iPad mini as a sat nav

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Soldato
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21 Nov 2004
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Wishaw
Looking for a new nav and I'm contemplating going down the route of an iPad mini and nav free as my app


Couple of questions

Ill need to go for a cellular mini to get one with a GPS receiver correct?

Is there a decent in car mount that anyone can recommend for a mini ?
 
well if anyones interested i'll keep this updated

just ordered an Ipad mini 16gig with wifi & cellular.

also hit amazon and ordered a gel case and suction mount.

will update this once all my bits arrive and I have it up and running
 
bit big for a satnav lol.. the cops may pull you over for "Material Obstructing or Reducing Driver's View"
 
My mate is using an iPad Mini as his satnav. He has it mounted in the cubby on his Z4 where the factory nav would go. Looks great.
 
It may be a bit big to have in the window on a suction mount? Personally I prefer to have my note2 held using an air vent mount so it's out of the way.

It will certainly be interesting to see how it works out :)
 
Are you sure you need the cellular version to get a gps signal? I thought there was a gps chip in both?
I have CoPilot installed.
 
I think you need the cellular unless you can download the maps or install copilot etc. Personally I would not bother if you had to rely on a phone signal for GPS however it would be useful to have internet capability in your car for internet radio etc
 
Project starts today all being well mini is out for Delivery

Ordered a cheap suction mount and gel case yesterday to get me started but will probably invest in a quality mount once I know exactly where I'm fitting it
 
feriso said:
IIRC you can connect an iPad to an iPhone using tethering and use the GPS of the iphone?
Click to expand...

Thats how I'd do it, tethered my tablet to my phone a number of times and it works very well. Not used it as a satnav but don't see why it wouldn't work.

Is this the end of traditional sat navs? :)
 
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Current dash layout sensible head says to mount it on a suction mount on the 1/4 glass where my current sat nav mount is
 
Delboy said:
Thats how I'd do it, tethered my tablet to my phone a number of times and it works very well. Not used it as a satnav but don't see why it wouldn't work.

Is this the end of traditional sat navs? :)
Click to expand...



I had thought about tethering but for the sake of £100 and a data plan I now end up with a standalone device that I can use for everything taxi related no just my nav
 
arrived this afternoon

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and first 2 important apps installed


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obviously need to get a decent mount, I've got a cheap one on the way just to get me started along with a gel case, but i'm going to look at the brodit mounts unless anyone can suggest a decent alternative
 
quick trial fit suggests it might not be that bad


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have to wait on the proper bracket rather than relying on my navman bracket with added blutack. if only apple were to offer a 5 1/2" version :)


few other thoughts for throwing on it app wise, an obd2 reader od some sort for all sorts of enginemanagment related jiggery pokery, already got my fuel app(road trip installed) along with nav free which personally I find is one of the better nav apps out there- even better with it being free. just a pity our taxi comms supplier uses dedicated units and pdas rather than offering an App option, maybe something to berate them about come the Taxi/PH
trade show this year

initial thoughts though- its a big easy to read unit. I think its going to be ideal for my uses. don't think it would be for every car though due to the size of the mini, i'm lucky in that I;ve got fixed 1/4 glass I can mount it too on the door rather than the windscreen as I feel that if you were mounting to the screen you would soon be attracting the attention of the police due to it obstructing your vision. I might have to look into alternatives to the suction mount and go for a dash/airvent fitment but i'll wait until I've got the proper mini mount and see how it positions, I've also got the option of mounting in portrait orentiation.

more posts to follow once the mount arrives
 
Last edited:
That looks awesome there mate, good job.

Like you say as well, can unplug it at the end and use it for other things as well
 
bracket arrived this afternoon woot

its called a ktech car mount for ipad mini and came from the jungle place if anyones wanting one

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seems solid enough, the bracket is well padded at the important grip points, some sort of foamy rubber material so I feel the shiny shiny is safe enough to fire in without a gel case.


will update once I get it in the car
 
well if anyones interested I've been using it constantly for a week now, (bear in mind i'm a taxi driver and have to say its been great.

mini has a fantastic screen compared to most navs I've used and the extra bit of size seems to make the world of difference. its also great having all my books on the ipad rather than my phone.

all in happy with my decision. only difference from above is that it now lives in a gel case.

only issue I've found is that i'm going to have to upgrade my car charger as it doesn't through out enough watts (get the dreaded not charging - its still charging albeit at a snails pace. battery life wise I can almost get through a full shift as long as I disable wifi and keep the brightness sensible (12 hours) that's sporadic nav use and a bit of interetting and reading books in between jobs.
 
I use a griffin ppwerjolt to charge my iPad and iPhone. It's unobtrusive but you might need to purchase a longer lightening cable (depends where your socket is) and has 2 USB ports which is handy. Just make sure you get the 2.1v version (I think) as the standard is not capable of charging the iPad.

Cheers
 
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