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Convince me to get a Tablet PC

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shnool
Former Capri-25 Tech Editor

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USA
1032 Posts

Response Posted - 09/18/2012 : 12:01:34

Sorry figured victory goes the spoils, and in our case, debt.

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PCP777
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1225 Posts

Response Posted - 09/19/2012 : 09:35:08

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Prospector
 OK, I gave in this morning and pulled the plug. Local computer place has an Asus TF700T on hold with my name on it. Luckily, that store is just down the road from a great paddle-sports place which should have water-proof cases.

You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a place with this machine in stock. Everyone lists them as arriving soon, and the ones who do have them in stock are selling for MSRP +$200 or so.

Anyway, I'll let you guys know what I think once I have it up and running.

Supposedly this unit has the best daylight viewable screen of the bunch - that was a big factor for me. And the fact that it has expandable memory (SSD slot) and that it will outperform the one SWMBO just got.

Now we'll have to see it in person.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

It got a great review here with some good bench mark scores on everything but the camera.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-Transformer-Pad-Infinity-TF700T-Tablet-MID.78316.0.html

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 09/19/2012 : 10:33:42

I was playing with it last night and it seems pretty good. Tonight I have a race, but without a case, I don't want to take it on the boat. Maybe I can stow it down below with the GPS running and see if it gets a signal.

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 09/19/2012 : 10:41:50

OK - now I need a few good racing apps. This one shows promise. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sailracer.net&feature=search_result#?t=W10.

Anyone have others that work well?

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/19/2012 : 11:14:41

It should get a GPS signal just fine. Fiberglass is effectively transparent to the the frequency the satellites use. I've never had any problems with GPS inside the cabin with a number of different devices. I intentionally made the cord for our little chart plotter long enough to reach anywhere in the cabin so I could watch for anchor drag at night whether sleeping in the V-berth or aft berth.

Don't know about any racing apps for an Android device, but I'd assume it has some sort of built in clock app with a countdown timer you should be able to use to time your start. I know IOS devices do, but I'm far less familiar with Android.

The tablet might fit into a large Ziploc bag, which is less than ideal, but if you keep it downstairs it's less likely to get wet. If you have an outfitters store close, you may be able to find a bag for it. Someplace like REI or Cabelas, but I don't think either has Canadian stores.

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 09/19/2012 : 11:31:15

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 It should get a GPS signal just fine. Fiberglass is effectively transparent to the the frequency the satellites use. I've never had any problems with GPS inside the cabin with a number of different devices. I intentionally made the cord for our little chart plotter long enough to reach anywhere in the cabin so I could watch for anchor drag at night whether sleeping in the V-berth or aft berth.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I already found an anchor drag app - something I wouldn't have considered, but cool nonetheless.

Also need to pick up one of these... http://youtu.be/vhJ5HnjQRAI not sure who carries them around here, or the pricepoint.

For my Canadian Friends... Mountain Equipment Co-op has the waterproof, see-through protective cases for around $30: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Paddling/BagsPacksCases/PRD~5027-502/sealline-eseries-case.jsp

Edited by - Prospector on 09/19/2012 11:54:44

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2012 : 19:01:54

Sorry, I've been meaning to reply to this thread but forgot. I use a MSI Wind netbook in the cockpit all the time (but I only sail in dry weather). I set us a VHF/AIS/GPS system to send the signals out by Bluetooth, and the Netbook picks them up with no wires. The Wind has the brightest screen I've ever seen, which is why I stick with it.

My son bought me and my wife an iPad with internal GPS. But I'm still not aware of a program that could pick up my boat's AIS signal over bluetooth, so I haven't done much with it. (My wife loves it, though.) The iPad's screen is pretty good, but not as good in daylight as the Wind.

I've also played with a Nook Color that I hacked to run full Android 2.2. It has no internal GPS, but does pick up the GPS via Bluetooth, so it can function as a chartplotter. Screen still too dim (worse than the iPad), and still no Android chartplotter software with AIS capabilities. MX Mariner says they will support AIS in the future.

