How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

I couldn't find any discussion of how the GPS on the N800 or N810 compares with dedicated GPS units (apart from lock-in time).

Has anybody had experience with both?

There are cheap bluetooth units for the N800 (about $20) now, but there are also refurbished dedicated GPS units going for $79 or so. Anybody know how good the NITs are versus cheap (and also pricier) dedicated GPS systems?

Has anybody used the Tablets for GPS in the wilderness (or as a "hiking" or "handheld" gps, like, for example, the Garmin eTrex) as well as on roads as a "dashboard" unit?

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

For hiking and outdoor activity they're way better, as you can use Google Satellite. ;) I use my N800 and an i-Blue 737 for water navigation in my canoe.

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

i have found that for hiking a dedicated gps (like garmin legendc) is way better than my n810-
whereas i use my n810 all the time driving
ymmv

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

If you use a bluetooth GPS, then it depends on how good it is. Aside from that, the nice screen and the option to use many map sources and programs make the tablets better. Only downside is that they are not as rugged...

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

which is exactly why i like my legend c for hiking... it hangs around my neck it can bounce around and even hit the side of mountain/big hill/tree and i dont have to worry...
when hiking i do not want/need turn by turn directions

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

Thanks, all, for your replies. More replies comparing the utility of Dedicated GPS Units to GPS on the Tablets would still be appreciated.

@General Antilles, I don't understand what you're saying. You're using both the N800 and an i-Blue 737 at the same time? (From what I just read, I thought the i-Blue 737 was a self-contained GPS System, not a GPS bluetooth transmitter.)

What sort of software are you using on the N800 when you do that? I have never used any sort of GPS unit, so my questions may be, sorry to say, uncommonly ingnorant. Can you use the N800 and Google Satellite with no other software, even though you wouldn't be on the Web?

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

Er, what? How exactly do you figure?

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

Beats me! (Not sure what I [mis-]read last night :o)

So, then, what software are you using with it? (Once again, this question may be based on my total misunderstanding about how the whole GPS arrangement works.) It doesn't seem to me that Google Satellite is an item of downloadable software. (But maybe I'm just getting dumber and dumber recently ... )

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

Maemo Mapper, of course. Configure it to use Google Satellite and and you've basically got Google Earth in your pocket with a GPS.

You don't need a GPS to play with Maemo Mapper, so my recommendation is to just install it and start messing around. ;)

Re: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
 

With progs like "Hike" and "Maemo Mapper", tablets are hard to beat. The Nokia GPS puck is amazingly sensitive. Hike is cool. Take a pix of the park map. Calibrate it with 3 points to fit the GPS fix on the picture and it puts you right on the trails IF the map is right...some aren't.

Flying's better, too, but don't let the pilots see it. I had the GPS puck in the window, Maemo Mapper running with STORED (no cell or wifi avail) tiles from Runway Finder of the aeronautical charts for the trip on the internal 16GB SDHC. My seat mate, humorously an iPhoner, and I were tracking our flight on the very chart the pilot should be using when the copilot came back for some reason. On his way back to the cockpit, he spied my chart! I'd rather he flew in his seat, but he said my GPS worked as good or better than the one in the 727!...