Best PDA or tablet soln for GPS & XM WX and gyro AI

Hey Paul,
I just got back from looking at a friends Sony U750. Pretty impressive, but
needs to be used fairly close, either on a yoke mount or kneeboard. It's
bluetooth enabled and he uses it for XM Weather and has the NOS approach
plates on it. He loves it, especially for the dimming feature that goes
completely black with only a couple presses of a button, no fumbling through
menus for the backlight slider. Makes night time approaches a lot nicer.
Jim

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 03:49:27 GMT, Paul Folbrecht
wrote:

I decided awhile ago I'd like to get a PDA (preferred) or perhaps a small
tablet for in-cockpit GPS moving map and satellite weather and a backup,
emergency-only AI as well (not a simple GPS AI but a real solid-state gyro).

After days of research I can't seem to find a single system that does
everything I would like with no major negatives.

I started looking seriously at Anywhere Map/WX/AI which looks pretty good
except for their gyro - seems many users have problems with it. The other
thing is that there seems to be issues with their customer service.

I like NavGPS a lot too coupled with the PC-EFIS they bundle and that all
looks good, but I don't know if there is a satellite WX system that will
work with their software at all.

I prefer a PDA for size reasons (plane's a 152) but a small tablet that
could be yoke-mounted would also be Ok. If anybody can recommend a system
that meets all three of these needs and can be add for less than $3K all-up
I'd like to hear of it. TIA.

I have a Fujitsu ST4121, which is a sunlight readable tablet with
10.4" display. It is a phenomenal tool in the cockpit for moving
maps, approach plates, XM Radio, and with the 40G HDD it is a good
iPod too.

If I was starting over, I would spring the extra for an ST5121, which
is the latest and greatest from Fujitsu. The ST512 integrates
bluetooth. The latest WxWorx receivers are bluetooth enabled, and
bluetooth GPS receivers are easy to find, so this would greatly reduce
cockpit cable clutter.

I fly solo most of the time, so the tablet size is not an issue for me
- the tablet is my right seat passenger.

I think if you went with the ST5121, and all BT capable devices, it
would be easy enough to use even if you have a right seat passenger.

-Nathan

What the battery requirements for all these bluetooth devices.

Thx, {|;-)

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.

VOsborne2 at charter dot net

I have a Fujitsu ST4121, which is a sunlight readable tablet with
10.4" display. It is a phenomenal tool in the cockpit for moving
maps, approach plates, XM Radio, and with the 40G HDD it is a good
iPod too.

If I was starting over, I would spring the extra for an ST5121, which
is the latest and greatest from Fujitsu. The ST512 integrates
bluetooth. The latest WxWorx receivers are bluetooth enabled, and
bluetooth GPS receivers are easy to find, so this would greatly reduce
cockpit cable clutter.

I fly solo most of the time, so the tablet size is not an issue for me
- the tablet is my right seat passenger.

I think if you went with the ST5121, and all BT capable devices, it
would be easy enough to use even if you have a right seat passenger.

-Nathan

Not sure. I run my ST4121 on cigarette lighter power. The WxWorx
receiver runs on cigarette lighter as well.

Most BT GPS have an integrated battery that is good for 10+ hrs on a
charge, but I would get one that runs on cigaretter lighter as well.


On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 22:33:36 -0400, "Victor J. Osborne, Jr."
wrote:

What the battery requirements for all these bluetooth devices.


If I was starting over, I would spring the extra for an ST5121, which
is the latest and greatest from Fujitsu. The ST512 integrates
bluetooth. The latest WxWorx receivers are bluetooth enabled, and
bluetooth GPS receivers are easy to find, so this would greatly reduce
cockpit cable clutter.

On 6/11/2005 9:33 PM, Victor J. Osborne, Jr. wrote the following:
What the battery requirements for all these bluetooth devices.

Thx, {|;-)

My HP TC1100 with BT runs a bit over 3 hours in the cockpit on its internal
battery, so I don't even have to hook it up for shorter trips. (YMMV, as I
found that the APIC software was so CPU intensive that I only got 2 hours.)

My Bluetooth GPS is a Holux 230, which claims 9 hours of battery life. In the
couple of months I have had it, with charging before a flight, it has never run
flat. That said, if I had it to do over again I would get the Holux 231 with
has a removable cell phone type battery. Then I would carry a charged spare and
absolutely never worry about having to plug the GPS receiver in. (I do carry
the 12v power cord for the Holux, however, just in case.)

Another thing: I made it a priority to get a GPS with an external antenna jack,
assuming that using a good antenna would be worthwhile. Not so, the Holux
internal antenna works as well as when I plug in a Garmin antenna. So ... one
less wire, one less gadget needed. I made a suction cup bracket to put the
Holux on the windshield & I just stick it there with no wires connected. Works
fine.

