I was at Lake Jocassee this weekend. My sun-in-law had an iPad with a $3 aplication in it. He had a topographic map of the lake … much bigger and clearer then any marine gps … and was able to navigate much easier then I could with my marine Garmin. The iPad has a GPS in it and it lays down clear bread crumbs.
I know this would not work off shore, but has anyone tried loading their inshore map into an iPad? This would be the only thing that I know of that would have me wanting an iPad.
I use my phone (droid) during duck season all of the time, works great for me!
You may want to try getting an iPod Touch instead. I believe it has the same Maps app, it’s a fraction of the cost, and a lot easier to carry around with you.
Inshore Fishing Season 2: Electric Chicken Boogaloo
I’m pretty sure that you have to buy the iPad that is 3G capable inorder to get the GPS feature…and these are several hundred dollars more.
I too have a Droid, and it works great for mapping.
The larger screen would be nice but for a couple hundred dollars…I can squint 
Iphone works good
The Navionics app has worked well for me on the iphone.
that would be saweet if you can find an app that lets you use it like your gps. buy a mount of some sort for your dash and you’re set.
i don’t know if it is a true gps or just something close though…
the specs for it claim it as “assisted gps”.
i would be interested to know though… a marine gps with that screen size is at least few grand.
I received this additional info from my son-in-law:
The app I was using in called MotionX.
The marine maps available for it are experimental and I found them to be lacking compared to the Garmin marine maps on my dedicated Garmin handheld. It is fine, however, if you are looking to know your general location relative to shore. I wouldn’t want to use it for avoidance or locating underwater features. This may change as additional maps become available for the application.
iPad 3G is the model which Has a true GPS receiver chip that can work without a cell or WIFI connection. iPod touch does not provide true GPS, only an approximation based on being close to WIFI hotspots - not appropriate for marine use, IMHO.
“PaPa’s Salt Shaker” Stinger-144, 50 Yamaha 2-str
The Navionics app for Droid is fantastic… unless it’s raining. Then the rain drops freak out the touch screen. talk to Lost@Sea about this past weekend in Jacksonville when the storm hit
Who’s Ready for a Sleigh Ride? www.KayahFishSC.com
Hey Firstboat…I was at Lake Jocassee last July…Did you fish??..catch anything??..The night Trout fishing is on right now through June…we were there a little late in the trout season last year but did some bass fishing and caught some large mouth and spotted bass…Those spotted bass are TOUGH little devils…Man do they fight…Very aggresive!!!..That is a beautiful place…We stayed in one of the Cabins (#19) at the Devil’s Fork State Park for an entire week…Had a great time!!
livin life one day at a time!!!
2006 Seafox172
05 Mercury90hp(saltwater)
I’ll bet if we had an I-pad mounted to our console yesterday on the way back in, It would have been reduced to a bucket of loose parts before we got back to the dock. 
This was a trip for the grand kids. The oldest one graduated from Clemson on Friday. I fished a little with artificials that were too light for the super clear water. I saw some big ones in the water, but could not tempt them.
I pulled grandkids around on a tube for a couple of days. They have been after me to get a tube for several years. I finally gave in.
quote:
Originally posted by BugsmunnyHey Firstboat…I was at Lake Jocassee last July…Did you fish??..catch anything??..The night Trout fishing is on right now through June…we were there a little late in the trout season last year but did some bass fishing and caught some large mouth and spotted bass…Those spotted bass are TOUGH little devils…Man do they fight…Very aggresive!!!..That is a beautiful place…We stayed in one of the Cabins (#19) at the Devil’s Fork State Park for an entire week…Had a great time!!
livin life one day at a time!!!
2006 Seafox172
05 Mercury90hp(saltwater)
“PaPa’s Salt Shaker” Stinger-144, 50 Yamaha 2-str
Well Papa…spending time with your grandkids is more important than catching a fish!!..Enjoy them while you can!!..Take care!!
livin life one day at a time!!!
2006 Seafox172
05 Mercury90hp(saltwater)
a fiend of mine bought a system(can’t remmeber the name) that he runs on his laptop, it came with an external antenna and cords to run NEMA outputs. It was loaded with all current maps available for the world, it looked simular to google earth. It worked just like any gps with features like most gps. His boat had an enclosed bridge(trawler), so he could use his regular laptop to run it. Best part was he paid under $200 for the software and another $150 for the antenna
It’s coming! The GPS and software wars are going to give us something good and cheap. Someone will put it all together.
“PaPa’s Salt Shaker” Stinger-144, 50 Yamaha 2-str
iPad not a good GPS cuz it aint got no GPS electronics. It only has the cell tower fix and offshore, that would be pretty useless. Look for a Window’s based “tablet” computer that can run Garmin, Navionics, or such. The Toughbook is also a decent platform. None of these are in the handheld price range yet. The day for a cheap windows tablet is almost here. Look for ASUS or something on NewEgg.com.
I’ve been waiting for someone to make a reasonably priced hybrid with a reasonable screen size - portable but not too small - that I can use in both car and boat. To date, they’re either too small to really use on boat or they’re too expensive. Sounds like the mobile apps may leapfrog the solution but still a small screen on my droid pro. Will give it a try though!
PS - I suspect the salt air would wreak havoc on an iPad.
Won’t work…like DD said…the ipad 3G uses a-gps…which I have found to be very inaccurate.
The xoom on the other hand does have a gps chip, I beleive android has a Navionics app now.