus. Very handy if you are planning on riding "off the grid" where good aerial imagery is available.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...4-12-25-32.png

You can do it on a Garmin too but it doesn't handle that data too well and is slow to scroll.

Tablet as GPS navi
 

Hello there!

My first post here:-)
I use my ASUS tablet as navigation... The only thing that I haven't figured out yet is waterproffing... (when it rains i take it down)