My ancient Samsung Note 10.1 running 4.1.2 has acquired a broken screen. Since I'm hoping to try/use Osmand as a navigation device, and my Samsung is painfully slow I'm looking to upgrade. Can anyone ( @Morphology ) recommend a suitable tablet please? The galaxy tab S3 looks good, but so it should be for the money, but I don't really want to spaend more than an iPad on a new tablet. The only essential are approx 10" screen, SD slot, fast enough to update stored maps quickly, and obviously fast GPS.Also the ability to receive enough power from a USB slot to remain charged whilst in use with GPS


Malcolm

When Tesco stopped supporting my Hudl which was getting very slow, I bought a Samsung Tab A(6). It has less onboard memory (8GB) than the Hudl, but it takes an SD and stays charged as I drive via the USB and lighter plug. Not 10", but I find 7" OK. I use Maps.me and Sygic for navigation and they both go on to the SD card. I like it

I really am no expert - I'm still using an 8" Galaxy Tab 3 (not S3!), which must be at least 3 years old (Google tells me it was released in 2013) but it still does everything I need, and runs Osmand+ just fine. I chose an 8" tablet deliberately as it seemed a nice compromise size between legibility and being able to mount it where I could see it but it wasn't blocking any of my field of view.

Your point about remaining charged whilst in use with GPS is a very good one, and incredibly important if you're using it as a navigation aid.

Mine will maintain its charge level whilst using it for navigation provided I have it connected to a USB charger that provides at least 2.1 Amps. I have one of those dual USB adapters in the van, which plugs into the cigarette lighter socket.

One of the sockets provides 1 Amp, and the other Provides 2.1 - a lot of these chargers are the same, 3.1A overall, but 2.1 is only available through one of the two sockets.

I find that if I have the tablet plugged into the 2.1A side and my phone plugged into the 1A, my phone will charge, and the tablet won't lose any charge, but will only gain charge if I turn the screen or GPS off.

If I was buying a new tablet, the main features I would be looking for are:

- Built in GPS receiver

Note, we call it GPS, but that is one specific (US) standard. I would look for a tablet that is capable of also picking up the Galileo Global Positioning System signals - Galileo is being rolled out by the EU and the European Space Agency. It is currently being tested, and more satellites are being deployed - it'll be 2019 before it reaches full operational capability, but the signals are well understood and a lot of tablet manufacturers are building Galileo receiving capability into their devices even though they may require a future firmware upgrade to actually make use of them.

The Galaxy S3 is one such device, and it'll also pick up the Russian GLONASS and Chinese BeiDou standards.

I don't believe the current generation iPads and iPhones have Galileo capable receivers - just GPS and GLONASS, though I could be wrong about that and, of course, they are very shiny.

- Decent amount of built-in memory

Lots of apps still refuse to utilise additional memory on an SD card. On my tablet the two notable ones are: BBC iPlayer and the Sony Play Memories app (which I use to back up photos from my camera to my tablet). 16Gb of internal memory can fill up surprisingly quickly, go for at least 32Gb.

- A Micro-SD card slot

It's absolutely essential that you can carry lots of data with you. I currently have around 23Gb of Maps, though I tend to just keep these on my PC and transfer specific countries onto the tablet for a particular trip.

I wouldn't buy a tablet with anything less than the ability to take a 64Gb MicroSD card.

- Wifi / Bluetooth

Pretty much goes without saying - you need to be able to connect to the outside world.

- a 'proper' 3.5mm stereo headphone socket.

- a decent protective case, and a secure way of mounting it so I can see it whilst driving, yet it doesn't obscure my field of view.

Things that aren't particularly important to me:

- SIM Card. If I need to connect to a 4G network, I just turn my phone into a hotspot and connect to that.

- Processor speed. Might seem odd, but my 3+ year old dual core Galaxy Tab 3 will re-draw maps quite fast enough. I have been in aeroplanes travelling at 450knots, and I can zoom into street level and Osmand will keep up. Video playback from things like the BBC iPlayer work just fine too.

- Camera. Rarely, if ever, would I take a photo on a tablet - I have a camera for that. I really don't need a 30 Gazillion mega-pixel front, back and upwards-facing camera

- Weight. Thin looks very nice, but I'd much rather have a larger-capacity battery.

I do keep wondering whether I ought to get a new tablet and, if I did, the Galaxy S3 would be high on my list. At the cheaper end of the market, the Asus ZenPad may be worth a look, but it doesn't seem to score very highly on battery life.

Morph.

Thanks Morph

I'm trying to justify a S3, but it's a lot of money. Does the Android version make much difference, I've seen a couple that run 5 which is better than I've got, or is the ram the most important thing for speed?

Malcolm

BTW have a look at my new post n Tips, they really are very good.

Galaxy Tab4 10" with 16gb of internal memory and a micro-SD slot for up to 64gb or 128gb cards*

Plus the Mini-USB socket can be expanded to full USB.

Peter

* Depends on which version.

my old trusty nexus 7 has 16gb and no way of sd cards, use it all the time osmand+ and capercontacts on it,
Misty

Hi,
I bought an Asus zenpad from Argos a couple of years ago and it died on me within a month so I took it back and they swopped it without question. I chose a Lenovo tab2 a10-70F which I'm very happy with. They do a cheaper version with a poorer quality screen and processor but mine was about £160. The camera is not high Res especially and the Dolby sound feature is temperamental. No sim slot but I've got a 32GB micro SD card.

I also use Sony play memories and once the photos are transferred I immediately move them using a file manager to the SD card. I also back them up to a memory stick using an OTG micro usb cable.

One snag I've just remembered is that Copilot won't run on it but that may be an android version problem!

Steve

Interesting - certainly a lot more expensive than the ones I usually buy but, as you reckon they're good, I've ordered one from Amazon.

Personally I'd go for more memory over latest Android version.

I don't trust Google not to suddenly decide that they're no longer going to support particular features in non-Google devices, l so I'm always more comfortable with being a version or two behind.

Morph