Anyone using an Ipad for their navigation ?

Submitted: Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 16:18
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Toying with the idea of getting myself an ipad , just wondering if any of you have tried this app
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/vms-map-explorer/id965686678?mt=8
and could comment
cheers
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Reply By: Les - PK Ranger - Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 16:55

Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 16:55
Looks good mate.
I'm using an iPad with Hema 4WD Mpas, but this looks good and comes with QLD, NSW, and Vic topos (1:25k) which is great !
I might even splurge another $100 for this app once I get some feedback on it from others.

Tip. Get discounted iTunes $100 cards from Target, JB HiFi, etc when on special, usually 15% off is common, but occasionally you see 20% and even 25% off :)
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Follow Up By: Member - wicket - Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 19:47

Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 19:47
C'mon Les, you know you want a copy and $100 is pocket money to a bloke like you ! So why not download a copy and give us an independent review :)

cheers
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Reply By: Member - Robert1660 - Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 18:07

Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 18:07
Hi Guys,
I use Memory Map on the iPad and the PC. The program is free but you have to buy the maps. All the HEMA maps are available. You can also purchase Topo 1:25000 maps for a NSW, Vic, Qld and Tassie. It comes with a free 1:250000 Topo map of Australia. Works very well. Will track you as you travel. You can plan your trip on the PC, no Mac version, and then transfer route details to the iPad and of course vice versa. Support has been excellent when a few issues have arisen. You purchase map licences for different combinations of PC and mobile devices. There is an Android version as well.
Robert
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Follow Up By: Member - Paul B (WA) - Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 18:27

Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 18:27
As someone who came to moving map navigation via OziExplorer, just about anything else is a big let down, but I too have made peace with Memory Maps and can work quite well with it. It comes with a free AusTopo 250K map of all of Australia but as Robert1660 says, you can buy others.

I also bought the EOTopo 200K maps from ExplorOz which are generally better than the free AusTopo 250k on Memory Maps but you can't use the iPad version on your PC with OziExplorer as the PC and Apple versions are different licenses. This I find infuriating as it was not cheap. You can download a PC version of Memory Maps but it isn't a patch on Ozi for functionality

For your initial purposes, I wouldn't spend money on maps as the Free AusTopo is pretty much good enough.

The iPad is certainly a very elegant device for in-vehicle moving map navigation, without the absolute spaghetti of wires that PC's seem to need.

Good luck with it.
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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 07:47

Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 07:47
Paul


Agree with your sentiment.

I run Oziexplorer on a Panasonic Toughbook, which can be used in tablet format, and find it a great combination.

Cheers, Baz – The Landy
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Follow Up By: Member - wicket - Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 09:51

Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 09:51
Baz
I had a look on ebay at some refurbed toughbooks but strangely the sellers wouldn't commit to them having built-in gps ,apparently some do and some don't !. They do look the goods though being able to run Ozi without the hassle of cables and plug in gps units
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Follow Up By: Member - Paul B (WA) - Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 10:37

Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 10:37
Wicket, having now re-read your original post I hadn't appreciated that you didn't actually already own an iPad.

Depending on what else you're going to use your iPad for, I'd be awfully tempted to follow Baz' example (above) with a Windows tablet of some sort so that you can get the full flexibility of OziExplorer on a largish screen rather than the restrictions imposed on moving map navigation programmers by Apple's IOS system.

The iPad is brilliant for lots of things, but it's a very poor second with moving map navigation compared to a Windows PC or tablet running Ozi.
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Follow Up By: Member - wicket - Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 10:57

Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 10:57
Paul
I've been using a 10" netbook with ozi with a magellan gps unit for a number of years, it can be a bit of a hassle to set it up each time so looking for a tablet alternative.
Definitely need a bigger better screen , the Surface Pro would be a good fit BUT no gps even in their new unit with LTE still no gps.
The Ipad Pro caught my eye but do realize I would have to dump Ozi hence my first post re that software .
No big (12") android screens apart from the HP Slate which I'm not that impressed with, so options are limited.
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Follow Up By: Member - Paul B (WA) - Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 12:54

Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 12:54
My iPad is one of the wifi only versions so no GPS functionality, which I get around with a Dual Bluetooth GPS receiver, which works very well. It was around $100 from memory 4 or 5 years ago but I note there's now much cheaper options in the $25 price range, some of which are bluetooth and some USB.

So the absence of GPS functionality on the Windows capable tablet need not be fatal, although you will need to ensure the USB in the GPS matches that in the tablet, which are often mini or micro USB.

But now that you've let the cat out of the bag that you're an Ozi user already, I can guarantee that any of the iPad based moving map applications will really give you the heebie jeebs. Good luck with it.
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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 14:54

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 14:54
Hi Wickett

Mine does have built-in GPS and was sold refurbished on that basis. But the reality is, where I have it mounted in the vehicle it is hit and miss, so I run a GPS mouse.

