[Sean. 101]

Morning all!

I currently have an ipad 10.7" inch screen I belive which I have used a few times when flying while running skydemon however I think it would be more convinient to have a smaller one as I plan to convert to microlights when training returns to normal. I have a Garmin Glo GPS receiver which I use as the ipad does not have cellular so the new one doesn't need cellular either.

Just wondering if anyone can reccomend a good fast tablet they use with skydemon for under £150 if possible as its literally only going to be running skydemon...

Thanks!

[G-JWTP]

Just bought a Samsung SM T590 Galaxy Tab A 32 Gig, Paid about £180.00

No internal GPS as I take it via WiFi from the PAW onto SD.

This works well as it increases the battery life.

I have a leg strap and it seems to do the job too.

May be a bit large for you though.

G-JWTP

[seanxair]

I have an older Nexus 9 that was my mother in laws, 16gb memory. Stripped everything off it and use it for flying only with Skydemon and PilotAware. Turn off location services so it auto connects to the PAW gps. Works well and never had an issue with lost signal, overheating etc but generally only fly for an hour or so.

[Grelly]

I had a couple of false starts with my tablet choices.

I came to the conclusion that for max utility versus min handling issues, 7 inches was too small, 10 inches too large. My third attempt is a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 inch 2019 which I find the ideal compromise.

I would also advise against "cheap" and against economising on the amount of memory.

Grelly

[Danny]

I got myself a refurbed iPad mini4 from an eBay store for about £230. Bit more than you were wanting to spend but it has the internal GPS and the screen is crystal clear. Spot on for leg strap mounting in the aircraft.

[Rob P]

If you are only running SD by and large you will have no memory issues even if the standard memory is quite small. Most Android tablets can take a memory card anyway.

I have used two Nexus 7 in succession, they both ran SD without a hitch the second generation being better.

I now run an 8" Huawei M5 Mediapad. It still runs SD well, but having experimented with other apps it is blisteringly fast.

All the above have built-in GPS, but since I use PAw they are superfluous.

Rob P

[Sean. 101]

Thankyou all for your help and advice! Appreciated

So I think I'm looking towards the Samsung tab A 8" however can anyone recomend a knee board that supports it or a leg strap? I have a design4pilots ipad knee board now for the bigger ipad but don't like how it opens to the right since I wear it on my right let it gets in the way a bit...

[Rob P]

You don't require any kneeboard

Buy a folding cover to fit the tablet, cut a small slot in the spine, slip a velcro strap through, fold the cover under the tablet, strap to leg.

Simple, cheap, effective.

Rob P

[timjenner]

For what it's worth, I'd suggest sticking to fairly mass-market mainstream devices - not because others won't work fine, but because it makes it much easier to get properly tailored accessories such as cases and mounts.

I am still using my first generation iPad mini, too slow for normal domestic use but perfectly fine for SkyDemon (and has been since I bought it 7 years ago). The form factor is perfect, I used to use it on my knee - as per Rob's suggestion, I bought a cheap case and cut a couple of slots in the back to run elastic through which then wrapped around my leg. Worked perfectly, the case cost peanuts and it's trivial to find a replacement if needed. I now use it on a RAM suction mount with purpose made RAM iPad holder - again, perfect (though not cheap). I find the universal mounts always end up compromised in some way, hence the suggestion to stick to mainstream devices.

I've been toying with the idea of replacing my first gen iPad mini with something newer - I also have a Huawei M5 10 Lite for domestic tablet duties, but I don't like it for cockpit use - it's too big, the aspect ratio of the screen is too tall, and the ports and buttons are in odd places prone to accidental presses. Might pick up a second hand iPad mini gen 2 or 3 at some point but in no hurry.

Cheers,
Tim

[MartinC]

Still using my iPad mini 1 (ancient) with IOS version 9.3.5 (no longer updated), non cellular.

Skydemon runs perfectly both with (previously) an XGPS150A GPS wireless sender unit and (currently) Pilotaware Rosetta. Powered via a built in Charge2 USB socket.

Never had any issues and the size 7.9" is ideal in the cockpit.

[Stu B]

Be VERY wary of the Samsung Tab A and Tab Active. Both have 64-bit hardware but (because these are "bottom-of-the-price range" models?) Samsung has seen fit to provide them with only a 32-bit operating system. On IOS devices, Apple no longer allow developers even to release any bug-fixes for Apps that run on 32-bit operating systems. While Google are not currently applying similar restrictions to Android software, my understanding is that it is expected that before long they will do so. So the Tab A and Tab Active are not "future-proof" investments!

[Boxkite]

search.php?keywords=tablet&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

[Sooty25]

Tramadol is quite effective, withdrawal can be interesting though!

[Paul_Sengupta]

Go for the Tab S series rather than the A, it's got a better screen, processor, everything. Get an S2 8.0 on e-bay, available around £100 second hand. It's got a great resolution, and the screen is reasonably square, so you can go north/south or east/west.

They're available in these versions:
T710 - first gen without cellular
T715 - first gen with cellular
T713 - second gen without cellular
T719 - second gen with cellular

Though you don't need cellular to have the GPS, they've all got GPS.

Or see what you can get an iPad Mini 4 cellular for. (always good to have a built in GPS just in case)

[akg1486]

To each his own, obviously, but for me my iPad mini is such a useful thing. I chose the mini since it’s practical in the cockpit, but I use it for web browsing and streaming all the time. Can’t remember what I paid, but it’s definitely worth it.

Using it to write this post, actually.