Android 8" tablet for navigation
If you've been looking for a small Android tablet to use in an RV for navigation, I also have been looking for a long time but I finally found a great one. I wanted a 8" Android tablet which is pret...
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I'm confused, your post comes across more as an advertisement than anything else.
8" tablets are a dime a dozen and you would have to search to find one without GPS (yes, GNSS is common). For navigation, no real need for a more expensive model.
I have a 5yr old samsung that I'm only replacing because the USB port is going bad (have to fiddle with it to get it to charge). I can get an updated version of the same for $100.
I guess I'm sorry if my post came across as an advertisement though it's quite a stretch to suggest that I'd have some reason to promote an imported Chinese tablet from Walmart.
8" Android tablets are not a dime a dozen. Samsung has not released an 8" tablet since the A7 Lite in 2021 and it's performance is horrible. I owned it also and it's worse than the Lenovo Tab M9.
If you think that an 8" high-end Android tablet with GPS is a dime a dozen then please help others in this forum that are looking and post a list of them.
Sorry, it was just an oddly spec heavy and specific post.
If the primary use is navigation, any cheap tablet will do fine. No need for a high end model. Just search amazon/walmart (or your preferred supplier) and there are plenty of 8" tablets and they all come with GPS and will run, any of your common navigation apps. Never had a performance problem with my old Samsung and before that I had an off brand that worked fine.
Yes, I agree it was spec heavy but that's because my needs were very specific. As a previous Ford E-450 and now Ford Transit RVer, I think others could have the same limitations that I do.
I disagree that any tablet will be fine. That hasn't been my experience. I've had both the Samsung A7 Lite and the Lenovo Tab M9 mounted in my RV and both were an inadequate experience with TomTom GO, Trimble CoPilot and Sygic Truck. I'm guessing it was because they only had 4GB of RAM instead of 8 GB.
But I also might have a unique requirement conpared to most people that I didn't mention. I use the tablet to also listen to podcasts, while running a navigation app. Our current RV has overhead speakers in the coach connected to the in-dash radio. They can't be turned off or muted. If my wife is on a work call, I can't use my podcast app through Android Auto. I use my podcast app on the tablet in that situation so I can control the volume.
Using PocketCasts while using a navigation app makes the cheaper low-end tablets choke.
If you are going to run multiple apps simultaneously, then yes, you need a bit more power. Of course, we have 2 tablets and 2 phones, so we split the tasks if we need to do multiple things. Ie: if my wife has a work call, she will use her phone rather than try to do it thru the device running navigation.
