Tablets and Birding/Batting (1 Viewer)

Hello,

I am off to Thailand later this year, and was considering buying a tablet for the trip and general use. I read a lot, so won't be able to store physical books in my bags, instead a download will suffice. From this point of view I assume a Kindle Fire would be good?

Other than that, I would want it for storing bird calls to be used as playback and to test myself. Therefore, I may need one with decent inbuilt speakers (or do I just carry separate speakers? Would rather not).

I would also use it for apps and internet connection whilst abroad. I have seen some excellent bat recording and analysing software which I would love to utilise at home and perhaps abroad, but I believe this is only available on Apple devices.

Am I missing anything?

Budget- £200.00

Any help appreciated.

Jim.

I would ask you to consider the ipad mini instead of the fire. My wife has a fire, which works great for reading, but in a lot of other ways is cumbersome compared to my ipad (where I also have the kindle app). I think purchasing directly within the kindle app is easier on the fire, but that is about it. The number of native fire apps is small, and installing other android apps is not intuitive (I have not used enough time to really say it is difficult, can just say it is not intuitive).

Niels

Then again the tesco hudl 2 is £129 and I found a £20 off voucher to reduce the cost. Android device, good screen, reasonable sound, plenty of apps. Bargain.
Russ

Good tips guys keep em coming.

Bought the first hudl and it kept freezing up after just a couple of days. Don't know what the latest version is like for reliability. Replaced it with the fire hd which has been faultless - but bought a Google nexus for my wife and it's so much better! If you are off to Thailand you need something that's not going to pack up on you.

Cheers,

Phil

For the bat detecting, you would need an ultrasonic microphone capable of recording the high frequencies. I'm not sure of the benefit of tablets during bat detecting. The bright screen will destroy your night vision for a start!. However, I'm sure there will be more and more products available in the near future.

The Nexus7 has served me well. there is a new model out now : nexus9

I was offered a Samsung Note 8 by my phone provider. I wanted something to view my RAW images when away from home having seen this done on a Nexus7. I bought an OTG dongle to connect a card reader and downloaded the app RawPro. I was unable to access the images on the CF card. A friend let me try his pretty ancient tablet and everything worked. We swopped cables and card readers and all still work on his tablet but not mine.

I hawked my dongle (if you see what I mean) with card reader and card attached around Cambridge trying different machines. Ipads had insufficient power. In the end, I turned to John Lewis (as ever) where I tried the lastest Samsung tablets and also a returned Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. My kit worked perfectly on this last machine. I have since found out that later Android tablets have Kitkat installed. This will not allow access to external SD or CF cards and this is what was causing the problem.

I bought the Galaxay Tab 3 and returned the Note 8. I have now received an update to Kitkat which I was powerless to prevent downloading. All I have to do is to remember not to run the update. I understand that the next version of Android will allow a work round for this problem but it sounds a bit techie for me.

I found the creator of RawPro very helpful and it is great for viewing RAW images, copying them to an internal SD card to free up CF cards if running out of space, and for deleting images from the card under review.

Not quite sure how this helps with the thread, but thought I would pass on my experiences for what it is worth.

Colin

All very useful info Colin.

I like the Nexus, good to see that feeling is shared. How is the nexus for viewing photos we take whilst away?

Peter- for Bat detecting, I have seen someone use and Ipad and a piece of software which records and identifies the species as they fly past. Software alone cost over £100 I think and only available on Apple, but probably works out cheaper than some detectors that do the same thing. It is of course instant when in the field.

Jim.

Jim

The Nexus 7 that I saw was fine. I imagine that it too did not run on Android Kitkat as it was an older version and was thus able to access the external memory card using an On the Go cable and a CF card reader. I seem to remember that no special app was needed but I can't be sure. I was told not to use a multi-card reader but to get separate ones for CF and SD cards; thus reducing power requirements. If an android tablet runs on Kitkat, then you won't be able to access an external CF or SD card.

OTG cables are freely and cheaply available on Amazon. I use Integral CF and SD card readers.

If you are thinking of buying a Nexus, it might be worthwhile getting an OTG cable (around £3) and taking this to the shop with a card reader and card to see if it works. If it does, then you have already bought the cable. If not, then not too much money wasted.

You could also try googling this. There are plenty of links that I remember from my research.

Colin

Thanks again for the advice. Heading down the Nexus route at the moment.

Jim.

jimbob said:

Peter- for Bat detecting, I have seen someone use and Ipad and a piece of software which records and identifies the species as they fly past. Software alone cost over £100 I think and only available on Apple, but probably works out cheaper than some detectors that do the same thing. It is of course instant when in the field.

Jim.

Click to expand...

the Echometer touch probably.. Whatever it is, it needs an ultrasonic microphone too. (the echometer touch includes a dongle containing the mic)

Can thoroughly recommend the auto wake type tablet cases - really useful. Don't know if there's any such thing as an external battery pack or booster? Could be useful if you get somewhere remote and can't easily recharge. Talking of tablets - don't forget your anti malarials particularly if you're going to the border areas.

Cheers,

Phil

Torchepot said:

Can thoroughly recommend the auto wake type tablet cases - really useful. Don't know if there's any such thing as an external battery pack or booster? Could be useful if you get somewhere remote and can't easily recharge. Talking of tablets - don't forget your anti malarials particularly if you're going to the border areas.

Cheers,

Phil

Click to expand...

I bought one of these recently.

It looks pretty good, and charged my tablet 6 times from 50%,and phone 4 times from 50% off a single charge. Second time I used it, the performance wasn't as good. I think, because I left the cable connected, and it discharged itself over time.
It takes 9 hours to charge itself from flat.

peter.jones said:

I bought one of these recently.

It looks pretty good, and charged my tablet 6 times from 50%,and phone 4 times from 50% off a single charge. Second time I used it, the performance wasn't as good. I think, because I left the cable connected, and it discharged itself over time.
It takes 9 hours to charge itself from flat.

Click to expand...

this power pack is pretty good. Further testing has got me 7 phone charges from 50%, 1 tablet charge from 5%, and 2 tablet charges from 50% on a single power pack charge.
My only criticism is the casing is quite slippy. Might stick some felt or rubber on it to cushion it and add some grip.