Has anyone seen anything about this device?

Earl Backcountry survival Tablet

Review of Features

Seems interesting, not available yet.

It looks pretty cool. I like the set of features, but at $250 I think I'd be smarter to buy a PLB. If it had Ham bands as well it might be irresistable.

So for $250 you get a GPS, a weather station, a radio and a walkie talkie. Not real excited, as I have all that already.

As a tablet user and fan, I am interested in this. In addition to the features listed above, it's built on the Android platform and also has a built in solar recharger. I try to avoid taking electronics out of the house, but in a bug-out situation it could come in handy. Of course, the rest of the family would be fighting over it to play Angry Birds, or Minecraft so maybe not.

I think I'd rather have separate devices for each of these functions. That said, I want to put my hands on it and check it out in person. My understanding is that this is a crowd source project, which means they need commitments from 1000 people of so to go into to production. Hopefully I'll get my chance.

I am curious about it. I am doubtful about the radio capabilities and I would like to see how it works with the solar charging and battery. The larger screen and contour maps would be nice, but I think they are trying to do too much with one device. I am curious though.

I like mine electronics rugged. So mine phone, camera and lights all are. So a rugged tablet would fit in that bill.

I'm not so sure about the e-ink screen shows enough detail on the maps, without color. Color definitely makes reading map much easier.

Also i like to peak at mine maps occasionally and then stuff in back in a jacket pocket. I don't think a tablet would be handy for that purpose.

And i wonder i just want to use the map on the screen and put mine compass on it. A real compass must be easier to sight. Not so sure if i can draw on the screen to create lines, like on a real map.

It doesn't light my fire, either literally or figuratively. I am skeptical....

This is my gut reaction too. Then again this was my argument against smartphones ... needless to say I don't have a separate Palm device & cell phone any more .

I don't know if this is exactly the same, but I am seeing similarities.

Regarding maps, while I agree colour is a big question mark, I think the larger screen size is a big benefit. I don't find my GPS all that handy in showing me where I am in relation to the geography around me. I tend to use the GPS to find where I am on my paper map to get some perspective.

I think what this needs is to integrate Delorme InReach capability, or something similar.

Current e-paper tech is a double edged sword. Good in sunlight, low power, but the slow refresh will likely make a painful general purpose Android tablet interface.

My guess is they are going to have their own interface to try to hide this somewhat, but it will be interesting to see how well the interface works, and it is unclear if you'll really be able to load your own apps on there which I think detracts from the value quite a bit.

-john

I like the concept, though I have some questions about its execution.

I wonder how difficult the battery would be to replace and whether it can be done by the consumer, or not. If it costs a hundred dollars, plus shipping, to have a replacement battery installed then it might not be worth the expense to me.

Colored maps aren't such a large concern of mine, but the type of map files it uses can be important.

And I, too, wonder about its radio capabilities.