Tablets

[cthomasy]

I'm planing on doing a thru-hike next year and I'm planning on bringing a tablet of some sort with me. So what do you all think would be the best tablet to bring with me or should I bring one at all? All answers are welcome!

[Wise Old Owl]

Some hikers have already done this... I think you would be better off with a smartphone as a 4 oz package. Most tout the Verizon over ATT and I have seen a collected data for the PCT - not for the AT. Keep in mind many will say or quote what they heard from 4 years ago... I will be going down to the ATT store in the next day or two to replace my Motorola with a Samsung Rugby - that has replaceable batteries and sim and 32 chips. Its waterproof and dust proof.


For the trail there is airplane mode and MP3 for your hits. Lots of apps and entertainment, Get runner headphones with the ear loops. If its dead its dead till the next trail town - never rely on it, your smarts and wit and approach and dedication matters.

Remember its all about going as light as possible to carry water and some food.

[Slo-go'en]

I don't use smart phones.

Last year I used a kindle Fire for a 500 mile section. This year I'll go with a Gallixy TAB3, since it has GPS and a microSD slot so I can transfer pictures.

[MuddyWaters]

get a phablet. A large 5" screen phone.

[SunnyWalker]

Uhhhh . . . a blank tablet, and It's easier to write if the paper has lines.

[Theosus]

Uhhhh . . . a blank tablet, and It's easier to write if the paper has lines.

Hahahaha. pretty good.

Im partial to apple products... I would say an iPad mini.
Lighter than the full iPad, smaller, and takes less time to charge. Screen big enough to enjoy movies, do web searching and internet stuff when you want, and lots of apps.
Decent battery life, but they make portable chargers (I use a powergen model, its pretty nice).

My phone is enough for me, but I'm nearsighted and without my glasses the screen looks great up close, no problems seeing small.

[cthomasy]

Thank you all for your opinions! What do you think of the Nexus 7 compared to the ipad mini? I've read a lot where the nexus 7 comes out on top but those were only from people who tested it in their living room.

[Feral Bill]

You should not bring one at all, since you asked.

[GirlfromOZ]

Have a look at the specs for something like the Nokia Lumia 1520.


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[bigcranky]

I would get an iPad Mini with the cellular chip. The models with the cell chip also have a GPS chip; the wi-fi only models don't. A GPS chip lets you use something like the Gaia GPS app which allows pre-downloading of maps so you can use it as a GPS even without a signal. (This works for all recent iPhones too.)

I think a tablet, and specifically the iPad mini, would be a good choice for long distance hiking. It can be used for a lot of things:

• A GPS, as noted above. (This gets complicated for longer trips due to battery life. See this page for a LOT more info.)
• A journal, with a larger keypad for easier typing.
• A guidebook, using a PDF version of the Companion or the AT Guide.
• A camera.
• A phone, using Skpye or a similar app when you have wi-fi or cellular access.
• Email and web access in town with wi-fi.

Of course all the issues with electronic devices are still there. Battery life is the main issue, but keeping it on airplane mode and using it for maybe an hour a day should let the battery last up to a week. (You'd take it out of airplane mode to use the GPS momentarily.) It needs to be kept dry and secure, in a place where it won't be dropped or flex enough to crack the screen. All your data is in one place that can be lost or stolen (but of course that is true even for a hand written journal.)

It saves weight over carrying a journal and a guidebook and a camera and a GPS and a phone, but all of those things do a better job at their sole purpose, so it's up to you to decide if the weight savings is worth it.

[flemdawg1]

I prefer an E-lephant tablet. Its very lightweight and rugged, incredible battery life. It does have a severely limited memory though.

http://www.target.com/p/fisher-price...lot=medium_1_1

[Offshore]

I would get an iPad Mini with the cellular chip.

+1 on this. An iPad Mini with Verizon 4G would work out. I use iPads and various Android tablets and no Android tablet I've used comes close to iPad battery life. (Careful with the GPS though as it seems to cost about 15%/hour of total battery life on both).

[astrogirl]

Really? They must have changed that. My wi-fi only iPad does do GPS when it's on a network.

[astrogirl]

>>I would get an iPad Mini with the cellular chip. The models with the cell chip also have a GPS chip; the wi-fi only models don't.

Really? They must have changed that. My wi-fi only iPad does do GPS when it's on a network.

[Offshore]

>>I would get an iPad Mini with the cellular chip. The models with the cell chip also have a GPS chip; the wi-fi only models don't.

Really? They must have changed that. My wi-fi only iPad does do GPS when it's on a network.

According to the Apple site, wifi models don't come with GPS capabilities. The cellular equipped models have assisted GPS and GLONASS capability. Wifi models can get approximate locations using WiFi triangulation, but is is not GPS and is not as accurate as true GPS. This was true as far back as the 3rd generation iPad. I bought one with 4G cellular capability just to have true GPS. I've never turned cellular data service on.

[astrogirl]

Good to know. I guess I didn't really notice that it was doing triangulation since I use my iPhone for GPS stuff.

[Starchild]

According to the Apple site, wifi models don't come with GPS capabilities. The cellular equipped models have assisted GPS and GLONASS capability. Wifi models can get approximate locations using WiFi triangulation, but is is not GPS and is not as accurate as true GPS. This was true as far back as the 3rd generation iPad. I bought one with 4G cellular capability just to have true GPS. I've never turned cellular data service on.

Just to clarify, and also make muddy, Assisted GPS (A-GPS) can mean different things, among them offloading the signal received from GPS to be processed and location sent back (this required a active internet signal), or that it can use other sources other then GPS to speed GPS initial lock but all forms of A-GPS do use the real GPS signal to determine location.

Some A-GPS devices can work only with GPS signal only if it has to, but other's such as the ones that offload the GPS signal processing would need to be connected to work.

As for location based wifi, I believe that's a mapped lookup table, if you can detect Bob's wifi, you must be near 321 4th St type of thing.

[SunnyWalker]

I vote for the I Pad Mini. In fact in spite of my joke earlier I am seriously thinking of adding one to my equipment. Right now Walmart has them for $269 Wifi and 16 GB. Weigh 1 lb though. I'd still bring cell phone and gps (hiking CDT). Maybe I could drop back to a tarp instead of 41 oz tent. . . . .

[fredmugs]

I didn't do this with hiking in mind but I just switched from my cheap Virgin Mobile deal to AT&T and got a Samsung Galaxy S5. This thing is smoking fast and the display is so much nicer. The reason I'm posting here is that even with the battle hardened case I got for it the phone weighs 6.9 ounces and with a 16 megapixel camera I can leave my regular camera at home. I'll actually be lighter for my upcoming hikes.

[saltysack]

Lifeproof w smartphone great combo....


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