Tablets compatible with Garmin Edge?

ben@31
ben@31 Posts: 2,327
edited April 2015 in Road general
Hi,

I'm considering buying a tablet, as my laptop is on it's last legs and playing up. Before I do, are there any tablets out there that are compatible with Garmin Edges, Garmin Express, Strava, etc etc?
I'd prefer a tablet that will work straight out the box and download rides from the Garmin rather than have the hassle of a work-around. The Garmin I have is the Edge 800, so it won't by Bluetooth just USB.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks.
"The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby

Comments

  • Best thing I did was upgrade my garmin to one that has bluetooth, livelink and upload.

    Irrelevant what device you have then and garmin connect on mobile works well.
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • plodder73
    plodder73 Posts: 326
    I have Garmin 810, I use an iPad, it connects to Garmin connect on my phone and then on my iPad I have to use Tapiriik to transfer the data accross to Strava. I'm sure there might be an easier way but this does work.
  • plodder73
    plodder73 Posts: 326
    I suppose you need a tablet with a USB which rules out the iPad. You presumably will then connect it to Strava like you do on a laptop, assuming that the tablet is compatible with the plug in communicator thingy.
  • JackPozzi
    JackPozzi Posts: 1,191
    AFAIK, it's not really possible out of the box with the 800, you'd need to go through the procedure shown in the link below I think (for Android, no idea about apple or windows tablets)

    http://www.sportablet.com/file-based-ga ... vices.html
  • fish156
    fish156 Posts: 496
    I use a Hudl with my Garmin 500.

    I bought a "USB 2.0 USB Female to Micro USB OTG Adapter" lead for about £1 off ebay to join Garmin via USB lead to the Hudl.
    I installed ES File Explorer app & can load files direct from the Garmin into Training Peaks, for example.

    Easy, cheap solution if you don't have the more expensive, newer generation of Garmin devices with Bluetooth.
  • freezing77
    freezing77 Posts: 731
    JackPozzi wrote:
    AFAIK, it's not really possible out of the box with the 800, you'd need to go through the procedure shown in the link below I think (for Android, no idea about apple or windows tablets)

    http://www.sportablet.com/file-based-ga ... vices.html

    It is possible out of the box with the 800, i can connect my 800 to my tablet, Acer something or other connect via a USB otg cable and use ES file explorer to grab the files to upload to strava etc.
  • JackPozzi
    JackPozzi Posts: 1,191
    freezing77 wrote:
    JackPozzi wrote:
    AFAIK, it's not really possible out of the box with the 800, you'd need to go through the procedure shown in the link below I think (for Android, no idea about apple or windows tablets)

    http://www.sportablet.com/file-based-ga ... vices.html

    It is possible out of the box with the 800, i can connect my 800 to my tablet, Acer something or other connect via a USB otg cable and use ES file explorer to grab the files to upload to strava etc.

    If you got the otg cable in the box then fair play!
  • freezing77
    freezing77 Posts: 731
    Yes a cheapo Acer 510 came with all sorts of accessories.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,877
    Do you have the Garmin USB cable that should have come with your 800?
    If so you just need a tablet with a USB port.
    Plug it in and if Garmin Express is downloaded and synched with strava, you're sorted.

    Or am I missing something?!! :!:
  • freezing77
    freezing77 Posts: 731
    Dorset Boy wrote:
    Do you have the Garmin USB cable that should have come with your 800?
    If so you just need a tablet with a USB port.
    Plug it in and if Garmin Express is downloaded and synched with strava, you're sorted.

    Or am I missing something?!! :!:

    Yes you are missing both that the tablet port will be micro usb female and that the cable with the 800 will be USB male.
  • freezing77
    freezing77 Posts: 731
    Dorset Boy wrote:
    Do you have the Garmin USB cable that should have come with your 800?
    If so you just need a tablet with a USB port.
    Plug it in and if Garmin Express is downloaded and synched with strava, you're sorted.

    Or am I missing something?!! :!:

    Yes you are missing both that the tablet port will be micro usb female and that the cable with the 800 will be USB male type A
    220px-Types-usb_th1.svg.png
  • Man Of Lard
    Man Of Lard Posts: 903
    Hence the need for a tablet with OTG support (and an OTG cable)
  • ravenvrider
    ravenvrider Posts: 198
    Hoe about z linx 8 or 10 £90 or £160 respectively running windows 8.1 so just installed express and get a cable adapter although I believe it comes with a micro to full USB adapter out of the box
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,877
    Do no tablets come with a 'full sized' USB port?
  • freezing77
    freezing77 Posts: 731
    Hoe about z linx 8 or 10 £90 or £160 respectively running windows 8.1 so just installed express and get a cable adapter although I believe it comes with a micro to full USB adapter out of the box

    Please note that not all micro to full usb (a) cables are USB OTG cables.
  • ben@31
    ben@31 Posts: 2,327
    As an update to my original post.

    If my broken Mac laptop is out of warranty the cost of replacing the motherboard / logic board is so steep it's not viable for such an old machine.

    There's no point buying the same Mac laptop again now, as it's rumoured to be replaced by a new model sometime soon.

    I'm surprised they can put a man on the moon but they can't make a tablet with a "normal" USB socket. So thats tablets out of the equation.

    However when looking at tablets. I was pleasantly surprised how much windows 8.1 laptops have reduced in price. I managed to pick up a windows 8.1 laptop (with 3 USB sockets) for less than some tablets. The cost of the laptop had made buying a tablet for my needs (Garmin, Strava, Internet browsing, watching films) pointless. I think the cost of buying a new laptop is cheaper than repairing my old one.
    "The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby
  • mikpem
    mikpem Posts: 139
    I guess I'm a bit late for this but for future users that stumble upon this post the current crop of Windows Surface tablets (Surface 3) run a full version of Windows and I'm certain they have a full sized USB, if not the Surface 2 Pro definitely does.

    Annoyingly I have the base spec surface 2 which has the full sized USB but runs Windows RT which is app based and won't let me run Garmin express, so I just use the work PC.
  • I use a Samsung Chromebook which has a USB port but doesn't support Garmin express so cannot load directly. I just use the file upload option in Strava and Garmin Connect (I run the older version). I can download routes from Strava as files no problem but can't download Garmin routes as it wants to do this directly to the device. Works for me.
  • ravenvrider
    ravenvrider Posts: 198
    freezing77 wrote:
    Hoe about z linx 8 or 10 £90 or £160 respectively running windows 8.1 so just installed express and get a cable adapter although I believe it comes with a micro to full USB adapter out of the box

    Please note that not all micro to full usb (a) cables are USB OTG cables.

    Having just got home and checked the Linx 8 at £90 does not come with a OTG cable but you can pick them up for less than £2 so for £92 you have a 8" tablet running full windows 8.1 with a free years subscription to office 365 personal, as it is running windows 8.1 there is no problem with installing garmin express/connect and with the otg cable your garmin will connect perfectly...job done!