TigerDirect.com currently has somewhat newer refurbed toughbooks (off of
lease) with 4 gb Ram and Windows 7 for under $400. These were over $4k
new. They are basically indesdructible and the screen is viewable in
direct sunlight. If you accidentally spill your entire beer on the
keyboard, just rinse it off with a bucket full of fresh water to keep it
from getting gummy.
Bill Bina
On 9/9/2015 1:18 PM, Marek Dziedzic via CnC-List wrote:
Just a thought...
If you can use a 386/Win 98 for OpenCPN, one option to consider, if
you want to be somewhat immune to the water damage etc. is a second
hand ToughBook by Panasonic. They can be had for around $200-$300 (the
older, the cheaper). I have one that has an older Pentium in it and
runs Win XP. The model I have seems to come from some law enforcement
agency. The best source for them is a local “Computers for Schools”
programme. Companies give them away after 3-5 years in service and the
CfS can’t off-load them that easily. Those PCs are fully ruggedized
and are water resistant (if not water proof). Many come with touch
screen, which might be a bonus when used for navigation.
I don’t use mine for navigation; I have a chartplotter for that and I
don’t need one where I sail. So I cannot really vouch how good they
would be. But this might be something to consider.
Marek
in Ottawa
*From:* Della Barba, Joe via CnC-List <mailto:[email protected]>
*Sent:* Wednesday, September 09, 2015 12:15 PM
*To:* mailto:[email protected]
*Cc:* Della Barba, Joe <mailto:[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: Stus-List OpenCPN question
I find OpenCPN better than SeaClear in almost every way. SeaClear has
not been worked on for many years and OpenCPN is in constant
development. What SeaClear is great for is old low powered computers.
My nav laptop is an old IBM Thinkpad 386 running Windows 98. SeaClear
is quite fast on it and OpenCPN is a bit slow. I did not try and use
the same chart directory for each program, even that old thing has
room for 2 copies.
One OpenCPN disappointment was the ENC charts. I found the rendering
so horrible I just could not stand it and stuck with the BSB format.
The ENC charts were the original reason I got OpenCPN, but now I am
used to the tides, currents, and more AIS options I generally have
stuck with it. The Navionics program on my iPhone is vastly better at
doing vector based charts. Speaking of which, if you have a device
that run Navionics it is well worth the low price they charge for it
in the App Store.
Hint for reliable nav PCs: Do not use it for ANYTHING else and NEVER
connect it to the internet.
Joe Della Barba
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I
*From:*CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of
*Joel Aronson via CnC-List
*Sent:* Wednesday, September 09, 2015 11:58 AM
*To:* [email protected]
*Cc:* Joel Aronson
*Subject:* Re: Stus-List OpenCPN question
Dennis,
Install OpenCPN and then tell it where the charts are.
The plugins for tides, currents, weather are great! I have not used
the weather routing plug in.
BTW, the developers seem to hang out on cruisersforum.com
<http://cruisersforum.com>. There are many helpful threads these. We
used OpenCpn at the nav table to/from Newport.
Joel
On Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 11:53 AM, Dennis C. via CnC-List
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
I was looking at the OpenCPN website, it looks nice and may have more
functionality than Seaclear. My question is: I already have the NOAA
BSB charts I want downloaded and in a folder on the laptops. Can I
download OpenCPN and copy the charts into its chart folder? Or does
OpenCPN allow me to point it to the Seaclear chart folder?
(BTW, I have waaaay too many GPS units! In addition to Navionics on 2
iPhones and 2 Android tablets, I have Seaclear on a couple of laptops
with a GlobalSat BU-353 GPS adaptor. All work great but are primarily
backups to the Chartplotter at the helm and text only GPS at the
navstation. Also have a handheld GPS and a VHF with GPS. That's a
total of 10 GPS units. Sheesh!)
Dennis C.
Touche' 35-1 #83
Mandeville, LA
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