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8” or 10” Garmin Tread?

Phred

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For those who have them, trying to decide which size.

I’m old, so bigger screen is better but don’t want to overpower the dash area.

Thanks!
 

AWo

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I have the 8" and I would always prefer the 10"

BTW, nice thing that Tread, I do workshops on that. However, you pay for the hardware (incl. InReach) and the maps. All other apps are free to get and there are fare more better maps availabe with much, much more details. But for these apps you need far more cheaper apps. You also can get along with far mare cheaper hardware and adequate protection. The Tread is a good compromise between doing nothing else than entering the target address and doing every single detail of the planning manual (which is also possible with the Tread). The UI concept drives me crazy with the Tread but it has become far better than with the Overland. When I haven't used it for some month it is like starting again Of course, when you really go abroad the integrated InReach is invaluable.

During oiur Ireland trip in July I was very disappointed as the so robust lookimg mount doesn't load anymore. The 90 degree Micro-USB plug is a defective contact now. We haven't used it often, so I asked myself why. We need to use the USB-C now to load the Tread.

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I'll open it and have a look, but if the female-plug is broken, I assume it can't be repaird.

AWo
 

anand

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I have the 10" Tread XL in our Sprinter, and use an 8" tablet (iPad mini and Garmin DriveSmart 84) in the Grenadier; I don't think I could use the 10" adequately with the small (vertically) windshield space. Perhaps mounting it down low you could use the 10", but then it's notably out of your line of sight.
 

Phred

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I have the 10" Tread XL in our Sprinter, and use an 8" tablet (iPad mini and Garmin DriveSmart 84) in the Grenadier; I don't think I could use the 10" adequately with the small (vertically) windshield space. Perhaps mounting it down low you could use the 10", but then it's notably out of your line of sight.
Thanks…

How/where do you have the drivesmart mounted? I’d think it would be similar to the 8” tread. Maybe a picture too?
 

anand

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Thanks…

How/where do you have the drivesmart mounted? I’d think it would be similar to the 8” tread. Maybe a picture too?
DriveSmart is mounted on the A-pillar
PXL_20240805_201532354.jpg


All the mounting info is available in this post
 

parb

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How does tread compare vs mapsource on a tablet linked to an inreach device?
It's what I've used for the past decade but I'm wondering if it's getting to be a bit of old school by now.
 

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How does tread compare vs mapsource on a tablet linked to an inreach device?
It's what I've used for the past decade but I'm wondering if it's getting to be a bit of old school by now.
I don't think Mapsource has been available for a very long time.... On the Garmin website it shows the last update to the map for the PC app was 14 years ago...
 

parb

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I don't think Mapsource has been available for a very long time.... On the Garmin website it shows the last update to the map for the PC app was 14 years ago...
What a typo... I meant earthmate
 

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What a typo... I meant earthmate
Ohhhh!! That makes a difference hahaha... With that being said, I just checked my neighborhood with the Earthmate app (my older inReach uses it, so I keep it installed alongside the Garmin Connect, Drive, Explore, and Tread apps) none of the maps available in the app except for the satellite imagery shows my 15 year old neighborhood streets as existing
 

parb

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Tread is that much better? You recommend I move my old inreach to be a backup device?

I find it a bit clunky to use if I'm honest
 

anand

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Tread is that much better? You recommend I move my old inreach to be a backup device?

I find it a bit clunky to use if I'm honest
Tread is great to use, is it *that* much better? That's a personal choice. I really appreciate the auto update (on Wifi) mapping (and operating system updates) of the Tread and DriveSmart86.

In the Grenadier, I'll be dusting off one of my older inReaches for longer off-grid trips (probably the GPSMap66i), simply for the inReach SOS feature
 

Snipewench

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I've an 8" Garmin Overlander, and I'm not sure I see the benefit of a Tread over the Overlander, when the UI and maps are all the same. Yes, the Tread does have Inreach built in, so maybe that's the benefit? Do I luck out with the Overlander? No, I can go buy an Inreach and pair it up to the Overlander unit, but that is now two devices, both with their own power requirements.

When I went looking for an external nav, I ummed over whether to get an 8" or 10" unit. My primary concern about a 10" is where to put the darn thing as that's a lot of screen. Today I may have solved that problem (unfortunately).

