iPad Mini vs Nexus 7----again

I know this has been discussed before. I have an iPad Mini and run Garmin Pilot on it in my 8. It's fantastic in my living room, BUT---in the bright sky, it's extremely hard to see. And unless it's glass smooth out, it's also very hard to finger tap say a frequency in a timely manner before you fly through someone's class D airspace. I know there are you guys out there who love it and have no problem, and that's perfectly fine.

Someone brought up the fact that a Nexus was a lot easier to see in the bright sunlight. I thought that was great, so today, I went out shopping for a Nexus. It wasn't easy, but I managed to get one of the stores to take one outside for me, so I could see for myself. Guess what? It was just as hard to see as an iPad. ( It was a nexus 7). Bummer So to you Nexus owners out there---is there a certain model Nexus that is better than a 7? If anyone can help, I'd sure appreciate it. I love the Garmin Pilot program, (ForeFlight isn't bad either), but it's just so darn hard to see. (I've even built a sunshade doo phinky around my iPad, and it helps, but not that much.)

I even looked at Kindle's as their claim to fame is you can read a book out in bright sunlight. But the store guy looked up the Garmin Pilot App, and it can't be run on a Kindle.

PS, I tried one of those anti glare shields on the iPad. That just made it even harder to see

I have the same experience with iPad Minis.. not really that good in the cockpit.

The best use seems to be written information on a white background, like approach plates or flight supplements. I made up pdf checklists that work really well. I also added bluetooth into my audio system for tunes.

Nothing really replaces a bright easy to use EFIS screen.

I put an anti-glare screen protector on my Nexus 7 (2013 model) and it definitely improved visibility. It's still nowhere near as bright as a dedicated bright screen EFIS, but it useable for me and I can see and read it mostly just adequately in my RV-6. Just my opinion anyway.

I bought the Armorglass antiglare from Mygoflight. It made a huge difference in the sun for glare in my RV7.

http://www.mygoflight.com/armorglas-screen-protection/

I found that I had the best visibility on my mini by installing it on a kneeboard, still not the greatest but I could still see and navigate what I needed to do.

donaziza said:

I know this has been discussed before. I have an iPad Mini and run Garmin Pilot on it in my 8. It's fantastic in my living room, BUT---in the bright sky, it's extremely hard to see. And unless it's glass smooth out, it's also very hard to finger tap say a frequency in a timely manner before you fly through someone's class D airspace. I know there are you guys out there who love it and have no problem, and that's perfectly fine.

Someone brought up the fact that a Nexus was a lot easier to see in the bright sunlight. I thought that was great, so today, I went out shopping for a Nexus. It wasn't easy, but I managed to get one of the stores to take one outside for me, so I could see for myself. Guess what? It was just as hard to see as an iPad. ( It was a nexus 7). Bummer So to you Nexus owners out there---is there a certain model Nexus that is better than a 7? If anyone can help, I'd sure appreciate it. I love the Garmin Pilot program, (ForeFlight isn't bad either), but it's just so darn hard to see. (I've even built a sunshade doo phinky around my iPad, and it helps, but not that much.)

Click to expand...

I found that my iPad Mini was extremely difficult to see when mounted vertically, in the corner of the cockpit. It is quite a bit easier to see when on my thigh, so that is where I have it mounted. The brightness is marginal though, even with an anti-glare screen protector.

Be sure you were looking at the current generation Nexus 7. The latest generation is quite a bit brighter than the original one, at least if you believe the spec charts.

A good antiglare screen protector will help both the iPad and the Nexus. I did a number of tests with both devices (and still owe the writeup).

The "writing on white paper" comment is accurate. I tested a number of configurations and Garmin Pilot lets you choose one of three map colors. The "white" map is the most readable in sunlight conditions.

None of the above is on par with a device designed for sunlight use. The Garmin 696 or 795 are noticeably more readable than the iPad or the Nexus.

