Bruce m. Conkey
UKC Forum Member
Registered: May 2016
Location: Palatka, FL
Posts: 5106 |
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You asked specifically about the GPS Dawg Tablet in your title and I will just say one thing about them and then talk about Tablets in general vs DriveTrac70
Let me start by saying the computer knowledge and skills of a lot of hunters is lacking at times and trying to go the tablet route can be frustrating and costly if your not careful. That is what Cody at GPS Dawg brings to the table. Knowledge and Support to get your tablet running. I might add that I think he does a good job of it.
Now lets talk about TABLETS and you may see why dealing with someone like Cody at GPS Dawgs can be valuable.
Many people think anyone can put a tablet together and track their dogs. Well this is somewhat true is you purchased the right table. I have had many people come into my store with a tablet in hand and they had just purchased their wife a new one and now they want to use her old one to track dogs. It is not quite that simple. Here are a few things the tablet needs and trust me, I have seen several purchased with the intent of tracking dogs that due to lack of knowledge, never made it to the woods.
1. There are different Hard Drives in the Tablets. The right one and it will last for years in the truck bouncing around. The wrong one and it may last one deer or bear hunting season.
2. There are different Operating Systems loaded on the tablet and actually many today have the right OS but buy one with the wrong one and it won't work.
3. External Ports are important and the tablet needs a certain number and type to hook to the Garmin Astro or ALPHA.
4. When running the ALPHA attached to the Tablet you are also using the battery from the Tablet. Many cases the charger that comes with the tablet won't run both but a few hours. Purchasing the right charger later is something that has to be done.
5. Since the Tablet plugs into the Astro or ALPHA the best thing to do is have a dedicated ASTRO or ALPHA plugged into the Tablet all the time and have another one to carry in the woods with you. This is an expense that is never mentioned or thought of. Try plugging in your ASTRO or ALPHA in a hurry and messing up the connection in the GPS device and your sending it back in. Plug in the ASTRO or ALPHA in a hurry then set up the tablet to start tracking again and by the time you do it the deer, yote or bear race your are in has passed you by.
6. Back to the connections. Are your familiar with a USB connection, Micro USB connection and Mini USP connection. Purchasing these cables is not cheap and buying cheap ones is not the way to go either. Yes there are quality cables and fair prices but then again that comes with experience.
7. Navigation on the tablet screen. That was my first disappointment as I got everything working but scrolling in and out on the tablet with my fingers was awful. Also the navigation bar on the left of the screen is so small that clicking on different dogs was a problem for me. I solved the problems by going to a bluetooth mouse, some us a wireless stylus. Again another added expense.
8. I gave up on the tablet before this bug got worked out and maybe it is OK by now or maybe it isn't. My tablet never scrolled as I drove and I had to keep adjusting the screen to keep my position on it.
There have been several times I went hunting with the tablet and clicked the wrong navigation bar and off the page I went. By the time I got everything reset the race was over and frustration was setting in. Yes my error but one you can easily make on a small screen while in a hurry. Trust me. When your in a deer race or bear race and want to cut the dogs off to get a shot. YOUR IN A HURRY.
9. Map downloading. You still have to download all the maps on the Tablet and depending on which ones you get that can be from $30 to close to $100 depending on which ones you want. With the the GPS Dawg system you get maps for the package price and tech help downloading them.
Now the DriveTrac 70. First let me say my experience with it has been limited due to it being new and us not going through our first deer running season with it. I have just coon hunted with it.
1. It is ready to go out of the box. Just plug it into the truck and your ready to go. The attachment to your windshield is something you will have to make a decision on. I know a lot of people that are happy with the one that comes in the box and they place it just to the left of the steering wheel in the corner of the window. If you want it in the middle so a passenger can see it then I would suggest one of the longer aftermarket arms that can be purchased for it. I have a Ford and mine sits right in the middle on the edge of the dash. Makes for easy operation and navigation when driving and still not blocking your view of the road.
2. Your ALPHA or ASTRO 430 just bluetooth's to it and there are no wires except the one from the DirveTrack70 to your power port. The negative here is the Astro 320 will not work with it only the 430 and ALPHA..
3. It comes with the mapping you need and the city street maps and topo maps are downloaded and the birdseye comes with a free subscription but you download that. I am happy enough with the TOPO map that I just use that as I have Birdseye on my ALPHA and if I need that then it is there.
4. Like every new electronic device it has not been with out bugs but they are being worked on and fixed everyday. Some of the guys that run pack hounds are having some trouble the guys running just one or two dogs such as coonhounds are not experiencing. Good news is Garmin has some very qualified Men that run pack hounds feeding them information on the product. Double U Hunting Supply is one of them and his help with the product is appreciated.
5. I had a local man the other day that run deer hounds call and wanted to know about adjusting the size of the dogs name on the screen. For me and coonhunting with one dog it is perfect and I can read it. For him with 10 dogs the name is too large. My only suggestion to him right now was to condense the name.
6. Some say the DriveTrac70 is only a 7" screen while their Tablet has a larger screen. Yes but what you are actually looking at on the scree is larger on the DriveTrack and easier to see.
7. Last but not least is the added features of the DriveTrac70. Now if you have a brand new truck the truck already has a lot of these features but here are a few of them
Back up or baby cameras available.
Bluetooth you phone to the DriveTrack
Voice commands
Street navigation
Locations of gas stations, places to eat or shop at your finger tips.
I probably didn't touch enough on how easy the setup is on the DriveTrac70 to get it to track your dog. It picks up the ASTRO or ALPHA automatically once it is within a few yards of the DRIVETRAC70.
For someone with limited experience with computers the DriveTrac70 is the way to go.
I would love to hear others opinions on both systems also and if there are some issues with the DriveTrack I would welcome the opportunity it look into them and see what can be done to solve them.
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Last edited by Bruce m. Conkey on 09-10-2016 at 02:34 PM
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09-09-2016 02:43 AM
