I really like my iPad. It runs both SeaIQ and AquaMap and lives in a mount on the chart table. I also have a PC that runs OpenCPN, but it draws a lot more power than the iPad does. I tend to leave it off under sail to save on power. Mine is an older one with no GPS, so it relies on the data from my AIS receiver, which sends NMEA data to a WiFi access point that then broadcasts the data to the iPad. I can also do the same from the PC if need be.
I used to love OpenCPN with RNC charts. I am not so thrilled now they are going away, the ENC display works but Navionics or AquaMap does it better. I actually would probably have Navionics except their implementation of AIS targeting info is decades behind everyone else. Speaking of AIS, watching it online through Marine Traffic is NOT THE SAME as receiving it directly on your boat. There is an unknown and variable time lag involved plus plenty of areas where Marine Traffic does not get data from for one reason or another. I know this, I have a shore station that feeds them data and sometimes things happen to it like my wife unplugging it to plug in the vacuum, the cable going out, etc. etc. Joe Della Barba Coquina C&C 35 MK I Kent Island MD USA
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