Within the last week, Samsung has announced a series of powerful new tablets, including a 12 inch Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 which has up to 64 + 64 = 128 GB of memory using an optional external SDXC memory card.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1ROA9Svrkw&html5=1 Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2

Using this new tablet with an affordable glass panel program such as Anywheremap ought to provide a real big bang for the buck

http://store.controlvision.com/android. ... neral-Info Anywheremap Android Application

Does anyone have any thoughts on this approach ?

I am not sure how good/accurate the internal GPS is on the Samsung, but have found the internal GPS in the iPad to be lacking.

You might have to utilize an external antenna or something like a Stratus ADS-B for better accuracy.

@ Mau Mau

I am not sure how good/accurate the internal GPS is on the Samsung, but have found the internal GPS in the iPad to be lacking.

You might have to utilize an external antenna or something like a Stratus ADS-B for better accuracy.

Excellent point. Maybe with the DUAL 170 outboard unit this would be a real KICK *** combination
http://gps.dualav.com/explore-by-product/xgps170/

I love Garmin, but when I see the mortifying prices, the blood just drains out...I am in such shock. I am sure there are those who will say...you get what you pay for. Agreed... but I think with these advances you can STILL get what you want......for substantially less.

I am looking for input on this, as I only know what I have read and seen on videos. I am so looking forward to Oshkosh where one can actually touch the stuff.

I use an ipad mini with foreflight and have had very good luck with the internal gps. I do however have a large skylight which has got to help with satellite reception.

Anywhere Map looked pretty interesting. Beside working on Android they seemed one of the few generating vector maps rather than scanned sectionals. However, I thought they'd gone out of business.

Denali: I fly with a 10" Asus Infinity Android tablet with 32 GB of internal memory, a 32 GB memory card, and Avilution software. I use a DUAL XGPS170 GPS Bluetooth receiver with ADSB-in. I also have a G-430 WAAS receiver in the dash of my Maule. I keep the 430 for my rare IFR flight, but I rely heavily on the Android tablet for ADSB weather, traffic and for VFR situational awareness flying around the complicated airspace that surrounds DC. Whether I am flying into or across the SFRA, or threading the needle between the restricted airspace of Dalgren, Patauxent River and the SFRA headed to the beach, the detailed overlay of my position on the sectional with weather and traffic information the tablet provides is far more informative than anything the 430 can provide. The Avilution database is the same I formation used by Garmin at 1/10 the price. When I flew my plane back to Virginia from the Seattle, WA last summer, the ADSB weather was invaluable for getting around the violent thunderstorms that blocked a lot of the central part of the country. Those storms were nasty enough that filling IFR and trying to go through them was not an option.

@Flyhound:

Wow...

That Avilution software package DOES look pretty good. I had never heard of them. That's why I so love these and other aviation forums.

The new Samsung tablets just announced have amazing CPU horsepower, gobs of memory capability 64+64+3 = 131GB, and are super thin & light weight. They also have great HD screen resolution, and can even run 4K videos, albeit with some occasional dropped frames.

I will have to look very carefully at this Anywheremap vs Avilution comparison. Of course there is always Foreflight and WingX to consider as well. The terrain and synthetic vision thing is just amazing...so much better than staring at a ratty old dog-eared Gulf Oil road map and staring out the window .

Denali wrote:The new Samsung tablets just announced have amazing CPU horsepower, gobs of memory capability 64+64+3 = 131GB, and are super thin & light weight. They also have great HD screen resolution, and can even run 4K videos, albeit with some occasional dropped frames.

Of course there is always Foreflight and WingX to consider as well.

I wouldn't worry about 4k. The screen resolution isn't sufficient to view it and, even if it were, your eyes lack the resolution to make it matter on a screen that size.

You probably already know, but just to make sure, Foreflight is IOS only. It won't run on an android device. The market has voted with dollars and thinks it's the best, but you would have to get an iPad instead.

I used Foreflight for a while, then just went back to using my 496.

@RW2

Thanks for the info re Foreflight. It has been ages since I looked at the WingsX vs Foreflight. The ipads are nice, but they all lack ability to take extra external SDXC memory cards, so one pays dearly for larger memory Apple tablets. I've been waiting for tablets to provide more capacity at a lower price, and with the newer Samsung Galaxy Note Pro models which were just introduced, I feel things are just about there.

So now comes the next question...what flight software to buy.? That's why I posted the topic, and I enjoy reading the feed back from folks like you, ZZZ, and others.

