Roughly a month ago, another member here had some questions about the DMD2 app and the nav tablet that Thork Racing sells. I had been reading about the system for some time, and they recently announced an upgraded tablet with more memory space and a brighter screen...so I bit the bullet.
Merry Christmas to me!
First off, there are 2 items to talk about here: the app, and the ruggedized 6-inch phone or 8-inch tablet.
The DMD2 app will run on any Android device back to Android 7 and you can check it out on your smart phone, access to the maps is limited to 15 minutes, but $20 per year will grant full map access. There's also a Road Book feature that is a one-time purchase for around $5, as well as an OBD2 scanner so you can display motorcycle engine stats and such on the tablet (no troubleshooting or anything like that) for a one-time fee. The app can record GPS tracks and you can load GPX files into it.
I purchased the 8-inch tablet since my phone always seems too small (been playing with the app on a Doogee phone). Thork's hardware was designed to use the DMD2 app from the start, so it works well. They claim it uses one of the best GPS chipsets available. If you buy the hardware, it comes with a lifetime subscription to all features, a locking cradle, and all required electrical cables.
The device is weighty, easily the heaviest 8-inch tablet I've ever picked up. They claim to have a metal framework inside for strength and I'm guessing the electronics are buried in conformal coating for weather proofing and shock resistance. Thork mention that while it does have a camera, it is not a stabilized one so there're no worries about vibrations damaging that. The included locking mount/cradle is stamped steel with a lightly textured powder coat finish and has anti-rattle silicone-like rubber strips in a couple of places as well as guide pins to make sure you have the tablet correctly inserted.
The tablet gets 12V power directly from the motorcycle or vehicle, with no power converter inline to take up space. There is a sealed screw-in connector on the back of the tablet as well as pogo pins for charging, your choice on which you use. The pogo pin connector can be removed from the cradle if you want, so that you aren't wearing the connectors if you aren't actually using them. You can install SIM card(s) for cellular service, but maps are stored on the tablet, so connection isn't required once you have maps downloaded. There is also a slot for a micro-SD card to provide memory expansion/map storage. All of these slots are under a single gasketed cover held on by 2 screws.
The DMD2 app is basically taking the place of the Android app launcher, so that it always shows up and you can open other apps from there. This can be changed if you want to use the standard Android app launcher, but I don't see why anyone would.
I haven't uploaded any pics because you can see them all over the 'net and my DesertX is getting a warranty repair completed right now. I will be buying an additional cradle so I can swap it into my FJ Cruiser, it should be at home there as well as on a bike. I can imagine it will also mount nicely to an ST and it will likely go there for any extended trips, but my main purpose is the offroad mapping capabilities. The offroad stuff can be switched on or off as desired/maps configured with elevation lines, etc.
Things to know if you buy one and BEFORE you get too deep into it: Turn it on and let it update, then let it update more. I started tinkering and changing preferences, adding an SD card, etc. before it had completed all updates, and it caused me some brief headaches. Look on the DMD website and find the latest version number for the Android build, once yours matches, then you can start customizing. Luckily, there are others who did the same thing, and I was able to find guidance easily. All of that could have been avoided had I read through the FAQs on the website. They do have several videos available; some are quite fast so be prepared to hit pause so you can keep up.
I tossed it in the seat of my truck today and it works as it should. A very bright 8-inch map screen is nice! They claim 1200+ nits of screen brightness, no idea how that's measured but 30% brightness was more than enough on a sunny day in the truck.
Merry Christmas to me!
First off, there are 2 items to talk about here: the app, and the ruggedized 6-inch phone or 8-inch tablet.
The DMD2 app will run on any Android device back to Android 7 and you can check it out on your smart phone, access to the maps is limited to 15 minutes, but $20 per year will grant full map access. There's also a Road Book feature that is a one-time purchase for around $5, as well as an OBD2 scanner so you can display motorcycle engine stats and such on the tablet (no troubleshooting or anything like that) for a one-time fee. The app can record GPS tracks and you can load GPX files into it.
I purchased the 8-inch tablet since my phone always seems too small (been playing with the app on a Doogee phone). Thork's hardware was designed to use the DMD2 app from the start, so it works well. They claim it uses one of the best GPS chipsets available. If you buy the hardware, it comes with a lifetime subscription to all features, a locking cradle, and all required electrical cables.
The device is weighty, easily the heaviest 8-inch tablet I've ever picked up. They claim to have a metal framework inside for strength and I'm guessing the electronics are buried in conformal coating for weather proofing and shock resistance. Thork mention that while it does have a camera, it is not a stabilized one so there're no worries about vibrations damaging that. The included locking mount/cradle is stamped steel with a lightly textured powder coat finish and has anti-rattle silicone-like rubber strips in a couple of places as well as guide pins to make sure you have the tablet correctly inserted.
The tablet gets 12V power directly from the motorcycle or vehicle, with no power converter inline to take up space. There is a sealed screw-in connector on the back of the tablet as well as pogo pins for charging, your choice on which you use. The pogo pin connector can be removed from the cradle if you want, so that you aren't wearing the connectors if you aren't actually using them. You can install SIM card(s) for cellular service, but maps are stored on the tablet, so connection isn't required once you have maps downloaded. There is also a slot for a micro-SD card to provide memory expansion/map storage. All of these slots are under a single gasketed cover held on by 2 screws.
The DMD2 app is basically taking the place of the Android app launcher, so that it always shows up and you can open other apps from there. This can be changed if you want to use the standard Android app launcher, but I don't see why anyone would.
I haven't uploaded any pics because you can see them all over the 'net and my DesertX is getting a warranty repair completed right now. I will be buying an additional cradle so I can swap it into my FJ Cruiser, it should be at home there as well as on a bike. I can imagine it will also mount nicely to an ST and it will likely go there for any extended trips, but my main purpose is the offroad mapping capabilities. The offroad stuff can be switched on or off as desired/maps configured with elevation lines, etc.
Things to know if you buy one and BEFORE you get too deep into it: Turn it on and let it update, then let it update more. I started tinkering and changing preferences, adding an SD card, etc. before it had completed all updates, and it caused me some brief headaches. Look on the DMD website and find the latest version number for the Android build, once yours matches, then you can start customizing. Luckily, there are others who did the same thing, and I was able to find guidance easily. All of that could have been avoided had I read through the FAQs on the website. They do have several videos available; some are quite fast so be prepared to hit pause so you can keep up.
I tossed it in the seat of my truck today and it works as it should. A very bright 8-inch map screen is nice! They claim 1200+ nits of screen brightness, no idea how that's measured but 30% brightness was more than enough on a sunny day in the truck.