Which iPad? (OzRunways)

[Virtually There]

A new financial year has dawned and I need an iPad, primarily for OzRunways, flight planing, weather and general entertainment (while waiting around between flights).

I've pretty much whittled down what I need to a 9.7" cellular iPad Air 32Gb: it does everything the Air 2 does, and is $190 cheaper than the 64Gb model (no 32Gb Air 2 - 16GB is likely too small).

That noted, would anyone recommend the 7.9" iPad Mini 2/3 over the Air?

Here they all are: Apple - iPad - Compare iPad models

Apple says battery life is the same for all models - true?

Would I miss the extra real estate of the 9.7" model using Ozrunways on a 7.9" screen - or not?

Is the mini likely to more durable (due to its smaller size/weight) when it comes to flight bagging and flying around the country?

I know right now whatever I buy is likely to be bashed around a bit and occasionally dropped.

I have Mac laptops and Android phones, so wouldn't be averse to tablet suggestions, either.

What's everyone's experience? Thanks.

[Track5milefinal]

I have the Mini with the survivor case. Never had an issue with the screen size and can throw it in the flight bag easy. I've found the regular size Ipad a bit too bulky for use as an EFB.

The Survivor case is fantastic, thing has been dropped and smashed all over the place! and has withstood the carnage

[Squawk7700]

I've got 3 x mini's and am about to trade up my remaining full size to another mini.

How's your eyesight and tecnical prowess with small icons to press with big fingers? If you answered all good, then you should be fine with the mini.

I find my mini's run Ozrunways with no issues at all and that's the original mini that they still sell now. You can get the non cellular for about $280 and the cellular model (which you need) is around $150 more. 16 gig runs Ozrunways for me no dramas at all.

I found the biggest problem with the full size ipad is trying to mount it somewhere in the aircraft... it can be a real pain and too heavy for many of the mounts that are avaialble for it.

[rjtjrt]

1. 16gb will do Ozrunways, but you will have little room for other things. I have regretted only having 16gb - you accumulate lot of other stuff, like photo's, pdf's, music, etc.. 32 would be ok, 64 very comfortable.
2. I have also regretted wifi only iPad, as Ozrunways can get a lot of stuff that is handy with a cellular enabled iPad.
3. IPad Mini is excellent, and 10inch ipad is too big for a small "single" seat cockpit like a Tiger Moth or RV-8. A 10inch iPad should be ok for a more usual side by side cockpit. Mini is great for Ozrunways, and for general use, but recently I seem to be using the 10inch more at home in preference to Mini. Not sure why.
4. My experience is a 7inch mini 2 has a noticeable bit more battery time before run out than 10inch iPad Air 2 with just wifi selected.

[ACMS]

Don't forget that the iPad with only Wi Fi does not have an in-built GPS receiver and to use OzRunways you'd need an external GPS like the Garmin Glo.

So buy the 4G Wi Fi iPad.

[Dawn Patrol]

I'm considering iPad/tablet as well, and was considering WiFi only but using my phone and hotspotting to it .
Also avoids multiple contracts/SIM cards.
Didn't realise about the GPS thingo with the ipads though! Good to know.

[Virtually There]

4G goes without saying, as I'll need online access and tethering to a mobile phone drains the phone battery quickly.

16Gb - especially if I load it with media to entertain myself during down time - seems small, so I reckon 32Gb at a minimum.

Looking at the sizes, the iPad Air is about the size of a B5 piece of paper - or half A4 - and about 4cm x 3cm bigger than the mini. It's only about 130 grams more.

You guys comparing the full-size with the mini, does that include the Air or the older iPad models? The Airs are quite a bit lighter, half as thick and 2cm shorter.

I know it sounds like I'm trying to talk myself into the bigger model, but I normally carry an A4 clipboard with me in the cockpit that sits on my lap a fair bit of the time and the B5 iPad seems small in comparison.

Nothing wrong with my eyesight or fingers - I've been doing everything up to now on a 4.5" smartphone - but where the original iPads always looked a bit bulky (and heavy) to me, the Airs seem like a decent size.

Thanks for the responses so far.

[Bevan666]

AvPlan or OzR run quite well in 16Gb, and we used to recommend that as a minimum. However people always put other junk on their devices, so get one with more storage (32, 64 GB) if you can.

Always choose one with cellular (for data) and the inbuilt GPS.

As for maxi-pad vs ipad mini, thats a very personal choice. Best is to get both in your aircraft and work out what suits you


Bevan..

[Dexta]

I have both the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 2, I use the mini in flight as it sits nicely in the Cessna and I keep the full size iPad in the side pocket as a backup. I upgraded from the original iPad and iPad mini 1 as I found ozRunways was getting a little slow for my liking. The A8 (and A7 in the mini) processor run ozRunways very nicely indeed! I also have a couple of battery packs that I keep close by as backup power just in case.
Oh, I almost forgot, both iPads have 4G with Telstra's new 5GB for $50 for 365 days. I found hot spotting was a pain at times and with the ozRunways traffic it seems a relatively cheap way of staying connected.

