[Android] Back Country Navigator vs. Gaia GPS vs. Trimble Outdoor Naviagtor??
- Thread starter yubert
- Start date
crismateski
American Adventurist
I belive the high output port is 3a, not sure what the output on the regular one is. The regular one is enough to maintain the battery level of my galaxy tab 2 10.1 with the screen on, and charge it with the screen off. the High output has no problems charging it with the screen on.
I think that the orux app will allow you to load garmin maps, but coming from a garmin, I am finding that the copilot live maps are just as good as the garmin street maps
theksmith
Explorer
doesn't quite exist. oruxmaps supports the garmin map format, but does a pretty lousy job interpreting it, they don't look nearly as good as on a garmin unit (or as in basecamp). copilot live gives you great vector maps of the entire us and turn-by-turn nav, but they aren't topo style and lack 4x4 trails. backcountry navigator and orux are the best topo & aerial type apps IMO, but they take a large amount of space for the maps.
to the op's question, note that trimble does not allow you to save maps to the external SD card, so it can eat up all your device's storage quickly.
robgendreau
Explorer
Gaia GPS has improved a lot recently. It has the best selection of maps and aerials available on iOS (I haven't used Backcountry Navigator) and still has Google maps (other apps seem to be dropping them). I don't like their navigation screens as much as some, but you can download lots of stuff for offline use. It's very customizable. You can pick a POI and choose either a standard GPS like navigation to it, or choose driving directions and it throws you into a road map. It also allows you to open POIs in Theodolite, which is another cool app (augmented reality theodolite). It also can sync to GaiaCloud, which can keep track of your stuff and sync with other devices. You download by navigating to an area on the map and selecting part of it. I like this so I can limit what I download.
The Trimble apps are also improving. I like their forestry road overlays, and even though I'm not a hunter the weather and tracking stuff can come in handy (never know when you might need the blood trail feature...). They, like Gaia, have a subscription service. And they offer a trial period. For the "elite" members you also get a website that has tools for creating routes and ways to download maps for offline use. They don't have as many options for maps as Gaia, but pretty good. With the subscription game unit maps and topos of all resolutions are available. It The tool to snap to roads is very handy for creating routes through national forests and what not online, and then you transfer to the device. Their customer service was super responsive; they seem very committed to improving the apps. Their downloads are organized by state and county, so you can download all the topos and layers of a particular resolution for say Pershing Co, NV.
Don't know about Mexico, but Gaia has Canadian maps. Haven't checked into Trimble.
The Trimble apps are also improving. I like their forestry road overlays, and even though I'm not a hunter the weather and tracking stuff can come in handy (never know when you might need the blood trail feature...). They, like Gaia, have a subscription service. And they offer a trial period. For the "elite" members you also get a website that has tools for creating routes and ways to download maps for offline use. They don't have as many options for maps as Gaia, but pretty good. With the subscription game unit maps and topos of all resolutions are available. It The tool to snap to roads is very handy for creating routes through national forests and what not online, and then you transfer to the device. Their customer service was super responsive; they seem very committed to improving the apps. Their downloads are organized by state and county, so you can download all the topos and layers of a particular resolution for say Pershing Co, NV.
Don't know about Mexico, but Gaia has Canadian maps. Haven't checked into Trimble.
LR Max
Local Oaf
Just downloaded a trial version of BCN. Going to give it a go this weekend. In terms of uploading tracks and whatnot to it, seems to not be the best layout. That said, for this trip I'm just using it to track where I am and record my track.
Overall the topo map is pretty nice. Being able to download a decent section is nice. Also download on the screen in the field (assuming you have a connection) is pretty easy.
Downloaded it to my phone and will be going over to Staples to get a window mount here directly. Going to use google maps to get me to my destination, but then just BCN once I'm there.
I guess my only question now is if I buy it, will it work on all of my devices. I also am considering purchasing a 7" tablet to mount in my truck.
Overall the topo map is pretty nice. Being able to download a decent section is nice. Also download on the screen in the field (assuming you have a connection) is pretty easy.
Downloaded it to my phone and will be going over to Staples to get a window mount here directly. Going to use google maps to get me to my destination, but then just BCN once I'm there.
I guess my only question now is if I buy it, will it work on all of my devices. I also am considering purchasing a 7" tablet to mount in my truck.
+1 for oruxmaps, if someone is looking for an app to use garmin maps this probably isnt perfect for that but i haven't tested that completely, its great for downloading google maps or bing or many other online map source, you can also use topographic calibrated images, etc, it has a 500MB limte by default on the downloadble maps but you can go to the options and change it, something that is great is the price, its free 
gahi from those images looks like you are running an old version of oruxmaps, you can always update it https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orux.oruxmaps
gahi from those images looks like you are running an old version of oruxmaps, you can always update it https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orux.oruxmaps
gahi
Adventurer
I've updated, those are just old screenshots. Still liking this app, and I use it all the time. I used it last week for finding a waypoint with no trail to it. Middle of the desert kind of thing. When I got within 300 ft or so, it started calling out distance to waypoint. I wasn't expecting that. But it works well. I use some of the online maps, but always go back to the garmin maps. I do wish it could read the maps more like garmin devices and mapsource, but it works.
LR Max
Local Oaf
I used Back Country Navigator this weekend. Overall I was mildly impressed. Despite the fact that I pre-downloaded an area, when I lost cell reception, I lost the maps (what???). The buttons are super small when using on a cell phone and the menus feel overly complicated. My hardware setup is a recently flashed Samsung Stratosphere (uses the Galaxy II chassis) and a nice window mounted cell phone holder.
Pretty much I've decided that for my out west trip, spending the money to get my old garmin GPS how I want it will make me a lot happier than dropping money on a 7" tablet and all the other crap. The old garmin has served me quite well.
Pretty much I've decided that for my out west trip, spending the money to get my old garmin GPS how I want it will make me a lot happier than dropping money on a 7" tablet and all the other crap. The old garmin has served me quite well.
CUMMINSDIESELPWR
New member
ive been downloading whole states via back country navigator (utah level 15 was 1.9gig) i have a 32gig micro sd on my lepan tc970 and its wonderful! I am very happy with it. I can easily switch between road maps that are downloaded, TOPO, Satellite. All are for offline use!
I can't quite figure out the orux maps... I like Maverick maps... But its flickering on my new nexus 7.2. Looks like the pro version addresses this issue....
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
I turned WiFi off to check out the maps. When I zoom in and out the tiles are inconsistently coming and going.
Same results with GPS on and off with Maverick maps.
crawler#976
Expedition Leader
There is also another choice for mapping - AlpineQuest GPS for Android. http://alpinequest.psyberia.net/
It has a wide range, a very wide range, of free maps , can store large areas for offline use, and it works on Motorol Droid Razr HD/Maxx phones without locking up like Back Country Nav does.
It has a wide range, a very wide range, of free maps , can store large areas for offline use, and it works on Motorol Droid Razr HD/Maxx phones without locking up like Back Country Nav does.