In the mean time...I'll keep clutching to my Gulf Road map and old old sectional chart from the Civil Aeronautics Authority. .

You might check out Avare also. They keep updating it and the price is right. I've played with it on my Google Nexus 7(Asus) tablet and Galaxy S4 phone and seems to work well on internal GPS. I have noticed that the Samsung's GPS appears to work better that the Asus one.

Zzz wrote:I used Foreflight for a while, then just went back to using my 496.

Me too. My wife uses the Foreflight on trips just to ID stuff on the ground, but my trusty 396 does all the real work VFR/IFR.

Gump

Papa Foxtrot wrote:You might check out Avare also. They keep updating it and the price is right. I've played with it on my Google Nexus 7(Asus) tablet and Galaxy S4 phone and seems to work well on internal GPS. I have noticed that the Samsung's GPS appears to work better that the Asus one.

+1 for Avare. I've been using them now for a couple of years and the product has really matured lately. And it's still free. Only available on a Droid platform. I've found the internal GPS in my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 to be accurate enough. I'm only trying to fly out for breakfast, I don't shoot approaches with it so your mileage may vary. I also have a huge skylight.

I'd be wary of Anywhere Map. I was a loyal user of theirs for years but support and updates for this particular product seems to have dwindled. Avare seems to have an enthusiastic group of developers that embrace open source (basically meaning free) software.

GumpAir wrote:

Zzz wrote:I used Foreflight for a while, then just went back to using my 496.

Me too. My wife uses the Foreflight on trips just to ID stuff on the ground, but my trusty 396 does all the real work VFR/IFR.

Interesting to see you two say that. I'm in mostly the same boat. I carry my ipad/foreflight for charts, but rarely use the moving map features like I used to. My 430W provides that level of SA.

I do like foreflight for GPS overlays onto approach plates though. That's worth the cost of admission alone for me.

I think a huge part of using the tablet for situational awareness is having it in the panel. On the yoke, on my lap, just isn't the same. I love Foreflight for charts and wx data but once off the ground I usually stow it and use a paper chart and my 496. I like to think I'm forward-thinking in this stuff but in this case I'm kinda traditional.

Okay, let me chime in too. I used my 396 for navigation. I use Avare on my tablet more for situational awareness. Plus to make sure I have every chart I will need.

Zzz wrote:I think a huge part of using the tablet for situational awareness is having it in the panel. On the yoke, on my lap, just isn't the same. I love Foreflight for charts and wx data but once off the ground I usually stow it and use a paper chart and my 496. I like to think I'm forward-thinking in this stuff but in this case I'm kinda traditional.

Wow. Different strokes for different folks on this one for sure.

The *last* thing I want is to have to carry paper for anything. And I prefer a larger screen than would fit on my panel (unless I go glass someday). For me the ipad on a leg strap is absolutely perfect.

I forgot to mention in my other note, the other reason why I always carry the ipad is ADS-B. I don't have an XM receiver for my 430's and I do fly IMC.

It will be interesting for me to see if any of these software producers will come out with canadian charts. Right now Foreflight is the only one, but Im stubborn and would way rather buy a droid then ipad. Im not against paying for a good app that has what I need.

Just for the venting opportunity, I had the Anywhere Map program on a PDA way back when they first came out. I also had the attitude module, all to the tune of about about $2000, and it didn't work. The short version is, I was dissapointed in the equipment and the support. Then again, that was ten years ago.
Now, I use the 496 and, like others the wife uses Foreflight. I also got The Foreflight stratus module and really love the whole package. When the wife stays home I clip the IPad into a suction cup mount on the right side and I really get a lot out of it.
And, with a little thread drift....What I like the best about Foreflight is the incredible ease of flight planning information entry or modification. My one bitch is that I wish that the Ap would import the flight plan data to the attitude screen. If they would add a heading to waypoint and maybe distance, to the attitude page it would really rock. I think I would prefer it over the 496 if they would make that change. Repeated lobbying with them hasn't brought that about yet. I'm curious if others have thoughts on this little desire of mine...?

A1Skinner wrote:It will be interesting for me to see if any of these software producers will come out with canadian charts. Right now Foreflight is the only one, but Im stubborn and would way rather buy a droid then ipad. Im not against paying for a good app that has what I need.

Avare's problem with Canada is that NAVCOM won't provide the charts for free but Avare is working on it. They have what they call Canada Grid maps but I've never checked them out.