[Squawk7700]

I upgraded from the original iPad and iPad mini 1

Interesting you say that as my mini 1's work perfectly in terms of speed. Perhaps the newer ones are faster and might be more snappy, but I haven't used one so I haven't noticed

[Virtually There]

OK, so I popped down to my local Dick Smith's to compare the Air and mini side-by-side and you guys are right - the Air is closer to my laptop in size (11" MacBook Air), while the mini just seems to feel right when it's in the hand.

I also looked at some Samsung 8" tablets, but again the iPad felt a bit better in the hand and I know from experience iOS is more stable than Android.

So, I ended up pulling the trigger on a Mini-2 32Gb cellular model (and saved another $100 over the Air). Thanks for everyone's advice - I'm glad I asked the question.

[mustafagander]

Don't forget, VT, that you don't need a SIM in your iPad for the GPS to work. I use mine that way - use my home wifi network to update etc and when at the airport tether it to my phone. Works a treat. Saved my buying some sort of data plan when my phone has plenty.

[Virtually There]

I got a free 3Gb Telstra card when I ordered, so I'll see how that goes. At the moment, I use my android phone a fair bit to check weather and other info enroute from NAIPS etc. Any data usage will be tax-deductable, so if it's easier to do that than tether in-flight (and drain my phone battery), that might be preferable. But thanks for the heads-up about the GPS. And you're right about most phone plans having plenty of data - sounds like a more efficient use of resources.

[Squawk7700]

I got my Telstra Sim today from JB Hifi, cost me $2. They activated it and when I got home I did the $50 recharge which gives 5gb over 2 years. Let's see how long it lasts. Certainly better than paying $10 a month.

[artistic aviator]

Try the iPad mini, mygoflight leather knee board. Quite expensive, but it's what I operated coupled with ozrunways & it's 👌

[BubbaMc]

G'day guys.

Is anyone using OzRunways on the iPad Pro? Is it manageable in the cockpit or would an Air or Mini be better? Does the app even work properly (native resolution etc)?

Thinking about getting one of these as I would make use of the stylus, and the screen size is about the size of the clipboard I use while flying anyway.

[Acrosport II]

Sorry cannot answer your question. But thanks for reviving this thread.

I'm planning at getting Oz Rwys, but looking more to the Android Versions.

Anyone using Oz Rwys on Android. How is it going.
Does the Android version work as well as the Apple version.

What Tablet are you using.

Can any Tablet with built in GPS (Ive got a cheap $100 Tablet that says it has GPS, but just read on this thread, some may only work on WiFi).
Ive just downloaded a couple of Apps to try it out, but will upgrade in the near future.

If I buy and install on one Tablet, whats the procedure to transfer that to a new Tablet.

Cheers

[Jetjr]

The android version is not nearly as developed as iOS, many features missing
You need GPS and highly recommend mobile data to use some features
Can always link to phone for mobile data its another link to manage
Subscriptions pretty easy to run

[Capn Bloggs]

Anyone using Oz Rwys on Android. How is it going.

Great. I'm using it on a Galaxy Tab S tablet and phone. It won't run on less than Android 4.2, so check that cheap tablet. As stated, it has (at this time) less features than the ios version (I think it's missing flight notification, SPFIBs etc) but has all the charts (enroute, TAC, VTC, VNC, WAC, 1:250,000 topo...) all the documents AIP, AIP SUPP, VFR airport documents, basic flight planning (fuel burn/time). You can make up and store routes. No geo-referencing on aerodrome charts as yet. You can get the weather and Notams for a location. Disk space required is upwards of 4gb with all the downloads.

At this stage, you can't store any RWY stuff on the SD Card, so do not get any device with less than 32g internal memory! You'll regret it.

[Acrosport II]

Jetjr
The android version is not nearly as developed as iOS, many features missing
You need GPS and highly recommend mobile data to use some features
Can always link to phone for mobile data its another link to manage
Subscriptions pretty easy to run

Capn Bloggs
Great. I'm using it on a Galaxy Tab S tablet and phone. It won't run on less than Android 4.2, so check that cheap tablet. As stated, it has (at this time) less features than the ios version (I think it's missing flight notification, SPFIBs etc) but has all the charts (enroute, TAC, VTC, VNC, WAC, 1:250,000 topo...) all the documents AIP, AIP SUPP, VFR airport documents, basic flight planning (fuel burn/time). You can make up and store routes. No geo-referencing on aerodrome charts as yet. You can get the weather and Notams for a location. Disk space required is upwards of 4gb with all the downloads.

At this stage, you can't store any RWY stuff on the SD Card, so do not get any device with less than 32g internal memory! You'll regret it.

Thanks for the info.

I assume the Android version will catch up with the Apple version? as far as features. It just hasn't been around as long.
My cheap Android would have worked in all respects except the internal memory (8Gb, and no Sim Slot), I have a 64GB SD card, but you say that wont work with Aus RWYs.

Shame, its another thing I have to buy, along with Aus RWYS, new headsets, transceiver, etc, etc...the list is getting longer rather than shorter!

Any other advice out there.

Cheers