iPad vs. Nexus 7

I'm going to summarize how I see this situation and hope for some critique....
Nexus 7= $200
GDL = $800
Garmin Pilot subscription = $100/yr.
No Music

Garmin 696 used = $1400
GDL = NA
XM subscription with music = $65/yr.

So I see a $400 extra up front cost, good, original Garmin programming without need for constant updates and competition between in house groups in their organization for who gets what cool stuff - iPad or Android.... XM music.
vs.
All new equipment, $400 cheaper, less monthly cost, equipment that is useful for many other things. Evolving software, no tunes.
Anything to add?
 
Goofy said:
I'm going to summarize how I see this situation and hope for some critique....
Nexus 7= $200
GDL = $800
Garmin Pilot subscription = $100/yr.
No Music

Garmin 696 used = $1400
GDL = NA
XM subscription with music = $65/yr.

So I see a $400 extra up front cost, good, original Garmin programming without need for constant updates and competition between in house groups in their organization for who gets what cool stuff - iPad or Android.... XM music.
vs.
All new equipment, $400 cheaper, less monthly cost, equipment that is useful for many other things. Evolving software, no tunes.
Anything to add?
Click to expand...

You forgot that traffic and weather are FREE on the Nexus 7 with the GDL-39. You do not need a Garmin Pilot subscription if all you want is the base map (like the 496's base map.)

It is the lack of an ongoing weather subscription that is one of the Nexus 7's (running Garmin Pilot) greatest advantage. The $100/year most of us are paying is for moving map sectionals and other charts -- something that is not available for the 496 (and, I think, 696) at any price.
 
And I would disagree with the "no tunes" characterization. You can load up your Nexus with hours of MP3s for offline listening. True, no preprogrammed radio stations, but I generally prefer to make my own anyway.
 
Goofy said:
I'm going to summarize how I see this situation and hope for some critique....
Nexus 7= $200
GDL = $800
Garmin Pilot subscription = $100/yr.
No Music

Garmin 696 used = $1400
GDL = NA
XM subscription with music = $65/yr.

So I see a $400 extra up front cost, good, original Garmin programming without need for constant updates and competition between in house groups in their organization for who gets what cool stuff - iPad or Android.... XM music.
vs.
All new equipment, $400 cheaper, less monthly cost, equipment that is useful for many other things. Evolving software, no tunes.
Anything to add?
Click to expand...

What XM subscription can you get for $65/yr? Last time I looked it was $50/mo to have full weather with NEXRAD, which is free with the GDL.
 
$50 + music Jonesy. And I forgot the obnoxious chart update cost at Garmin. That's another $200/yr. And forgot about saving music on the nexus. Haven't done that in years but I guess one could simply record a few hours of a Jazz station and replay it via MP3.
Great critique - thanks!!
 
Goofy said:
I'm going to summarize how I see this situation and hope for some critique....
Nexus 7= $200
GDL = $800
Garmin Pilot subscription = $100/yr.
No Music

Garmin 696 used = $1400
GDL = NA
XM subscription with music = $65/yr.

So I see a $400 extra up front cost, good, original Garmin programming without need for constant updates and competition between in house groups in their organization for who gets what cool stuff - iPad or Android.... XM music.
vs.
All new equipment, $400 cheaper, less monthly cost, equipment that is useful for many other things. Evolving software, no tunes.
Anything to add?
Click to expand...

Pilot base subscription is $49/year. add on's (safe taxi, etc. ) cost additional
 
Goofy said:
I'm going to summarize how I see this situation and hope for some critique....
Nexus 7= $200
GDL = $800
Garmin Pilot subscription = $100/yr.
No Music

Garmin 696 used = $1400
GDL = NA
XM subscription with music = $65/yr.

So I see a $400 extra up front cost, good, original Garmin programming without need for constant updates and competition between in house groups in their organization for who gets what cool stuff - iPad or Android.... XM music.
vs.
All new equipment, $400 cheaper, less monthly cost, equipment that is useful for many other things. Evolving software, no tunes.
Anything to add?
Click to expand...

As others have said those numbers are a little off. If you specifically want XM radio the 696 might be the option for you as of now. I am sure XM radio will come as a subscription through portable ADS-B units but as of now there is no radio option. I have about 14gigs of music on my iPad mini which is waaaaay more than I can listen to even on a 7 day trip going coast to coast.
 
