Brief review of Android XCSoar on the Streak 5 and LK8000 on the MIO 400

[Mike[_8_]]

Just received a Streak 5, updated to Froyo and installed XCSoar for
Android, and thought I would compare it to the MIO 400 with LK8000
that I used last year and give a quick review.

First of all, if you purchase a Streak 5 on Ebay, expect to pay about
$300-$400.00. If it is a used Streak like I bought you may have to
update from 1.6 to Froyo. It is not difficult, but there is always a
chance you could brick the device. I could not get the 1.6 version of
the Streak to find XCSoar on Android Market and could not install
XCSoar, or any other program, that was not downloaded from the market.
If there is a way, I could not find it. The Froyo update fixed that.

The used MIO cost me $40.00 from Amazon and I had to do a fairly
simple hack to install LK8000. There is also a slight chance you could
brick the MIO. All info, step by step, is on the LK8000 forum, and
help is available if you get a baffled.

Both devices were like new, although the MIO battery was replaced for
$15.00.

Which system was better?

It was easier to load XCSoar from the market on to the Streak, than it
was to load LK8000 on to the MIO.

The screen on the Streak 5 is 5" measured diagonally, while the MIO is
about 4.25". The moving map section of both screens are about 4".

The Streak 5 is better in direct sunlight at all angles. Although
there is a slight amount of glass glare, it is not a problem. The MIO
is more effected by glare than the Streak, and at times is next to
impossible to see, but a slight angle change solves the problem.

There are other considerations.

If you are wearing polarized sunglasses, things change, and the MIO in
landscape mode improves, being quite good, while the Streak's screen
becomes black. When the Streak is viewed in portrait mode, it is again
very good. The MIO's screen in portrait mode, becomes as poor as the
Streak's in landscape.

The MIO 400 is a great deal, especially if you are wearing polarized
glasses. If you are not wearing polarized glasses, the Streak is
quite a bit better, and in my opinion, worth the extra money.

Mike

[Max Kellermann]

Mike > wrote:
> Just received a Streak 5, updated to Froyo and installed XCSoar for
> Android, and thought I would compare it to the MIO 400 with LK8000
> that I used last year and give a quick review.

Even though you compared just the two hardware products, you mentioned
explicitly that you tried LK8000 on the MIO. I would like to mention
that XCSoar can run on the MIO, too. The installation procedure is
the same.

> I could not get the 1.6 version of the Streak to find XCSoar on
> Android Market and could not install XCSoar

Several people have reported that problem with old Android versions.
So far, I could not check this, because all my Android test devices
have Android 2.x, and XCSoar runs just fine in the 1.6 emulator.

According to the Market statistics, 4.4% of all XCSoar/Android users
still have Android 1.6.

Max

[Mike[_8_]]

On Mar 31, 2:29*pm, Max Kellermann > wrote:
> Mike > wrote:
> > Just received a Streak 5, updated to Froyo and installed XCSoar for
> > Android, and thought I would compare it to the MIO 400 with LK8000
> > that I used last year and give a quick review.
>
> Even though you compared just the two hardware products, you mentioned
> explicitly that you tried LK8000 on the MIO. *I would like to mention
> that XCSoar can run on the MIO, too. *The installation procedure is
> the same.
>
> > I could not get the 1.6 version of the Streak to find XCSoar on
> > Android Market and could not install XCSoar
>
> Several people have reported that problem with old Android versions.
> So far, I could not check this, because all my Android test devices
> have Android 2.x, and XCSoar runs just fine in the 1.6 emulator.
>
> According to the Market statistics, 4.4% of all XCSoar/Android users
> still have Android 1.6.
>
> Max

Today I tested the Bluetooth connectivity between the Streak and LX
Nano. Appears to work fine with the exception of task declaration.
Using a Win CE device the declaration to the Nano is possible through
SeeYou "ConnectMe" but I know of no way using an android base device.
I wish LX would make their output data public, so their products would
be more usable with other soaring programs.