I have ways to get on the internet through wireless service with all these devices (put my Android phone in wireless hotspot mode), so I could do marinetraffic.com for AIS, but that's not nearly as reliable as my "real" AIS receiver.

Since you've already bought an Android tablet, and plan to get a waterproof case, you might be interested in a RAM mount for in the cockpit. After two years I am more impressed with it than ever, mainly because I can adjust the computer (or tablet if I switch to that someday) to be viewable from anywhere in the cockpit. It's so much better than any fixed bulkhead mount or binnacle console, which would force you to be in one location to view the screen. I can move from behind the wheel to the windward cockpit side and have the computer facing right at me with just the turn of a knob. This mount will work just great with a tablet also. If you don't have a pedestal to mount it on, consider mounting a rubber ball on a coaming or bulkhead. Or buy multiple balls for both coamings or other locations on the boat:

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</center>

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2012 : 20:25:43

Got my new Galaxy Tab today, so far I like it. More than I did the Kindle Fire I had several months ago. First off it's noticeably lighter and the settings are easier to get to. I've got it set up for email & all the regular stuff & have started looking for useful apps. I think I found the same anchor watch app, but haven't installed it yet. I have installed Waze on it (pretty good GPS street navigation app plus it's free). Has anyone found a good, free chartplotter for Android? I only spent a little while looking for one, there are lots of paid apps, which I'm willing to buy if I have a good recommendation. I'd also like to find an AIS app for it, but unless I get tethering turned on my iPhone, that's not likely to be too useful.

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2012 : 05:20:32

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 ...Has anyone found a good, free chartplotter for Android? I only spent a little while looking for one, there are lots of paid apps, which I'm willing to buy if I have a good recommendation. I'd also like to find an AIS app for it, but unless I get tethering turned on my iPhone, that's not likely to be too useful.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I use a Netbook in the cockpit, and will continue to do so until a tablet comes out with full sunlight viewable screen and a chartplotter app that can show my boat's GPS and AIS data on one screen (like OpenCPN does on Windows/Linux). So all I've done with Android tablet/phone so far is a cursory glance at what is available. But I'll share what little I know at this point.

Marine Navigator Lite is a very rudimentary free program that will show your position on a marine chart. You have to manually import raster charts from NOAA's website, which is cumbersome, multi-step process (download to PC or phone, transfer to directory on phone, then import one chart at a time). But once the setup is done, it works fine. The paid version (~$9) adds route plotting, course up mode, etc. I have not tried the paid version.

NutiCharts Lite is another free program that shows your position on a chart. I don't recall that is has any chart plotting capabilities either. But it does contain the ActiveCaptain database, which makes it nice for destination cruising. Charts and ActiveCaptain data are automatically downloaded wirelessly, or you can pay to download cached data that works when you're not connected. After trying this out I uninstalled it because it was using battery even after I forced a shutdown. I will reinstall it if I ever need the ActiveCaptain stuff, but for now I don't want it draining my battery.

If you don't have AIS on your boat, you can download the MarineTraffic app. This is just an Android version of the marinetraffic.com website. It shows the commercial traffic. I do not trust it for realtime navigation because their monitoring stations are a volunteer network prone to blackouts (vessels can disappear from view even though they're there), but I guess it is better than nothing.

MX Mariner is a paid app that is based on the OpenCPN source code. I'm a huge fan of OpenCPN, so this may be worth a look. It is supposed to be highly functional, but it's too expensive for me to buy unless I intend to really use it, and I am using the netbook instead. It does not do AIS display, but the author says he will add it in the future. If so, this may be the program I use if I ever move to a tablet.

One of the reasons I prefer a PC over tablet is that I can [url="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af44/RhythmDoctor/Sailboat%202011/OpenCPNDualView.jpg"]run two chartplotters at once[/url], one to zoom in for detailed features, and the second one to see the big picture with AIS targets showing. This prevents me from having to zoom in and out, so I can just leave it alone and focus on sailing. So I'm unlikely to move to a tablet in the near future.

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2012 : 06:19:03

Rick - you hit on 2 of my big issues when I took the tablet out on race night last week...

