Using a wifi only iPad tethered to iPhone with Maps

It's my understanding that the wifi only ipads didn't have a GPSr built in, so navigation apps are limited at best on those. The ipads with 3G/4G do have a GPSr in them.

True... the wifi only iPad does not have GPS receiver in it... it needs an external source for location data... it will use the location of the wifi hotspot you may be connected to is, or a data stream from an external GPSr... in this case, I was sharing that tethering a wifi iPad to an iPhone will give the wifi iPad location data... and the performance is sub-par in my opinion.

A wifi iPad with a decent GPSr accessory and an app that stores full maps on the device wors ever bit as good as a stand alone GPSr from my experience.

Anyone making the "you gotta have a data plan" claim is repeating a false meme.

perhaps this, Dual Electronics XGPS150A Universal Bluetooth GPS Receiver for Portable Devices, is an example of a device that can be used with the iPad?

my expectation is that, over time, with tablets / phones becoming ubiquitous, they will be the preferred navigation device.

I base this opinion on the fact that what really matters is the software that drives the navigation device and given that there are more tablets / phones than specialized GPS units developers will realize there is a much bigger market for their software and pressure existing suppliers such as TomTom and Garmin.

Yeah, that's one example of an external device that will work with a wifi only iPad... the Garmin GLO is another... as is the BadElf GPS Pro...