Goofy said:
$50 + music Jonesy. And I forgot the obnoxious chart update cost at Garmin. That's another $200/yr. And forgot about saving music on the nexus. Haven't done that in years but I guess one could simply record a few hours of a Jazz station and replay it via MP3.
Great critique - thanks!!
Click to expand...

XM with the good stuff is $55/month....or $660 per year. ($100/mo for everything....or $1200/yr.)

http://www.xmwxweather.com/aviation/data-service-pricing.php
 
Badger said:
What level of weather info (reference the link above) does the GDL 39 and free weather provide? Is it equivalent to the middle or top level of paid subscription?
Click to expand...

I'd put it at the $100 equivalent because of the icing forecasts.
 
Badger said:
What level of weather info (reference the link above) does the GDL 39 and free weather provide? Is it equivalent to the middle or top level of paid subscription?
Click to expand...

I had the top o' the line weather on my 496 for years. The ADS-B weather is similar to the high end XM weather, but WAY easier to interpret, thanks to the much larger (and color, and high-res) screen on the Nexus 7.

What's funny is I still have weather (as of last Monday, anyway) on the 496. We canceled XM last July. I don't get the impression that Sirius XM is run by the sharpest sticks in the bunch.

It's an indication of how great ADS-B weather that we don't use the XM weather anymore, even though it's inexplicably still available. There's simply no reason to.
 
Jay et al,

Every product description I read about the GDL-39 has the same stock verbiage:

Code: 
Subscription-free ADS-B weather, including animated NEXRAD radar, METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs, TFRs and more

Does anyone have a good list of features you get with it? Specifically, the "and more.."
 
roddie said:
Jay et al,

Every product description I read about the GDL-39 has the same stock verbiage:

Code: 
Subscription-free ADS-B weather, including animated NEXRAD radar, METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs, TFRs and more

Does anyone have a good list of features you get with it? Specifically, the "and more.."
Click to expand...

Well, let's see...in addition to what you listed, there is:

- Graphic, multi-level winds-aloft. (This is actually usable on the big screen, as opposed to as depicted on the 496.)
- Live lightning depiction (well, as "live" as ADS-B is)
- Infrared cloud overlay
- Visible cloud overlay
- TFR overlay
- AIRMET/SIGMET overlay
- Traffic overlay
- Fuel price overlay (Nice!)
- All airport info

It's pretty comprehensive.
 
Jay Honeck said:
What's funny is I still have weather (as of last Monday, anyway) on the 496. We canceled XM last July. I don't get the impression that Sirius XM is run by the sharpest sticks in the bunch.
Click to expand...

Shhhhhhhh! Me too........
 
Jay Honeck said:
Well, let's see...in addition to what you listed, there is:

- Graphic, multi-level winds-aloft. (This is actually usable on the big screen, as opposed to as depicted on the 496.)
- Live lightning depiction (well, as "live" as ADS-B is)
- Infrared cloud overlay
- Visible cloud overlay
- TFR overlay
- AIRMET/SIGMET overlay
- Traffic overlay
- Fuel price overlay (Nice!)
- All airport info

It's pretty comprehensive.
Click to expand...

Wow, very cool.. thanks! Who is footing the bill to keep this "subscription fee"? Is that something we can realistically expect to last?
 
Jay Honeck said:
Maybe they don't remember how to turn it off? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If it's anything like the old sat services used to be, they send the "kill" signal for a limited period after a customer lets their subscription lapse. If the device isn't powered on during that period, it will still think it has a valid subscription and keep on working when it is powered. To keep all active sub/kill info in the stream indefinitely would take up too much bandwidth.

I'm not sure if that's how XM is running things or not, but that's how DTV/Dish were for years and years.
 
roddie said:
If it's anything like the old sat services used to be, they send the "kill" signal for a limited period after a customer lets their subscription lapse. If the device isn't powered on during that period, it will still think it has a valid subscription and keep on working when it is powered. To keep all active sub/kill info in the stream indefinitely would take up too much bandwidth.

I'm not sure if that's how XM is running things or not, but that's how DTV/Dish were for years and years.
Click to expand...

Well, so long as they don't hit me with an after-the fact $4000 bill, I'm okay with that. :D
 
Jay Honeck said:
Well, so long as they don't hit me with an after-the fact $4000 bill, I'm okay with that. :D
Click to expand...

The beauty is that they have NO idea -- your receiver is a receiver :-D

They do sometimes resend kill signals though; at least they used to.
 
roddie said:
Wow, very cool.. thanks! Who is footing the bill to keep this "subscription fee"? Is that something we can realistically expect to last?
Click to expand...

