Etrex 20 and tablet?

[fhills]

I already have an Etrex 20. Very pleased with it.

Thinking of, eventually, getting a tablet.

Any recommendations for the best one to get for connecting to/moving stuff from the tablet to the Etrex. Am thinking mostly of now and again using it to download new OSM (and cycling variants of) maps to the Etrex when on the move.

At first sight the new Tesco Hudl looks like a possibility - I understand that it has a micro SD card slot and the Etrex 20 uses a micro SD card.

Please note, in case anyone is tempted to go off topic, that I have no desire whatsoever to use the tablet for games or for taking photos - already enough folk standing on London street corners holding floor tiles in the air (after having spent a couple of minutes arranging their hair for their imagined fashion shoot selfie).

 

[mrcharly-YHT]

I've not used an Etrex but do use a garmin gps thingy. You can't just copy routes onto the SD card with it, you need to connect via usb and use some software to download them. I use GPSBabel.

[fhills]

Not sure I understand your reply Mr Charlie.

On my PC (not talking tablet here) I can just copy a route from the PC to the card surely as long as I put it in the correct folder? <In practice I tend to copy them to the internal memory with the maps on the card but the principle is surely the same?>

I don't need any special software on the PC <again stress I'm talking PC, not tablet here - guidance on the practicalities of doing this with a tablet welcome> to do this - I just set the Etrex up to be in USB mass storage mode - the PC <again I stress NOT tablet - info/guidance on doing the same with a tablet welcome> then just treats the Etrex as a generic remote storage device/another drive.

[Oaky]

With the eTrex 20, you can just copy any route/track (certainly as long as it's in .gpx format) to the unit when it's connected via mass storage mode.  You can copy to the internal storage or SD card this way.

You can also put OSM maps on this way, but it takes a long time (the unit only does some slow ancient USB variant, I believe).  I usualy just pop the SD card into a card reader directly attached to my laptop.  That's much quicker.

I guess putting the card into a tablet would work similarly.

If, however, you want to connect the eTrex to the tablet via USB, e.g. to download tracks that it has saved into it's internal storage, then you'll need a tablet that can act as a USB host.  I don't think that's a particularly common feature (although many tablets will act as a USB device).

[fhills]

Thanks for the reply Oaky.

So your post sounds like a thumbs up for the humble Tesco Hudl.

Other views weklcome.

[Kim]

I have a Nexus 7.  Rooted, and with the right adaptor, it can mount my eTrex 30 as a USB storage device, allowing GPXes to be copied back and forth in the usual way (mrcharly: the new eTrex series (and, AIUI various Edges) allow you to simply copy GPX files around, rather than having to upload routes/tracks via the Garmin protocol as with previous models).  A tablet with an SD slot would simplify (or perhaps complicate) matters, though you'd end up juggling SD cards a lot if you want to use one to store programs and data.



I recommend ViewRanger or Memory Map as software that allows you to do useful things with GPX files on the tablet.

[Ningishzidda]

Kim. That's only chuffin' 50 !

[Kim]

Kim. That's only chuffin' 50 !

All the cool kids were riding it!

(and it was a dripping 100 by the time we got home)

[Ningishzidda]

Traditional cyclists' values,,,
"I'll finish in the rain, but I don't start in the rain."

Some cyclists' values,,,
"I won't finish in the heat, so I'm not even going to start."