Tablet for XCSOAR

[whans...@gmail.com]

I have a Galaxy Tab - (it is so old it doesn't have a version number) - well being black and sitting in the sun is heating it up and making it shut down at the exact wrong times.

I like XCSOAR and I like a 7 inch screen - I like color - any suggestions?

I am thinking to get a white new Galaxy, but maybe there is something out there that works better. I also use it to keep occupied on my commute to work :) (retiring is not an option)

WH

[Dan Marotta]

My wife uses a Nexus 7 (2012 version) and it works just fine in the
Pipistrel. I used it a couple of times in my LAK-17a and it worked
just fine.

Dan Marotta

[George Ballantyne]

Same here, this side of the pond: I use a Nexus 7 also. Reasonably good
screen, clear, bright, even with sunglasses on (though we haven't seen a
lot of sun lately over here...grrr!)
Battery life is not bad for short flights too, though external power would
be a better option.

BTW, your forum is of way more interest: we're having to endure an
incredible amount of garbage on uras and urasb these days...
Regards to all.

[Dan Marotta]

Hmmmmmmmm...

I use Thunderbird as my email client and, just to see, I set up an
account on news.eternal-september.org and read it on Thunderbird. I
haven't seen any junk at all and, should I, I'll just set up some filters.

Give it a try!

Dan Marotta

[Martin Gregorie]

On Mon, 09 Jun 2014 10:42:03 -0600, Dan Marotta wrote:

> Hmmmmmmmm...
>
> I use Thunderbird as my email client and, just to see, I set up an
> account on news.eternal-september.org and read it on Thunderbird. I
> haven't seen any junk at all and, should I, I'll just set up some
> filters.
>

I'd agree. I'm also using news.eternal-september.org as my news server,
but I don't think eternal september has anything to do with it being spam-
free - thats more to do with r.a.s, which IME has considerably less spam
and fewer trolls than most newsgroups.



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Mike C]

Pick up a Streak 7" off Ebay. Cheap, works well and very visible in full sunlight.

[whans...@gmail.com]

Excellent info - Thank you all :) it is appreciated!

WH

[Ian]

On 06/09/2014 03:02 PM, whans...@gmail.com wrote:

> I like XCSOAR and I like a 7 inch screen - I like color - any
> suggestions?

I fly with a Dell Streak 5. My colleague at work has a Google Nexus 7
tablet. I have taken both out into the sun and done a comparison of the
displays, with and without my sunglasses on. The sunlight visibility of
the Nexus 7 is as least as good, if not better than the Streak 5.

I checked this both with the sun directly behind the PDA's (shadow of
the PDA on my face), and with the sun over my shoulder onto the screens
(shadow of my head just next to the PDA's, and a range of positions in
between. I put google maps on the screen during the test as I did not
want to install XCsoar on my colleague's new toy. I do this whenever I
get a chance to test a new device in the sun.

The 7" device is a bit big for my cockpit and I am on the lookout for a
4" to 5" equivalent. I know black and white e-readers will win this test
any day, but they don't have 3G to support Skylines live tracking.

Have fun

Ian

[Thermal]

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 2:22:54 AM UTC-5, Ian wrote:

A Galaxy Note 3 is fairly readable in daylight. at full brightness it is about 600 nits. Plus it has a barometric sensor for the software vario. and the speaker does not face away from you like many devices.

[whans...@gmail.com]

Thanks - I definitely need to keep my 3G connectivity - the Skylines tracker is excellent and helps keep my "crew" (my wife) calm on those long XC flights I attempt.

So right now I am going to look at Nexus and Samsung - then maybe try to make a tunnel to keep them from getting cooked by the direct sun.

Saturday my Galaxy tablet shut of twice because it was over heating - both times we really inconvenient, final glide & as I got 3 miles from my turn around point :)

WH

[Ian]

On 06/11/2014 10:49 AM, Thermal wrote:

> A Galaxy Note 3 is fairly readable in daylight. at full brightness it is about 600 nits. Plus it has a barometric sensor for the software vario. and the speaker does not face away from you like many devices.

I just Googled "Galaxy Note 3". It seems this has a "Super AMOLED"
screen. Other devices with super amoled screens that I have tested went
black when the sun was shining directly onto the device. Ie sun over
your shoulder and shadow of your head just next to the device. This is
the most challenging situation, especially if you are wearing
sunglasses. It is also 5.7", a bit big for my glider.

Ian

[sant...@gmail.com]

I haven't had any visibility problems with a Galaxy Note 2. However, before flying, I go to settings and change the brightness, from automatic to manual, and set it at full brightness.
Last weekend I lost the gps signal 3 or 4 times for a minute or two, and I think it was related to overheating. Warm and blue day.

[whans...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 11:45:47 PM UTC-4, sant...@gmail.com wrote:
> I haven't had any visibility problems with a Galaxy Note 2. However, before flying, I go to settings and change the brightness, from automatic to manual, and set it at full brightness.
>
> Last weekend I lost the gps signal 3 or 4 times for a minute or two, and I think it was related to overheating. Warm and blue day.

I am going to try to make a small plastic tunnel for mine and see if I can reduce the heat - also going to take it out of the rubber protective cover - it over heated twice when the sun was coming from behind me and once before I had a reflective canopy cover and had the canopy open, there by cooking the poor tablet.

WH

[TravisBrown73]

I hooked my Samsung galaxy tab 2 (7") up to ship's power. Good readability at full brightness, and I haven't had a problem with it getting hot and losing GPS signal. I figure that it must not be putting much of a load on the battery (causing the battery heating?.) Just a guess.

The 7" form-factor is a little big in the glider when climbing in, but I figure that if I needed to get back out in a hurry that I won't even notice just pushing it aside w/ the Ram-mount attachment to the sidewall.
~7U

[simon.t...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 8:59:19 PM UTC+1, Ian wrote:
>
> I just Googled "Galaxy Note 3". It seems this has a "Super AMOLED"
> screen. Other devices with super amoled screens that I have tested went
> black when the sun was shining directly onto the device. Ie sun over
> your shoulder and shadow of your head just next to the device. This is
> the most challenging situation, especially if you are wearing
> sunglasses.

I've got no personal experience with the Note 3, but 'in defence of AMOLED displays':

If you were to compare an AMOLED display with an IPS (LCD) display of equal brightness, in theory the AMOLED display would be a little more readable; black areas of an AMOLED screen emit no light, which gives the displays better contrast. Unfortunately, washing out with the sun directly behind is a problem common to all the displays you'll find on recent Android devices; they're unable to make use of reflected sunlight and rely on the screen brightness to outshine the sun instead.

http://www.ecnmag.com/articles/2012/06/what-happened-transflective-displays is a good summary of why transflective displays as used on the Streak 5" have disappeared.

AMOLED displays have tended to be dim in the past, which probably explains your previous experience. There's an upward trend in brightness recently, and the Note 3 is apparently exceptionally bright; with the 'automatic brightness' setting it reaches 660 nits according to http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_Note3_ShootOut_1.htm .

>It is also 5.7", a bit big for my glider.

Bezels have got a lot thinner, so you may be surprised by the overall dimensions:

Note 3:
151.2 mm (5.95 in) H
79.2 mm (3.12 in) W
8.3 mm (0.33 in) D

Dell Streak 5:
152.9 x 79.1 x 10 mm (6.02 x 3.11 x 0.39 in)

One word of caution: Apparently the more recent 'Note 3 Neo' display is not as bright as the Note 3. Similarly, from what I remember the Note 2 had a dimmer display than the original Note. Device names are really nothing but marketing these days.