This is part of their long term plans. The more you get on your own the less they pay for a human to man a radio to give you that info. Same basis for DUATS.
 
LDJones said:
This is part of their long term plans. The more you get on your own the less they pay for a human to man a radio to give you that info. Same basis for DUATS.
Click to expand...

So it's an FAA thing? I'm still new to the whole ADS-B thing. Interesting.
 
Maybe the initial $800 isn't so bad considering what you get.

Jay Honeck said:
Well, let's see...in addition to what you listed, there is:

- Graphic, multi-level winds-aloft. (This is actually usable on the big screen, as opposed to as depicted on the 496.)
- Live lightning depiction (well, as "live" as ADS-B is)
- Infrared cloud overlay
- Visible cloud overlay
- TFR overlay
- AIRMET/SIGMET overlay
- Traffic overlay
- Fuel price overlay (Nice!)
- All airport info

It's pretty comprehensive.
Click to expand...
 
roddie said:
So it's an FAA thing? I'm still new to the whole ADS-B thing. Interesting.
Click to expand...

Roddie, here is a primer on the subject:
http://www.garmin.com/us/intheair/ads-b

The thing that took me some time to get was the fact that without ADS-B "out" the ground station is not getting "pinged" and so the traffic you see is only from aircraft that do have the "out" function. So you are not seeing all traffic on radar as you do if you can ping the ground station, then you get both. Otherwise, pretty straight forward. Oh, and one other thing, they don't yet have the center of the country covered with stations but are working on it, you'll see that if you find the map of coverage. Doesn't help in Tornado Country......:yikes:
 
aviatingfool said:
Roddie, here is a primer on the subject:
http://www.garmin.com/us/intheair/ads-b

The thing that took me some time to get was the fact that without ADS-B "out" the ground station is not getting "pinged" and so the traffic you see is only from aircraft that do have the "out" function. So you are not seeing all traffic on radar as you do if you can ping the ground station, then you get both. Otherwise, pretty straight forward. Oh, and one other thing, they don't yet have the center of the country covered with stations but are working on it, you'll see that if you find the map of coverage. Doesn't help in Tornado Country......:yikes:
Click to expand...

Thanks! Just watched the videos -- pretty neat (and expensive) stuff. I'm gonna guess that 2020 will slip, however.
 
I was out last night, doing some night VFR, and two things happened:
1. Five(ish) weeks after pushing the "fly up" orientation button, the orientation finally changed, 1.6 hrs into the flight.
2. I lost 2 different VOR stations on the way to Groton, and I didn't care. The Nexus 7 and Garmin Pilot performed flawlessly.

Actually there was a third thing.
3. I had a great time. It's been so long, that I had forgotton how much FUN night VOR can be.
That's all. Back to whatever you were doing.
(I'm watching a lot of snow fall out of the sky)
 
Jay Honeck said:
You forgot that traffic and weather are FREE on the Nexus 7 with the GDL-39. You do not need a Garmin Pilot subscription if all you want is the base map (like the 496's base map.)

It is the lack of an ongoing weather subscription that is one of the Nexus 7's (running Garmin Pilot) greatest advantage. The $100/year most of us are paying is for moving map sectionals and other charts -- something that is not available for the 496 (and, I think, 696) at any price.
Click to expand...

Same for the iPad - And I agree with what Jay says here. Just keeping the Garmin up to date costs more than any of the non-Jepp tablet EFB subscriptions IIRC, and then there's the pricy XM subscription fee that you're not paying... And most of all, you have a device you can use for WAY more uses than flying!
 
Shepherd said:
I was out last night, doing some night VFR, and two things happened:
1. Five(ish) weeks after pushing the "fly up" orientation button, the orientation finally changed, 1.6 hrs into the flight.
Click to expand...

Hey -- that reminds me of a glitch in Pilot that I keep forgetting to mention: The "Track Up" button doesn't "persist" from flight to flight. It always reverts to "North Up", even when Track Up is selected.

The fix is to unselect Track Up, and re-select it. Then Track Up works every time. Goofy.
 
So I liked the 10" size of the iPads, but when we started beta testing ForeFlight 5 about a month ago I needed to get a newer iPad to test the new Hazard Advisor feature (see the ForeFlight 5 thread for more info). I always go for the highest possible storage and RAM when I'm buying computing devices (it makes them useful longer) and I was still in indecisive mode regarding full-size vs. mini due to the mini's lack of retina display and some other features, as well as AT&T vs. Verizon (were I not grandfathered into the unlimited data plan with AT&T, I'd have gone Verizon in a heartbeat). Since I found it difficult to swallow the $929 price of the 128GB full-size iPad, especially since I was buying it mainly for testing purposes, I bought the 64GB AT&T 4G iPad Mini.

