Samsung Tab A

[Gascop]

Maybe A dumb question...But I'm trying to find A Tab a .
Should it say in the description it has the GPS chip so far I have not see. One that states it has the chip ...Really don't know what I'm looking for !

 

[Admin]

 

[Lil_Steve]

Most tablets nowadays do have built in GPS chips and can be used without wifi or cellular service but you need to have downloaded maps in order to navigate offline.
If possible, visit a local store that sells the specific Tab A you want, chances are they have it on display and you can verify in the settings.

[Galaxy Tab A] What Location settings (GPS) are available? | Samsung Support Malaysia

FAQ for Samsung Mobile. Find more about '[Galaxy Tab A] What Location settings (GPS) are available?' with Samsung Support.

www.samsung.com

 

[Killer223]

I got mine from walmart the 10" one. all androids have built in GPS, some are better then others. i've moved on from the galaxy Tab A to a ipad air. and i no longer have issues of it crashing.
i use Gaia for maps as it syncs to pc, phone, and tablet.

 

[906UP]

Maybe A dumb question...But I'm trying to find A Tab a .
Should it say in the description it has the GPS chip so far I have not see. One that states it has the chip ...Really don't know what I'm looking for !

I just picked up a Tab A off Amazon for about $125, it has a much better GPS than the "no-name" tablet it's replacing

 

[Scoop]

Most tablets nowadays do have built in GPS chips and can be used without wifi or cellular service but you need to have downloaded maps in order to navigate offline.
If possible, visit a local store that sells the specific Tab A you want, chances are they have it on display and you can verify in the settings.

I got mine from walmart the 10" one. all androids have built in GPS, some are better then others. i've moved on from the galaxy Tab A to a ipad air. and i no longer have issues of it crashing.
i use Gaia for maps as it syncs to pc, phone, and tablet.

I'm not an Apple guy, but I'm pretty sure that you have to get the WiFi + Celluar versions of most (all?) iPad tablets to get an actual GPS chip. The WiFi only versions do NOT include a GPS chip.

Many/most of the Android tablets have GPS chips even if the WiFi only version, with Samsung being regarded as having the best GPS chips in a tablet device.

 

[Nighthawk]

That's a good question as the specs are very vague. The 8" Tab A that I use is model SM-T290 and it work great. Got it from Costco for around $90 with a sd card. Use my phone as a hotspot and it works great for everything.

 

[P1K5Dave]

You can't be sure that all tablets have an onboard gps chip, and even if they do you could get crap.

The Samsung tablets, even the budget ones like my 8" Tab A all have chips, all known to be some of the best in the industry

 

[mpilihp]

I used a Samsung 8" Tab A for GPS guidance but the mounts to hold them and keep them charged isnt the best. I moved to and would recommend the Samsung Active 8" Tab A tablet. It has a charging point that when mounted in the very secure mount for it can be kept charged with pogo pins, way better than the USB connection, also no cable sticking out of end of tablet to get broken off accidently if in rough terrain. Ive been using it on my snowmobile with an app called Locus Pro and I make my own maps but can support other GPS apps available to download such as the Polaris App.

Phil

 

[Lil_Steve]

I used a Samsung 8" Tab A for GPS guidance but the mounts to hold them and keep them charged isnt the best. I moved to and would recommend the Samsung Active 8" Tab A tablet. It has a charging point that when mounted in the very secure mount for it can be kept charged with pogo pins, way better than the USB connection, also no cable sticking out of end of tablet to get broken off accidently if in rough terrain. Ive been using it on my snowmobile with an app called Locus Pro and I make my own maps but can support other GPS apps available to download such as the Polaris App.

Phil

I also use the Locus Pro app, my buddy creates the routes and shares them through Dropbox, then I install them before the ride. I use a rugged Android phone (no cellular service) that has wireless charging and swap between bikes and the Talon.

