Kindle Kneeboard?

[steamee]

Hi. I was wondering if anyone has tried using a Kindle or Kindle Touch in the cockpit? I don't own either, but they're cheap enough that I've considered getting one if I had some other use for it besides just reading prose (which I don't do a lot of).

I'm not talking about running full navlog, moving maps, or electronic E6B apps, but merely displaying some airport diagrams or checklists that I can compile in PDF or E-book format. The combination of high visibility screen and awesome battery life seems perfect for the sunny day casual flying I do.

The G1000 has all the electronics I can manage and more so please don't tell me to get an iPad or an Android tablet. If anything I wish to avoid the vitriol over on that Galaxy Tab post.

 

[John221us]

I have a Kindle Touch. I don't see any real use for it in the cockpit. You can send a PDF to it, but it is a smaller screen, so you would end up panning and scanning. I would think chasing down your own plates and getting them on the Kindle would be a hassle. At least with the iPad, you have an app that keeps them updated and accessible and it can do flight planning. The Kindle Touch has an easy to read screen (no glare), but the touch aspect is really for turning pages and bringing up menus. The pinch and zoom is very basic and insensitive. It is really designed for reading books, which it does well.

 

[COFlyBoy]

You can get Naviator for Android devices. Which similar to (though still not as polished) ForeFlight.

I'd actually recommend a full Android 7 inch tablet, instead of the Kindle or Nook Tablet. The Kindle and Nook have no GPS and have Bluetooth disabled. If you get a 7 inch Galaxy Tab you get full GPS moving map support.

I use a Nook Tablet in the cockpit. I collect the plates, sectionals, low-enroutes, and AFD myself (because it was a good excuse to learn to script web stuff in Perl). I have young eyes so the screen size is not an issue. I actually like the size, the iPad is a bit too big for convenience on my lap.

 

[JeffDG]

You might want to look for an older Kindle DX. A much bigger screen (meant for textbooks and such).

 

[denverpilot]

I would find my Kindle Touch to be far too small to use effectively, I think. The 2nd Gen Kindle might have been okay. The DX is heavy, but would probably look best.

I've had mixed results with putting PDF files on eInk style screens. They really need to be crisp or they don't look right. Greyscale or "shading" on the PDF looks really bad, IMHO.

 

[Sac Arrow]

I would say just bite the bullet and get the Ipad anyway even though you ruled it out. You will probably end up liking it and using it more than you thought you would.

 

[steamee]

The PDF airport diagrams I get from AOPA or SkyVector are black and white. My kneeboard version (which I download, print out, and then hole punch) isn't much bigger I think than a kindle. I think the DX is larger (and more expensive) than I'd care to invest in.

I don't mind the manual process since it's what I do now and I sadly don't do that many cross countries. I thought a good cheap device would provide me with some airport diagrams and maybe I'd make a simple HTML document with hyperlinks to checklists and emegency procedures. However, even $80 is a waste if it's just too cumbersome or things get unreadable. Maybe I should just sink the money into that portable com radio I've been meaing to get.

COFlyBoy: Re: Nook. Color or e-ink?

BTW, hilarious avatar DenverPilot.

 

[zaitcev]

I have a Fire that I bought in part as a platform to run Naviator:

However, the idea was a failure, because Naviator is entirely useless without GPS input, which in turn requires a WiFi GPS (Fire has no Bluetooth). In the end I just continue to use my AV8OR.

I read a few documents in PDF and found the reader somewhat clunky. However, you may be able to make it display the right size pictures if you generate PDF yourself.