[Max Kellermann]

Mike > wrote:
> Today I tested the Bluetooth connectivity between the Streak and LX
> Nano. Appears to work fine with the exception of task declaration.
> Using a Win CE device the declaration to the Nano is possible through
> SeeYou "ConnectMe" but I know of no way using an android base device.
> I wish LX would make their output data public, so their products would
> be more usable with other soaring programs.

XCSoar 6.1 supports task declaration to LX Nano, but it's not released
yet. You can get a preview on the Android Market:

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.xcsoar.testing

Please give feedback if it works for you. Rob Dunning tested from
Windows Mobile to his LX Nano, and I tested from my Dell Streak to a
Colibri, but never from Android to Nano.

Max

[PCool]

LK8000 v2.2 will be distributed on april 15th. It supports LX Nano and LX Colibri declaration, it has been tested a lot in the past months.
So we don't need ConnectMe. LX has kindly given out their specifications, and there are no more problems.




"Mike" > ha scritto nel messaggio ...
On Mar 31, 2:29 pm, Max Kellermann > wrote:
> Mike > wrote:

Today I tested the Bluetooth connectivity between the Streak and LX
Nano. Appears to work fine with the exception of task declaration.
Using a Win CE device the declaration to the Nano is possible through
SeeYou "ConnectMe" but I know of no way using an android base device.
I wish LX would make their output data public, so their products would
be more usable with other soaring programs.

[mike]

On Apr 1, 4:13*am, "PCool" > wrote:
> LK8000 v2.2 will be distributed on april 15th. It supports LX Nano and LX Colibri declaration, it has been tested a lot in the past months.
> So we don't need ConnectMe. *LX has kindly given out their specifications, and there are no more problems.
>
> * "Mike" > ha scritto nel ...
> * On Mar 31, 2:29 pm, Max Kellermann > wrote:
> * > Mike > wrote:
>
> * Today I tested the Bluetooth connectivity between the Streak and LX
> * Nano. *Appears to work fine with the exception of task declaration.
> * Using a Win CE device the declaration to the Nano is possible through
> * SeeYou *"ConnectMe" but I know of no way using an android base device.
> * I wish LX would make their output data public, so their products would
> * be more usable with other soaring programs.

Great news concerning LX loggers and task declarations using both
XCSoar and LK8000! Thanks to both teams and to LX.

Mike

[Mike[_8_]]

On Apr 1, 12:07*am, Max Kellermann > wrote:
> Mike > wrote:
> > Today I tested the Bluetooth connectivity between the Streak and LX
> > Nano. *Appears to work fine with the exception of task declaration.
> > Using a Win CE device the declaration to the Nano is possible through
> > SeeYou *"ConnectMe" but I know of no way using an android base device..
> > I wish LX would make their output data public, so their products would
> > be more usable with other soaring programs.
>
> XCSoar 6.1 supports task declaration to LX Nano, but it's not released
> yet. *You can get a preview on the Android Market:
>
> *https://market.android.com/details?id=org.xcsoar.testing
>
> Please give feedback if it works for you. *Rob Dunning tested from
> Windows Mobile to his LX Nano, and I tested from my Dell Streak to a
> Colibri, but never from Android to Nano.
>
> Max

Max,

Task declaration works perfectly between the Nano and the Streak.
Triple checked it, no problems.

How stable is the 6.1 test version?

Thank you

Mike

[Max Kellermann]

Mike > wrote:
> Task declaration works perfectly between the Nano and the Streak.
> Triple checked it, no problems.

Thanks, I'm very happy to read that!

> How stable is the 6.1 test version?

Several people have given very positive feedback about 6.1. My
flights with it have been without any complications so far. But
still, you should keep the stable version 6.0.8 installed, just in
case you happen to discover the first severe bug. It's officially
"experimental" at this point.

Max