 

[a94cobra]

idk on android tablets. I do know on Apple iPads, must get the cellular version to get GPS. Doesn't have to have cell service. But you download the maps you need before you travel.

 

[Rednick69]

If it helps, I bought this for my maps. It is WIFI only but has a GPS in it. It does not have a compass if you're into your map spinning around and such. It is slow AF but it works. If I used it more I might would buy the next model up. I run Maprika and Spotify while riding.

 

[P1K5Dave]

@mpilihp and @Lil_Steve does locus pro allow you to store groups of tracks, and let you assign a different color and line style to the group?

 

[mpilihp]

yes it does, can also name each individual track though its not easy to do all that in the tablet mode. I typically save off all my tracks from a season and if its a new area I do not have already mapped out on my map I will export them onto my PC and with Garmin MapSource app I will massage them, IE trim trails that over lap, name them properly on the track, color code them for if its a primary trail, secondary or a path I found that goes from point a to point b but not part of the actual trail system. THen I re import it into Locus Pro. The Pro allows you to download an off line map. You can use the free version and spend the time while connected to the internet to pan all over the map and at different zoom levels to get the app to cache it but Its pretty cheap and with the app you get one free map download.

 

[Lil_Steve]

@mpilihp and @Lil_Steve does locus pro allow you to store groups of tracks, and let you assign a different color and line style to the group?

As mentioned above, yes. Locus Pro is very customizable, so much so that it can be harder to get the hang of than other GPS apps. I don't even scratch the surface of using the various options it has whereas my buddy has much more experience with it. It has a steeper learning curve than other GPS apps I've used. Beggars cant be choosers so I mainly use Locus Pro so for the ease of him sending me a route I can follow and for recording new areas I encounter.

 

[P1K5Dave]

I currently use OsmAnd, and I also work my trails on my PC using GPS Track Editor to take snippets out of my recorded trips and add them to a category .gpx file using Notepad++ to edit the xml file.

So I group all of these tracks into several different files (snowmobile network trails, motorcycle trails, seasonal roads, etc.) and I'm able to assign a color code in the XML file that OsmAnd recognizes. It's served me well for several years.

The only problem is I haven't been able to assign different line weights, or make dashed or dotted lines for a trail set. And newer releases of OsmAnd have also hacked up my color coding.

So yeah, if I can assign colors, styles and weights at the app level, that would possibly make me change over. Several years back I evaluated over a dozen apps, and none of them would do what I wanted. I got close with OsmAnd. I don't think Locus Pro was around then, or I missed it. I may give it a try, didn't want to pay $11 bucks to find out it doesn't meet my requirements, but maybe I'll try the free version first.

Screenshot of my OsmAnd:

 

[mpilihp]

You can edit lines and make them different colors and widths with the free version I am quite sure. I think the only really diff from Pro is the ability to have offline maps.

Also another cool feature of locus is you can make a floating display overlay on your map so you can have it display your speed, direction, elevation and so on over the top of the map. I like it alot as on my snowmobile I cannot see my speedo because of the tablet so I display it on the tablet.

 

[P1K5Dave]

When I import one of my track sets into Locus, it breaks it into the 70 segments that make it up. A lot of the other apps I evaluated did that same thing.

As you can see below, OsmAnd keeps my tracks as a group under one name. That way, if I want to turn off all roads, or just all the dirt roads, I can do so with one tap.

 

[P1K5Dave]

Yeah, I can set a speedo on OsmAnd as well. You can also run offline maps in the free version. It's fully functional as a free app.

 

[mpilihp]

Sounds interesting this app your using, so what do you get then in the paid version?

If you save the tracks in the app it does save them all separate, What I do is make folders and put tracks I want to display/hide all at once in a separate folder and you can do it at the folder level.

 

[P1K5Dave]

The paid version mostly has to do with how many maps you download and how often you update them. They have just added a higher tier that I think will do cloud storage and sync across your devices.

Cool on the folder thing, I'll check it out