A mini laptop or Ipad as my trail GPS?
- Thread starter jgeck90
- Start date
targa88
Explorer
Cody1771
Explorer
futureshop carries them now. so far super happy with it like i said. i just wish it was mine
haha... soon ill get my own.http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...spx?path=7146b3a32c59006b04630c6a7954c6cfen02
there is only a $50 difference between the 16g and the 32g. 449 or 499. cant beet that!
Cody1771
Explorer
Ram mount makes a good one
Steve F
Adventurer
I run an eeepc mounted in the center console of my XJ, so it'shidden out of the way. It runs a centrafuse front end with with Garmin Mobile PC for street mapping and Oziexplorer for offroad (enough room for topo maps of the whole of Australia). On top of that it stores my pics etc on the road, has a bluetooth connection to the ODBII reader conneced to the Jeep and has a digital dash (dash command) along with heaps more. As a cheap and easily upgradeable system it works great. To control it I have a touch screen mounted on the dash and use a virtual keyboard, although I ma add a mini wireless keyboard. I've run this setup in various versions for about 3 years or more now 
Mounted in the console. The LAN cable has a button on the end that shorts two pins to force it to "Wake On LAN", when I'm done I just Sleep it as it's all connected to a second battery anyway.
Cheers
Steve
Mounted in the console. The LAN cable has a button on the end that shorts two pins to force it to "Wake On LAN", when I'm done I just Sleep it as it's all connected to a second battery anyway.
Cheers
Steve
off-roader
Expedition Leader
That's pretty sweet Steve also incorporating the OBDII reader. What software and hardware are you using for reading the OBDII info? Has it been reliable?
You said you've fit topo info for all of Australia? Hi res topo info or low res? I know my hi res files for California takes up 6GB so I'm curious what you're running & using for Australia. Are you using a solid state drive? How big a drive?
To the O.P. did you figure out what you're going to use yet? Whatever you decide, I hope it uses an SSD so you avoid drive failures.:ylsmoke:
You said you've fit topo info for all of Australia? Hi res topo info or low res? I know my hi res files for California takes up 6GB so I'm curious what you're running & using for Australia. Are you using a solid state drive? How big a drive?
To the O.P. did you figure out what you're going to use yet? Whatever you decide, I hope it uses an SSD so you avoid drive failures.:ylsmoke:
Steve F
Adventurer
The ODBII reader is just a cheapy bluetooth one off ebay, the software is Dash Command, not free but quite cheap. Its been reliable so far been running for around 6 months or so. The eeepc has a harddrive (130GB), I used to be concerned about reliability but after 3 years or so I've had no problems at all with it and it hardly ever gets shutdown. Anyway, with this size drive maps (Hires) are not an issue. I do all my updates via wireless where it connects to my home network when I drive into my garage
Cheers
Steve
Cheers
Steve
Is it still necessary to jailbreak a non-3G version IPad in order to have any decent gps? The topo software seems to be out but without a USB port, external gps options seem to be nonexistent!
The easability of use regarding the IPad is excellent......just need a good GPS signal.
The easability of use regarding the IPad is excellent......just need a good GPS signal.
off-roader
Expedition Leader
There's a thread on using an Ipad for navigation so you may want to review that but so far there are 3 gps options that can be used for a Wifi only iPad.
4671 Hybrid
Adventurer
FWIW, I used a netbook in Icky-stan in a bouncy, dusty, filthy Hummer for a number of months and it performed quite well. It had a regular HD and not a SSD drive and only failed when a round went through the screen. Even then, we got an old school 17" monitor that we rigged to the dash and kept on ticking. We went through three monitors (two quit, one caught some shrapnel) but the netbook kept on ticking. The only mod was putting pantyhose over the keyboard/lower portion to try and keep excess dust out.
theksmith
Explorer
look at the eee pc tablet, specificly the T101MT - around $400, is a netbook, and folds to be a tablet, has multi-touch screen like an ipad, and the 10" display would be just right for vehicle mounting and nav.
i would have gone with that had i not decided to do a separate screen with a laptop docking station hidden elsewhere.
only downside is not particularly powerfull, but no netbook is, especially for $400.
i would have gone with that had i not decided to do a separate screen with a laptop docking station hidden elsewhere.
only downside is not particularly powerfull, but no netbook is, especially for $400.
theksmith
Explorer
also, the globalsat BU-353 is a popular low-cost USB GPS - but they are all very similiar because most use the same actual SIRF chipset, check out a comparison of them here: http://www.maps-gps-info.com/usbgps.html
and RAM mount is by far one of the highest quality, most stable mounting systems.
you will also want to look at Overland Navigator. the Delorme software is the best all-around topo & routable software, but leaves alot to be desired.
and finally you'll probably end up needing something like the free XPort as a "com port splitter" so you can have multiple applications using your GPS (almost any USB GPS still shows up on a COM port): http://www.curioustech.net/xport.html
and RAM mount is by far one of the highest quality, most stable mounting systems.
you will also want to look at Overland Navigator. the Delorme software is the best all-around topo & routable software, but leaves alot to be desired.
and finally you'll probably end up needing something like the free XPort as a "com port splitter" so you can have multiple applications using your GPS (almost any USB GPS still shows up on a COM port): http://www.curioustech.net/xport.html
CityBoyAtl
Adventurer / Globetrotter
athought i'd add my IPAD here as an example
scenicgreenrr
New member
Hey all! Thanks for all the information - our "expedition vehicle" is a new small class C. We went down this weekend to the STS-135 launch and based on the information used my iPad with MotionX to guide me including fuel and rest stops. Have the otter box case on the unit and used the ram mount suction cup set up. Will need to attach it to the center consul as the window attachment was in the way of my vision and it didn't stick well in the cup holder. THANKS AGAIN! The thrill of watching the last launch and seeing the kids eyes was well worth the adventure of leaving Wednesday after work and returning late Saturday!!!!
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