And whilst I am with you on having cords everywhere, I find this quite okay. You can read more about it here...

In Vehicle Mounting Solution

Cheers, Baz…

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Follow Up By: Frank P (NSW) - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 17:19

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 17:19
Baz,

What model is your Toughbook? There are a lot of CF-19's about. Would one of those be a good choice. 250Gb SSD, 8Gb RAM, GPS are the main things on the one I'm looking at.

Cheers

Frank
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Follow Up By: Baz - The Landy - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 17:33

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 17:33
Hi Frank

That is about the specs I have (from memory) and is a solid and robust unit...

Cheers, Baz
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Follow Up By: Frank P (NSW) - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 17:48

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 17:48
Thanks Baz. There are so many Toughbook models it's difficult to know which to choose.

Cheers

Frank
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Reply By: Les - PK Ranger - Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 18:56

Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 18:56
There're loads of pretty good map apps too for iPad.

Mapout, ME Maps, Avenza (?) PDF Maps, HERE Maps, probably orhers like Rangefinder which I didn't mind but had enough other apps to fill in any gaps.

The OSM formats some of these other apps use are really good for detail, zoomed in you can see very fine detail other maps don't have, right down to walking tracks if desired.

HERE Maps has satellite images, someone told me you can save them for an area to use offline (the maps are offline) but I haven't had a chance to try that.
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Reply By: cruza25 - Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 20:01

Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 20:01
Hi
Just decide what size ipad will work with your vehicle in terms of actually mounting it and how
There are some good Ram mounts if you look on their web site
Also make sure you buy the ipad that takes a sim card ---- the wifi only ones dont have a gps so wont navigate on the move.
You dont have to use a sim card for the gps to work.
Cheers
Mike
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Reply By: Bob Y. - Qld - Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 22:06

Monday, Feb 01, 2016 at 22:06
Been using an iPad, Wicket, with Hema maps on it for 3-4 years. Not familiar with the VMS app you linked, but looks alright, and is same price as Hema.

As mentioned above, you'll need the 3G/wifi model, and I would get, depending on your "readies", the largest capacity unit. Think my old one is only 32gig, and it's chockers! If you're going to log your trips, you'll also need a 12v USB with heaps of grunt, like over 2amps. Otherwise, the iPad will shut down sometime through the day. :-(

Depending what other uses you'd have for the iPad, the smaller units might be better in a vehicle, especially with all the airbags 'n stuff in modern vehicles.

Bob

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Reply By: Member - TonyV - Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 16:21

Tuesday, Feb 02, 2016 at 16:21
Wicket,

As you don't yet have an iPad, apart from VMS, there is HEMA Explorer, (for Android and iPad for $29.99) HEMA 4WD maps for Android is via Memory Map, OziExplorer and a load of freebies like HERE etc.

I personally have an Android with 10" screen and run both HEMA product and Oziexplorer, although I use Ozi less and less.

iPad only have GPS in the 3G versions, most Android tablets have GPS even in non-3G tablets.

Android tablets have the advantage of an SD slot so maps can be stored there instead of on the internal memory.

I have used both iPad and Android mapping and there is little to choose between them, although prefer Android for its overall abilities, external storage, ability to tether to my phone instead of having another telephone account, etc.

Good luck.

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Reply By: Life Member-Doug T NSW - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 10:37

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 10:37
I am a bit behind now with maps but I would have thought the iPads etc would need internet , where DO YOU get internet all along the Canning, I remember paying over $1000 for Gps units late 90's , now a Garmin $300 and less, and it WILL work on the Canning.
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Follow Up By: Member - wicket - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 12:40

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 12:40
ah ya poor old bugger, definitely a bit behind :) click on the link I originally posted in the first post and you will see the maps that are downloaded into the ipad itself , once there no internet needed.
ya gotta love progress eh Doug !

looks like that link is dead so try this

vms 3D
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Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 14:46

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 14:46
These iPads, and probably Android devices with in-built GPS, work pretty well without any intervention from the Internet, or phone towers, Doug.



This is a photo of part of our trip(Les, Gunther & I)across the Simpson last Oct. Turn the "logging" on and you can see where you've been. Just need to have them on a charger, they're a bit power hungry in the tracking mode.

Bob



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Follow Up By: Life Member-Doug T NSW - Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 20:30

Wednesday, Feb 03, 2016 at 20:30
Yeh ya poor old bugger, looks like your finally learning how to make links work...
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Follow Up By: Member - wicket - Thursday, Feb 04, 2016 at 09:32

Thursday, Feb 04, 2016 at 09:32
touché .....!
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