1. Distraction. The racing app I was using wanted too much interaction from me. I needed something I could set up and glance at every minute or so, not something that needed constant fiddling. It became cumbersome, and in the end I would have needed extrea crew just to run the app. After the race, the app wanted me to subscribe to a website to get my race data back. I lost all the data for the race, and had to declare myself DNF. I was not impressed. The app is uninstalled.

2. Battery life with EVERYTHING runing. The same app turned on not only my GPS, but also wifi, bluetooth, and everything else on the machine. One of the reasons I bought the tablet was that the reviews said it can run 8 hours + on a charge - and it can and does, but with the app turning on everything, I was at the end of the battery by the time I got back to the clubhouse. With just the GPS and display, I don't think this would be a problem.

Finally, with a test sample of 1, I can assure you that with the screen set to autodim, and daylight brightness enabled, the tablet I got is fully daylight viewable. Although my daylight only went from 5 PM until around 8 PM. I have tried it out in the parking lot at work under more realistic mid-afternoon conditions, and not been challenged at all to see the screen. The only thing that makes it difficult is that fingerprint smudges from touching the screen can outreflect the images beneath if you are looking at the screen at an angle. I don't think there is a cure for that.

Edited by - Prospector on 09/21/2012 06:19:57

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 09/25/2012 : 04:48:11

Don't get one...

Anyhoo. SO I get the old Iphone 4 cause the Grlfrnd just got one. Score. with the grlfrnd. Great phone. And I'm thinking the old droid is toast. Not so..

Now the old samsung galaxy S works great for navigation, maps, anything that the satellite gps picks up and still works for internet when I can get wifi.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2012 : 11:40:37

Just FYI, http://tech.woot.com has an Asus Transformer 300T (?) for $250 today. As always, don't dawdle, the deal is for today only and is subject to selling out.

I'm trying mightily to justify one of them to myself, but I really want an iPad, plus I just bought a 7" Samsung Android tablet.

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GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4303 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2012 : 12:17:30

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 Just FYI, http://tech.woot.com has an Asus Transformer 300T (?) for $250 today. As always, don't dawdle, the deal is for today only and is subject to selling out.

I'm trying mightily to justify one of them to myself, but I really want an iPad, plus I just bought a 7" Samsung Android tablet.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
It's refurbished for $249.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2012 : 12:37:19

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">It's refurbished for $249.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

You're correct, they are refurbished tablets, but with one exception (my original iPhone), I've never had any problems with refurbished equipment. Most of my woodworking equipment is refurbished, my original iPhone was replaced by Apple with a brand new phone when it started acting up, and Woot is very good about returns should you have a problem. Rita's new iPhone 5 is refurbished (black Friday deal), and my Samsung tablet is refurbished (also bought off of Woot). I look at refurb equipment as having been through QA/QC twice, so you're even less likely to have problems.

It'll cost you right at $255 shipped ($249.99 + $5 shipping).

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2012 : 11:17:11

Dave - swmbo got that same one for around $400 retail here about 3 months ago. Its a good machine.

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Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2012 : 14:18:06

It may not be common knowledge but a large portion of "refurbished" electronic equipment is labeled that way due to software upgrades and have nothing to do with a component failure. It cost more to diagnose and replace a failed component than to build an entirely new unit so most failed equipment is discarded. On the other hand software is continually upgraded and if a device receives an upgraded software package it will be labeled as "refurbished". Often times the refurbished unit is a more reliable unit than the original based on the software upgrade.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2012 : 15:16:11

Thanks Joe, I didn't know that, but it makes total sense. I can't imagine them cracking open an iPhone or something along those lines to desolder a board, as you said, it's cheaper to make a new one that it is to fix an old one. I've been inside one of my iPhones before and I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon.

Chris,
I tried to convince myself, but since I already have an Android tablet, and I want an iPad to test apps with, I talked myself out of it. The good thing is, Woot deals tend to be cyclical, so that tablet will most likely come back around again, as will refurbished iPads most likely. I've seen any number of different iPod deals go by on their site.

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