Samsung Galaxy Tablet fit our needs

[scrubjaysnest]

We have narrowed all this down to Sprint MIFI, the price is the same for either Verizion or Sprint but you get an extra GB per month from sprint and the overage charges are $.05 MB rather to $10 per GB where 1 byte over hits with the $10 fee. Coverage is about the same for both companies. Prices for the MIFI box are 20 to 50 bucks depending on where you get it. All the reviews complain about the battery life but that is expected for such a small battery. We decided against the Tabs because the prices are so high right now...$360 to $660 and we already have both a laptop and netbook.
Our daughter wanted us to go family plan with her but all that did was raise our monthly cost to about $130/month with hotspot activation. And no idea that cell coverage would be any better then what we currently use.

Originally Posted by brulaz

The Google Maps and directions app works great with the built in GPS, but you need to be connected to the internet at the same time for the maps to download.


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Check out CoPilot Live uSA permium in Android market.. Uses the built in GPS but has maps loaded into tablet. This means it works when you have no cell access and also does not use up costly data allocation. I use it on my 10" droid table and love it.

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

We have narrowed all this down to Sprint MIFI, the price is the same for either Verizion or Sprint but you get an extra GB per month from sprint and the overage charges are $.05 MB rather to $10 per GB where 1 byte over hits with the $10 fee. Coverage is about the same for both companies. Prices for the MIFI box are 20 to 50 bucks depending on where you get it. All the reviews complain about the battery life but that is expected for such a small battery. We decided against the Tabs because the prices are so high right now...$360 to $660 and we already have both a laptop and netbook.
Our daughter wanted us to go family plan with her but all that did was raise our monthly cost to about $130/month with hotspot activation. And no idea that cell coverage would be any better then what we currently use.

We killed (melted) our Verizon Mifi last week on the way home (after 3 good years), so we got a tab from Verizon for $230 with a 2 year plan, 2GB/mo at $30/mo. (and, yes, $10/GB if over).

As with the Mifi, we can easily suspend service when not in the States, a must for Canadians. Pre-paid data plans would also work if you already own a tab. But if you don't, buying a tab alone is really expensive.

Originally Posted by rumbleweed

Check out CoPilot Live uSA permium in Android market.. Uses the built in GPS but has maps loaded into tablet. This means it works when you have no cell access and also does not use up costly data allocation. I use it on my 10" droid table and love it.

Thanks. I see on their web site that they're coming out with a free version with just the basic maps and routes, not the turn-by-turn and fancy stuff. So you can evaluate it before upgrading. We'll give that a try when it comes on the market.

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by brulaz

.........................................snip..... ...................

As with the Mifi, we can easily suspend service when not in the States, a must for Canadians. Pre-paid data plans would also work if you already own a tab. But if you don't, buying a tab alone is really expensive.

We are thinking about dropping the DSL at the fish camp if the MIFI is adequate. That will make the monthly fee a wash. Our primary use is weather reports at the fish camp. We spend 4 months there and 7 to 8 on the road.

For traveling I use a Garmin NUVI 550, Do up the routes in Mapsource the verify in Google Earth as needed. Also carry a box of paper makes with the routes high lighted. Check this post for how I do this:http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...10&postcount=1

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

We are thinking about dropping the DSL at the fish camp if the MIFI is adequate. That will make the monthly fee a wash...

That's what we've done. Between our Canadian and US 3G data plans, we can't really afford DSL anymore. Wireless 3G is certainly slower than DSL, but it's good enough for what we do, and much more flexible for when we're on the road (which seems like a lot of the time).

Our children, though, complain when they come to visit. They seem to be addicted to high-speed internet.

And mapping software is interesting. I sort of enjoy taking the suggested routes even if they're not what I would have picked of the paper map. Even once when we ended up in the wrong town, it WAS a beautiful and charming place.

[scrubjaysnest]

Well so much for the Sprint MIFI or mobile hot spot. Tried it at the fish camp and no signal, it won't connect to Verizon tower. Tried it at Three Rivers SP, near Sneads, Fl. Had between 0 and 2 bars but to erratic to use. Also had to wonder around in the CG just to get it to connect. The CG hosts had full bars on their Verizon hotspot inside the camper. We had to return home because per Sprint policy the only place that could de-activate the hotspot so we could cancel the contract was the place we bought it at. Something to do with 3rd party even though all they handled was Sprint. Oh, well a 500 mile test!

[Barb&Tim]

Yes, unfortunately there will be dead spots with any mobile carrier as we experienced in WV last year with Verizon.

Thanks for the heads up on that idiotic Sprint policy. They are very creative in coming up with ways to make contract cancellation difficult.

Tim

Originally Posted by Brifla

Sure. There are bunch of them out there. They are like the TV tuner cards that people have in their desktop computers but instead these just plug in to the USB port on a computer (good with laptop). They have a coax connector on the other end of the USB stick that you connect to either an antenna or your cable coaxial feed. They are very versatile and allow you to not only watch live tv anywhere there is tv air signal or cable feed, but also allow your laptop to act as a DVR for recording and watching stuff later. They also can be used to convert VCR/DVD/etc to a digital copy kept on your computer. Search USB TV Tuner on a site such as Amazon or Buy.com. They range in price from $25-$150. I bought the Diamond TVW750USB ATI Theater HD 750 USB TV Tuner which is only $39.99 and has a $10 rebate right now. I'm hoping this will eliminate the need to purchase and carry a TV with me when camping. The only thing I will add that your laptop needs to have a little muscle (RAM and processor) if you are processing HD signals (which many local TV stations broadcast).

I just wanted to provide an update on the use of a USB tuner and laptop for television in the TM. We put it to the test recently on a camping trip and it passed with flying colors. Surprisingly, the TM TV antenna was able to receive more than a dozen channels in a fairly remote area of North Florida and using the USB tuner/laptop combo, we got great picture and reception. We even received two music video channels (1 Pop, 1 Country) on the TV so used this as a substitute for a radio. The laptop TV picture did freeze up a couple of times (likely a Vista or processing overload issue) but it was simple enough to just restart it. We believe this will allow us to avoid buying and carrying a TV with us in the camper (saving $$ and weight), since we usually take a laptop everywhere we go and don't really plan on watching much TV while camping. The laptop DVD player also plays movies.

I like the USB tuner idea. Currently the TV that came with our Elkmont sits in a box somewhere in the Trailer. Next time we probably won't even take it along.

Getting back to the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

One issue we ran into was that it would only Fast charge when using the wall adapter that came with it. If you unplugged the usb cable from that adapter and stuck into your computer port, or into our truck's usb port, it would Trickle charge. And when using GPS and Wifi/3G, that wasn't good enough.

Turns out there's some black magic needed, and not any old usb port will allow you to Fast charge. Special 12V to USB Samsung Galaxy Tab adapters are available. Ours came from our Canadian provider (Rogers), is made by Capdase, cost $30 and included another usb cable.

Irritating, but at least now Fast charge works in the truck and trailer when no 120VAC is available.