I agree that none of the current tablets are really great when it comes to direct sunlight. However, with the sun-shade in my -9A, I find it manageable. Just yesterday I installed a tablet mount and flew with a very inexpensive new Android tablet (Dell Venue 7) that I got on-sale. The brightness on this tablet is considerably lower than on the nexus (according to reviews), but I found it quite useable with the sunshade deployed. I got the tablet so that I could use the new FltPlan GO app, and am very impressed. I've got the tablet bluetooth connected to my blackberry (for which I also have a cockpit mount), so that prior to takeoff I can connect to the internet (as long as I have a data connection, which is almost everywhere these days) to check wx, notams etc directly from the NavCanada website. I can even get internet as long as I'm flying below about 2000'AGL which is very nice for getting the latest wx updates en-route.
Tapping away on the tablet in cruise makes me feel like I'm flying one of those shuttlecraft from Star Trek the Next Generation.

I've got a 1st generation (less bright) Nexus 7 that I use in an RV-4, mounted at ~top longeron height on the right side. It doesn't light up the cockpit, but I rarely have a serious problem reading it. Not trying to offend, but did you make sure the brightness was turned up when you took it outside?

Another possibility is just variations between individuals in light levels needed. My 1st hint that I would need bifocals was that everything looked dimmer, not out of focus. My eye care guy just laughed at me when I told him.

Charlie

As others have pointed out, none of the tablets are excellent in direct, bright sunlight. However, they can be easily tilted to shed the glare and see the screen. I found my iPad worked best on my thigh, attached to my kneeboard. I never had a screen protector on it.

My wife's Nexus 7 (first gen) has a matte screen protector on it, which works very well in cutting glare, but does attenuate the brightness so it's not as easy to read. It was better before the screen protector, more like my iPad.

I've had my 2013 Nexus 7 side by side with my iPad Air in the airplane and there's no question that the Nexus is brighter and more readable in sunlight. In fact I've had zero problems seeing the Nexus.

Nexu 7 issues

I flew from WI to VA and back this weekend with my 2013 Nexus 7 mounted vertically on the instrument panel and it worked great and was very readable. When you checked out the Nexus 7 was it the 2nd generation (2013) with the brighter screen? Second was the backlight turned up? The first time I took my Nexus 7 on a flight I was disappointed with the image until I realize that the backlight was at 25%, when I turned it up it was great.

nexus 7 suction cup

I mounted my nexus 7 on the side of the canopy. It is workable for me in this position. Sunlight does affect readability. One thing I don't like about Garmin pilot is that I'm not able to enlarge frequencies easily. Hence it is in a position close to my eye.

I flew side by side with ipad and nexus 7 a couple of days ago, both using GDL39. I like the nexus display better and the weather resolution on the nexus seemed to be better. the ipad showed traffic 30K feet above me the nexus did not.

You can save money buying a used GDL39, no synthetic vision model, $350 from time to time. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/99-00481.php?clickkey=8993

Picture from Oshkosh
http://www.adler-photo.com/Aviation/Oshkosh-2014/i-CxwbKfr/A

iPad mini mounted in the corner of my -6 with no problems. The screen is readable, but not perfect.

Just for info, rumor has it Apple will introduce new iPads next week (Sept 9) that have increased readability outdoors. Some sort of screen protector modification built in. Can't wait to see what they have come up with.

Was using an iPad2 with antiglare screen protector. Wanted something in the 7" class. Purchased a highly rated Samsung 7" that thought would fill the job. Tried different software and found the Samsung tablet lacking against the iPad. The software was very bad. Image and user interface was no where near as good as the iPad2 setup. Sold the Samsung and purchased an iPad Mini with Retina.

After using the iPad2 almost three-years on my knee, I figured I would try a mount for the iPad Mini. Mount is on the left side with the iPad Mini vertical. Works great.

I will stick with Apple iPad mini with Retina, Foreflight, and my Stratus 2 because it works better than anything else for the same money. The iPad, Foreflight, and Stratus is a combination that provides "Total Performance" just like my RV aircraft. I have seen a Windows based system that had a better screen but it was a LOT more money and user interface was lacking.

Slightly off topic - Samsung s5

I use a Nexus 7 and a Samsung s5 cellphone with Garmin Pilot. Since the Garmin Pilot is not my primary flight display, I find the large cell phone easier to use than the 7 inch tablet. I can often get weather through the cell phone in flight.