Over the weekend I bought a Ram 1" Ball Mount, and yesterday I shaped the mount to attach to the centre console, to hold a very sturdy Fanaue mobile phone cradle. My only criticism of this position is that it's close to the steering wheel, and when I go to do a turn, my hand brushes up against it.

This morning, I realised that if I move the ball mount over to the passenger side of the centre console, I could mount my mobile phone there, or I could mount the Garmin there. So that's what I've just done. The GPS protrudes into the passenger side a bit, but I mostly travel long distances by myself, and if I do have a passenger, they can swing it around, and interact with the maps themselves. When I'm at home, and Grenny is mall crawling, I just remove the whole contraption bar the ball mount itself. If I don't want the GPS then I can attach the phone cradle to the same ball mount, and my phone is then out of the way.

With the GPS in position, I have a wireless mount suction-cupped to the window which my iPhone hasn't fallen from, yet, and it's out of the way of my forward vision, but still interactable.
 

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AWo

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There is a huge difference between the Overlander and Tread UI. The Overlander uses two navigation apps where you can/have to switch between, Satellite images are not available for all countries, mostly only US images are available. The maps in the Overlander do not show/mark tracks as such. The vehicle profiles are not as scalable to configure as in the Tread. You can't plan a route, section by section, with different routing profiles (Example: turn-by-turn from A to B, straight line from B to C, and turn-by-turn via tracks from C to D).

But the search engine is very weak on both systems. I try all systems with a few villages and POI's and check their result. Both, the Overlander and the Tread can't find smaller villages, both do not have the capability of online searches. For example, with Locus Map if you have an Internet connection you can search for everything you could search with any search engine. If the result has coordinates you can use them as your destination. You can search for POI's online and offline, you can seach for addresses online and offline. The Garmin stuff only searches offline and lacks a lot of stuff there.

AWo
 

AWo

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Does Locus have CarPlay integration?
No. At least not yet.

In my priority list, a poweful navigation app is more important that a CarPlay integration. With an Overlander or Tread you also run navigation on an external device.

AWo
 

WhiteBear

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Ok. But with CarPlay you don’t have to use an extra device and screen, the iPhone is enough (and powerful).
 

AWo

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Yes, I know. But using an extra device is no issue for me. See, we own eight 4x4's.....from 1970 up to 2024...by using an external device I can use the same device and app in all vehicles, because all have at least a windscreen. At least our Land Rover Series from 1970 doesn't offer CarPlay integration. It's capabilities are more of the kind "blackboard". If I think about it...I'm pretty sure that only the Hilux from 2024 offers modern integrations. And even in the Hilux a phone has to lie around somewhere in the car to get it working.

AWo
 

Snipewench

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Along with my Overlander, I’m using Memory Maps for All on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. I do a lot of trip planning (aka daydreaming) on the Mac in MMfA, save the routes and POIs into my shared drive, and can access those on my other devices. Easy as.

I’ve got OziExplorer loaded on the Overlander, which is a rather capable app, and use it more for nav than the main Garmin apps on it. OziExplorer also has access to the same maps as MMfA.

So far, the whole combo works for me!
 

AWo

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I never loved the OziExplorer as an app. Always used the Windows version. But since Locus and its many, many easy and detailed maps I even let Ozi for Windows go....

We have a French company in Europe which uses a modified OziExplorer UI for Android. Map and app handling is PITA. There was a Spanish company, called Navigattor, which used Windows UI on their navigation equipment and two navigation apps: OziExploer and CityNavigator, Both provide and sale maps via CD/DVD (ok Navigattor not a.f.a.i.k. They do not exist anymore). And because the Panasonic Windows Toughbook was (and is) so popular, so the OziExplorer for Windoes became popular. Understandable, 15 years ago. But today it is very, very aged. My friend is a professional Rallye Navigator, also driving the Dakar, and he has overcome that years ago already....

AWo
 
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Yep... XL stands for extra large. A bit of a challenge to find room in the Grenadier, but 10" screen is very good with the satellite imagery. Considering that I have no network coverage once 1km off the main highway, the Tread combined with the SOS InReach works for me as a single device.
 

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