Anyone used a tablet for satnav?

[GoatBoater]

I'm a big android fan. Google maps and/or Waze seems to beat dedicated GPS units hands down for me (OK, GPS lock can be more patchy, but map accuracy & traffic data much better). As my Google account also gives me access to all my music having my phone on bluetooth is a must in the car.

I was wondering about taking the idea further and maybe picking up a cheap tablet for the van. Should be able to mount it i that big centre dash space fairly easily.

Advantages:

• Not wrecking phone battery
• Big screen for my old man eyes
• Tablet in van for when the kids wake up earlier than I am ready to be human

Possible downsides might be poor GPS (I'm fine with my phone GPS, not sure about tablets), additional data contract to sort out and maybe screen reflection issues.

Anyone done anything like this?

 

[Loz]

I have use one for years.
TomTom app for on road (app id sadly eol from September)
Motion-X for off road
Memory-map for off road/walking

never had a GPS signal problem and the ability to store maps offline is great.
I find that you cant run at full brightness and have it on all day (long trips) as there will be a net drain on the iPad battery but 75% brightness is fine.
Heat can be an issue if the sun shines through the screen onto the back of the unit, has to be shielded or a cooling air source added (did this on the Touareg)
Mounting can be a challenge but I went for a Brodit active mount coupled to a RAM mount.

 

[GoatBoater]

or a cooling air source added

Can you expand on that?

 

[Loz]

Can you expand on that?

I added a small section of convoluted tube from the vent supply pipe to the top cubby box.
can be used as a small cool box for chocolate when closed or as a cooled holder for the iPad when open.

 

[Alan Croft]

I had an ipad which i used to use a high tec piece of string between the air vents on my frontera. Worked really well. Saw a built in version on a scooby once. If you can make the dash look stock then it is a very clever looking thing. Making the dash right is the hardest part.

 

[Oldrat]

Not tried using a tablet or phone as such but my Garmin automatically pairs with my phone and gets instant updates from it.

 

[andys]

Use Navfree on my iPhone, works great even in Europe

 

[T6 Dave's Dad]

I had an ipad which i used to use a high tec piece of string between the air vents on my frontera. Worked really well. Saw a built in version on a scooby once. If you can make the dash look stock then it is a very clever looking thing. Making the dash right is the hardest part.

Quid right @Alan Croft that string had to be the right spec otherwise your iPad would have been on the floor and all would have been lost