Now, I've come back here to admit, I'm really sold on the 7" form factor. The difference between the screen sizes is not all that great since the side borders are mostly gone on the Mini. The resolution is the same as the iPad 1 and 2 (really, the iPad Mini is a shrunken-down iPad 2 in most ways). So, it's showing just as much information as a 10" tablet, in a slightly smaller form. Since I'm lucky enough to still have excellent eyesight, it works well.

There's more of the panel visible now, and I can mount the iPad at a better viewing angle in the Mooney.

The biggest difference, however, is out of the cockpit. Now I have an iPad that fits in my pocket, so I tend to use it more than I used the original iPad. That's really the biggest difference.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
The biggest difference, however, is out of the cockpit. Now I have an iPad that fits in my pocket, so I tend to use it more than I used the original iPad. That's really the biggest difference.
Click to expand...

That's what I found with the Nexus 7, too. Because it fits in a cargo pocket, I take it everywhere.
 
Jay Honeck said:
That's what I found with the Nexus 7, too. Because it fits in a cargo pocket, I take it everywhere.
Click to expand...

I definitely prefer the cargo pocket, but for us fatties it fits in a regular pocket too. ;)

So far I've put it in my cargo pocket, my regular jeans pocket, and the inside pocket of my jacket (the tightest fit of the three, but still doable).

It's reminding me of the adage coined by Andy Inhatko with regards to cell phone cameras: "The camera you have with you ALWAYS takes a better picture than the one you left at home."
 
So, it's showing just as much information as a 10" tablet, in a slightly smaller form.
Click to expand...
At the same viewing distance, yes.

I went from an iPad 2 to the Nexus 7 and because of its smaller size the N7 is suction-cupped to the window just to my left and very close to my eyes. Compared to the full size iPad way down on my kneeboard, the information on the N7 is actually larger.

The difference would be less for a yoke-mounted iPad but there it is really too big and blocks instruments. The N7 on my left blocks nothing.

So ... smaller is bigger!
 
Jay Honeck said:
It's an indication of how great ADS-B weather that we don't use the XM weather anymore, even though it's inexplicably still available. There's simply no reason to.
Click to expand...

If you want weather in the middle of the country, you need something besides ADSB since it isn't activated there.

Once the holes are covered, there's no reason. Of course the FAA may claim sequestration and leave the holes. :rolleyes2:

Cheers
 
airdale said:
At the same viewing distance, yes.
Click to expand...

Good point. I yoke-mount the iPad in the Mooney and 182 and suction-cup mount it to the side in the DA40, where it was already pretty close. So, it'll look smaller to me because I won't be moving it as much. But if your lap was the only place for it before and now you can move it closer, it will be bigger!
 
Well, after 9 months of daily usage, in countless situations, my wife managed to shatter the screen on my Nexus 7. She, of course, has no idea what happened, or any recollection of any incident that could have exerted the titanic twisting or side impact forces necessary to shatter a Nexus 7 INSIDE HER PURSE, INSIDE HER NEXUS 7 CARRYING CASE.

Which, by the way, is also sporting a shattered (but still functional) screen.

Mine is totally dead.

This make her last three cellphones, and now two tablets, smashed. I need a militarized Nexus 7.

I will be picking up a new one.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3...
 
Jay Honeck said:
Well, after 9 months of daily usage, in countless situations, my wife managed to shatter the screen on my Nexus 7. She, of course, has no idea what happened, or any recollection of any incident that could have exerted the titanic twisting or side impact forces necessary to shatter a Nexus 7 INSIDE HER PURSE, INSIDE HER NEXUS 7 CARRYING CASE.

Which, by the way, is also sporting a shattered (but still functional) screen.

Mine is totally dead.

This make her last three cellphones, and now two tablets, smashed. I need a militarized Nexus 7.

I will be picking up a new one.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3...
Click to expand...

Wait a few weeks and get the new one!
 
And...here I am on my new 32 GB Nexus 7, thanks to Wallyworld being open late. :D

Best part of Google -- it continues to auto restore all of my apps.

Mary will get this one in May (or July, or whenever) when the new version comes out.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
 
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