I'm going down the same path. I'm not a zealot for iOS or Android, both can be great.
If you want to do any Ham radio rig control or APRS though, stick with Android because ios does not support serial over Bluetooth.
You might not need an external GPS, some tablets have one already and it might work just fine.
The main things that will influence my decision (and maybe yours) are:
1. Wifi only or wifi + cell data
2. Screen size
3. Internal storage
4. Other specs vs. price
If you have an affordable data plan and good coverage from your carrier then you can just use your phone as a wifi hotspot. That will tax your phone though. I have done this kinda setup before, and instead I used a MiFi device (a dedicated Cellular to wifi device) on Verizon who had the best rural coverage at the time. Wifi only tablets are cheaper and you can use the MiFi with other devices.
I think an 8" tablet is ideal size for this allocation. I have a Jeep Renegade though, you might have more space. When I did this in an RV, I could have used three iPad pros.
Android supports SD cards for increasing device capacity. Not all tablets have SD card slots. I have found that SD cards can be good for storing files, but moving apps from the internal storage to the SD card is a nuisance task and if you had 16gb internal and a big SD card you will be moving apps all the time dealing with failed upgrades because the apps move back to the internal storage on upgrade.
This might be fixed in latest Android. It was so annoying, I bought a 128gb Nexus 6P when they came out. If you can afford it the most internal storage offered. You'll need it for those offline maps, pics, guides, manuals, music, etc.
As to other specs, I really mean top end vs. price. I personally don't have sticker shock on these kinds of purchases, I think it's worth paying more for the latest top end device as it will get the OS upgrades and generally perform better. If price is a greater consideration then you might also consider refurbished sites as well.
With all that in mind, I am currently looking at these devices:
Huawei Mediapad M3. This is the company that makes the Nexus 6P and I loved that device. It's available in Europe (and this eBay) in a 128GB size.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, not available in larger capacities, but Samsung makes quality gear. I had a Galaxy S4 phone I liked a lot with the exception of the storage management I mention above.
I'm 99% sure I'm going Huawei.
I hope that helps, I'd love to hear what others think and see pics of installs. Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
