Member Since: 10 Jun 2015
Location: Winchester
Posts: 25
Tablet as Sat Nav
I have a fairly basic Discovery 4 which has no Sat Nav.
Whilst wandering around Tesco last night I had a look at a Hudl2 which at £100 seems like an extraordinarily good proposition for a sat nav for the car - currently I use my Iphone 6 which isn't brilliant plus has issues about not routing spoken directions through the audio.
Does anyone use a tablet for Sat Nav, what is their experience and what mount is recommended for an 8" tablet?
Many thanks,
Jimbo
10th Jun 2015 10:41 am
MikeO
Member Since: 15 Jan 2014
Location: The Cotswolds
Posts: 1378
A number of people have installed tablets in the "normal" SatNav location although the Hudl2 may be a little too big? eg
Member Since: 10 Jun 2015
Location: Winchester
Posts: 25
Thanks,
Yes, I've seen a couple of those but it's a work car so I don't want to dismantle / cut anything. Plus it seems to do away with the radio / phone display?
The issue for me is how to mount a screen near enough to use and without blocking anything useful like air vent or view out of the windscreen.
**EDIT**
Sorry - just realised there's a D4 electronics section where I should have posted this
10th Jun 2015 12:00 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26708
Moved it for you
10th Jun 2015 12:26 pm
800jimbo
Member Since: 10 Jun 2015
Location: Winchester
Posts: 25
...and I shall stop wondering who and how to ask someone to move it!
Thanks very much.
10th Jun 2015 12:37 pm
Pedros
Member Since: 25 Jun 2011
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 454
I'd be reluctant to try and slot a tablet into the dash even if it was my car! Mine does have sat-nav and to be honest it's not the greatest system the world has ever seen.
It might be a bit old school, but perhaps a Tom Tom or similar is the way to go. You could, I'm sure arrange it so that there isn't a wire dangling down with a cigar socket plug. Although it's going to take up a little space somewhere on the dash or windscreen, they're not that intrusive, you can remove it when treading familiar paths and they aren't really that big. The last one I had came with a couple of sticky back circles of flat plastic that you could place where you want and would provide a stable platform for the sucker, making lots of areas in the cockpit available to place it.
But I appreciate that maybe isn't what you want.
10th Jun 2015 10:32 pm
ianmacd
Member Since: 05 Dec 2014
Location: Sussex
Posts: 22
Originally I used to use an iPad with tom-tom and that worked well but was a little too large to mount.
Next I tried a google nexus 7 inch tablet while but found that I couldn't keep the tablet charging quick enough (with the same plug in adapter that kept the iPad ok) so after a few hours it eventually had run the battery down and it had to stay off for a while to charge. Not great for a satnav. I even tried an external bluetooth gps to try and minimise the battery drain but it only lasted a bit longer. This was using tomtom as the nav software too.
Ended up giving up and getting a tomtom and transferred my subscriptions to that.Ian - Sussex
M0IAD SX141 (Sussex 4x4 Response)
11th Jun 2015 7:34 am
Robbie
Member Since: 05 Feb 2006
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 17932
Jimbo, it would help us all if you filled in your vehicle profile.
Land Rover - Turning Drivers into Mechanics Since 1948
Member Since: 08 Jan 2013
Location: In the middle
Posts: 55
I have installed a 10" tablet via a "RAM Mount" mount next to me, using one of Uncle Ray's ball bases, mounted to the base of the front passengers seat.
My tablet (Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tab 2, will be replaced by Tab S in the next few days) is mounted in a specific mount which sits on a combination of a 140 mm and 230 mm mount arm.
Great solution which can be adjusted with ease.
I use a 1.5" system, because I have several other RAM Mount components in use e. g. for mounting a laptop on a boat etc. so it didn't make any sense for me, investing in other components.
For a tablet, the 1" ball diameter should be more than enough.
Not the cheapest solution but rocksolid and with a clean look.
I am sure, Uncle Ray could help you too with a ball base.
11th Jun 2015 8:46 am
800jimbo
Member Since: 10 Jun 2015
Location: Winchester
Posts: 25
Robbie wrote:
Jimbo, it would help us all if you filled in your vehicle profile.
I have - is it not visible?
11th Jun 2015 10:56 am
Robbie
Member Since: 05 Feb 2006
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 17932
Nope. Double check that you filled-in all 6 fields before submitting it as even forgetting the colour will stop it working.
Land Rover - Turning Drivers into Mechanics Since 1948
Member Since: 27 Jun 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 2702
I bet its a base spec discovery...the insides are mostly the same?!
I would be tempted to go a dedicated sat nav route if you have nothing at all, its a dedicated solution - reasonably cheap all in with lifetime maps and its own mount.
Tablets require so much messing around for little gain and don't always have a good GPS module (if one at all)Mike
11th Jun 2015 12:14 pm
Numpty
Member Since: 18 Aug 2012
Location: Bolton
Posts: 673
Member Since: 10 Jun 2015
Location: Winchester
Posts: 25
Robbie wrote:
Nope. Double check that you filled-in all 6 fields before submitting it as even forgetting the colour will stop it working.
Gotcha.
Grey...
...
...
Hmmm...
There are a few aren't there? Let's go for Stornoway.
11th Jun 2015 12:26 pm
Swiss-LR
Member Since: 08 Jan 2013
Location: In the middle
Posts: 55
mse wrote:
... and don't always have a good GPS module (if one at all)
Not an insolvable problem. My tablets have built in GPS, but under the heated windscreen, the signal is poor which doesn't make the poor built in GPS chips more powerful.
I use a GNS 2000 GPS/Glonass Receiver, which is located in the rear window on the left. It starts automatically, when I start the car and is connected via bluetooth to the tablet in the front.
I forgot to say that I don't use my tablet for navigation. I have a built in navi system in my D4. For me, the great advantage of a tablet with built in LTE-modem is, that I have nearly realtime traffic information by googlemaps. I often meet situations in which the traffic information, delivered by gmaps is much more accurate than the nearly useless information in my navi system and helps me saving much time.
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