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Thread ID: 138044	2014-09-28 00:34:00	Travel gear	PPp (9511)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1384876	2014-09-28 00:34:00	My wife & I are going to spend some time in southern Europe next year ,(Italy, Spain & France). I'd like to get a combination of phone and or tablet that would work for us. My idea is to Use Google translate, or similar programme plus maps to navigate in the cities and some driving in southern France. At the moment we have a Samsung Galaxy Y phone, which we use pretty much only for phone and txt, I have never bothered with the smart bits as it is not at all instinctive to navigate around in, plus the screen is a bit small for older eyes. We also have a first generation Nexus 7 which we both use quite a bit. I am also into photography and will be using a camera a lot. I have the picture storage covered with a couple of 64GB cards. My concerns are The Nexus ability to store maps is limited and there is no expansion slot to augment the limited memory, plus there is no front facing camera. I suppose ideally I should have a Nexus with a phone mode??	PPp (9511)
1384877	2014-09-28 01:32:00	For whatever device you go with - have a look at a offline map for GPS. Because the Google one relies a lot on the Internet - question is are you going to have continual SIM card access when you are there for those countries? I take it you won't be roaming but Vodafone and Telecom have better deals if you are on a contract or monthly plan so you could sign up for a month or so then cancel and revert back to prepay. For the app, have a look at Nav4Free I heard they cater to European countries but Asian countries not so well. There is also a app that I use that doesn't have voice guidance but you make your own way yourself - Mapswithme. As with Google translate - maybe there is an app, not sure but the Google one requires Internet again. When I travel I use the free WiFi at the hotel - some hotels charge for Internet by the way. So I can use various apps to call home for free like Skype, WeChat, Viber, Line, Google Hangout etc etc. I haven't needed to use real GPS so Mapswithme have been ok. Also places like Japan where I have been to, tourist are not allowed to buy SIMs so we can only get the data only SIM, not the voice and data but it's not that fast - other than hiring a phone and a SIM at the airport. PS - I have 32GB on my LG builtin - no memory expansion, space have never been an issue for me. Had for near 2yrs now. As for the camera well photographers would take laptops and portable HDDs to double triple their backups. I don't. I carry my SLR and I just take memory cards, I don't plug them into a cyber cafe so it's no different to film. If the tablet does have a memory reader - do they? If they do you could use the tablet to backup images. You could also get those portable HDDs with batteries and accepts memory cards.	Nomad (952)
1384878	2014-09-28 01:44:00	Those offline maps apps - you just download it and select which countries you want and hit install. It downloads the whole country map. So unlike Google Maps by using the workaround method - you don't have to draw squares and cache every single area you hope to see and then hope you don't stray off that pattern when you are there. NavFree for eg - France is free the size to download is 622MB for the whole country. You can pay $50 for like better maps NAVTEQ I think or something (under NavFree as well). It was NavFree by the way. Not Nav4Free. If you want a commercial map - have a look at Sygic. Offline map.	Nomad (952)
1384879	2014-09-28 03:47:00	Hi Nomad, Yeah I have found even with 16GB the Google maps area that is saved is not large. I figured to buy a data sim in Europe, if they have Europe wide sims(I'm on prepay) Its probably cheaper then paying for roaming, and as you say Skype is the way to go. I guess we could go through the phone for data for the tablet. The reason we are using a tablet is everything is a bit bigger and easier to use. By the way any recommendations for a more suitable tablet? Just something that is well made and does the job without spending big bucks(medium size bucks will do).Thanks for the NavFree hint it sounds a lot more efficient, I will definitely look into it. I think I'll be OK with 128GB of storage for the camera like you I'll chance not backing up	PPp (9511)
1384880	2014-10-03 21:54:00	Not sure on devices... Maybe others recommend. Don't have tablet don't need but phones I've found high end phones just better experience every day use. Maybe a older model not necessary latest greatest	Nomad (952)
1384881	2014-10-05 10:41:00	Hi Nomad I noticed the newest version of the Nexus 7 has an out facing camera, that may be the way to go? It's just to translate notices and signs Google Translate seems great, it can actually understand my fairly broad Kiwi accent, it is the only voice recognition program I have tried that does. I hope the translations are as accurate, its good that it prints what you say so you can tell its working well. Navfree is good too. I downloaded the NZ map and have been using it a bit to check up on it. I haven't quite worked out the format for inputting the address correctly, it a little hit & miss at the moment, does not find some streets for some reason but once that's recognised it works really well, you can follow the voice component directions very easily, lane changes and all, works from within the car without having to put the tablet on the dash or anything like that. The size of the maps is small so I am pretty sure I will not need an expansion slot, I can just dump used maps and replace them with newer ones as we move from country to country, Thanks for your help Nomad!	PPp (9511)
1384882	2014-10-05 20:00:00	Mate of mine has an app on his phone that translates writing in real time, will give him a yell and find out the details if you want.	Whenu (9358)
1384883	2014-10-05 20:17:00	The 7-8" tablet market is very competitive so I'd shop for the features you want rather than a specific model. I'm a fan of the nexus 7 myself but having seen the samsung and LG 8" tablets in use I'm impressed with those too. If you look at a new tablet just go for any name brand quad core tablet and look for the features you want and you should be fine. Something that I thought would be very useful for travel was the Asus transformer 10" tablet I used to have because the dock featured a full qwerty keyboard with a full size USB port and a full size SD card reader which I tested succesfully both by plugging my camera into the USB and putting the SD card in the reader. A windows based tablet would likely be even better with a camera but they are quite expensive and you lose out on all the handy android apps already mentioned	dugimodo (138)
1384884	2014-10-07 02:17:00	Hi Whenu, Yes the Google Translate app does write your voice input so you can check it got it right, and the same for the reply, well thought out!! Hi dugi, My thinking is to have a device with a large enough screen to be usable( for my eyes) and at the same time to be able to fit into a jacket or breast pocket, so a 7" tablet is about the maximum size we could use. We will mainly using it to get around with local transport in the cities, just so you can see where to get off the bus etc. There is nothing worse the finding your 5 blocks past your destination.( been there, done that, many years ago). Thanks for the advice.	PPp (9511)
1384885	2014-10-07 02:43:00	Just get yourself a Nexus 5, they're pretty cheap, unlocked etc You'll wanna get yourself a SIM from 3UK: www.three.co.uk They did a 20 pound SIM with 20GB worth of travel data when my wife and I went around London / Paris / Italy / Greek Islands earlier in June. Means you don't have to worry about mucking around with offline maps etc, you're always safe. Easy!	Chilling_Silence (9)
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