In article ,
Paul Folbrecht wrote:
I decided awhile ago I'd like to get a PDA (preferred) or perhaps a small
tablet for in-cockpit GPS moving map and satellite weather and a backup,
emergency-only AI as well (not a simple GPS AI but a real solid-state gyro).

I haven't heard many negative comments about Control Vision's AI
product, but I really haven't researched it extensively either. I have
read so many negative comments about Control Vision's support that I
almost think that the competition is behind some of them--though I have
no proof of that. I don't know what CV's support was like in the past,
but I have been fairly impressed with their customer focus lately. They
aren't perfect, but their management does seem to care about resolving
true problems with the products that they sell.

I'm not sure that anyone has "the whole package." I can tell you that
CV probably has the most full-featured GPS+Weather package on a PDA. If
weather uplink isn't a big factor, there may be better GPS+AI packages
out there.


JKG

If you do a lot of IFR, don't over look JeppView/FliteDeck. I have
previously posted my setup with a touch screen monitor & portable PC.
FliteDeck has the best IFR moving map. Since I fly mostly around
California, I pay only $295 for initial and $195/year thereafter. And
that is for moving map & all charting data.

As for AI & WX, JeppView does not have them & I have no experience with
product of these type. But, JeppView is Windows based and should be
able to run alone side other Windows programs.

The quality of the visual display on the PC Avaionics
MountainScope product is almost surreal it is so good:

http://www.pcavionics.com

They don't have WX weather yet.

--
Will
Internet: westes at earthbroadcast.com


"Paul Folbrecht" wrote in message
...
I decided awhile ago I'd like to get a PDA (preferred) or
perhaps a small
tablet for in-cockpit GPS moving map and satellite weather and
a backup,
emergency-only AI as well (not a simple GPS AI but a real
solid-state gyro).

After days of research I can't seem to find a single system
that does
everything I would like with no major negatives.

I started looking seriously at Anywhere Map/WX/AI which looks
pretty good
except for their gyro - seems many users have problems with it.
The other
thing is that there seems to be issues with their customer
service.

I like NavGPS a lot too coupled with the PC-EFIS they bundle
and that all
looks good, but I don't know if there is a satellite WX system
that will
work with their software at all.

I prefer a PDA for size reasons (plane's a 152) but a small
tablet that
could be yoke-mounted would also be Ok. If anybody can
recommend a system
that meets all three of these needs and can be add for less
than $3K all-up
I'd like to hear of it. TIA.

In a previous article, "Will" said:
The quality of the visual display on the PC Avaionics
MountainScope product is almost surreal it is so good:

http://www.pcavionics.com

They don't have WX weather yet.

Their web site says they do.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
a) log a message at user.emerg of the form "DANGER! MORON ON /dev/pts/1"
b) print to stderr "NO! WRONG! TOTALLY WRONG! WHERE'D YOU LEARN THIS?
STOP DOING IT!" -- Jeremiah Weiner

"Will" wrote in message
...
The quality of the visual display on the PC Avaionics
MountainScope product is almost surreal it is so good:

http://www.pcavionics.com

They don't have WX weather yet.

--
Will
Internet: westes at earthbroadcast.com


"Paul Folbrecht" wrote in message
...
I decided awhile ago I'd like to get a PDA (preferred) or
perhaps a small
tablet for in-cockpit GPS moving map and satellite weather and
a backup,
emergency-only AI as well (not a simple GPS AI but a real
solid-state gyro).

After days of research I can't seem to find a single system
that does
everything I would like with no major negatives.

I started looking seriously at Anywhere Map/WX/AI which looks
pretty good
except for their gyro - seems many users have problems with it.
The other
thing is that there seems to be issues with their customer
service.

I like NavGPS a lot too coupled with the PC-EFIS they bundle
and that all
looks good, but I don't know if there is a satellite WX system
that will
work with their software at all.

I prefer a PDA for size reasons (plane's a 152) but a small
tablet that
could be yoke-mounted would also be Ok. If anybody can
recommend a system
that meets all three of these needs and can be add for less
than $3K all-up
I'd like to hear of it. TIA.


I have AWM (from Control Vision) with Pocket Plates. Works well, however I
hope they can improve the user interface and clean up their menus and
improve their display. Their next revision is expected to be major upgrade.
I don't have the weather package. I downloaded Mountainscope demo from
PCAvionics, it is by far the best terrain display and user interface I have
seen. The only negative is that currently they don't show roads and other
man-made features and the display only shows "track up" and no option to
switch to "North up". This is a major limitation as far as I am concerned.
CV can learn a few things from PCAvionics, otherwise I see this company
quickly taking away some of their customers.