Chartplotters

[Philsmith]

Hi everyone, is there anyone out there who is up on the latest chartplotters?
I am looking for one which allows planning on a laptop/tablet and then transferring the route to the chartplotter by card etc. Also fast when zooming and good display in open sunlight. I found the Simrad plotter logic counter-intuitive and so am not after this make. Cheers.

[Ozbullwinkle]

I do not know what your budget is but take a look at the new Raymarine E7 which has some very impressive features like being able to wirelessly attach to an iPhone or iPad as a remote station.

You can also plan a route on one of those devices when away from the boat, at home for instance, then transfer it back to the E7 when you get back on board.

This will show the features to you:-

Raymarine e7 Network MFD - YouTube

[Philsmith]

Thanks but that thing does way too much stuff. I just want a chartplotter.

[mikefossl]

I've found that the Lowrance HDS units are good value. They also use Navionics charts which is arguably the best bang for the buck.

Fishfinder, GPS Chartplotter | LOWRANCE HDS-8

[Philsmith]

Thanks Mike

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by Philsmith

Thanks but that thing does way too much stuff. I just want a chartplotter.

No worries, but a lot of the features like radar and the thermal imaging camera are optional extras. I thought that the Wifi capabaility with the iPhone & iPad were very impressive and handy functions.

[Dulcesuenos]

If that were my goal, I would buy a panasonic toughbook tablet. Waterproof, Wifi, GPS, etc, I believe it works on the android platform, and you can download all kinds of marine aps for free or less then a $10.00 one time fee, I have on my Photon Marine Navionics, Nauticharts, marine weather, Radar Now, Marine traffic (AIS receiver type program really really cool) wind finder , and many more, spent less then $20. for all those apps. Get a RAM mount and you are good to go and dont need a laptop anymore. Also I am sure there is a way to integrate communication to it via sattelites somehow.
They also cost way less than any touchscreen Chartplotter, and do so much
more.
I will ad that on Marine navionics plotting a course, (which can calculate est fuel use time etc ) is much much easier and faster than on any of my mapping programs that either Garmin or Seaclear etc

[Dockhead]

If you want to synch with an IPad, the only two I know of which have that capability at present are the Raymarine E7 (and soon to be released larger versions), and the Simrad NSS series (which are supposed to get that capability on the next firmware release, IIUC).

The E7 is certainly cheap and good -- how much simpler should it be?

I understood that you didn't ask about wireless synchronization, but rather merely planning routes and transferring them. I suppose there are various options which will do that, but if you work with a tablet or IPad, you should really think hard about that wireless connection option -- it gives you such convenience and many ways to interact with the plotter besides just route planning -- you can even use the IPad as a repeater, which would be really handy, I think.

[Ozbullwinkle]

The Raymarine E7 comes either as a chartplotter only as well or if you want a Fishfinder (Depthsounder) in it as well then this is the E7D.

Here is a much better video than the first one I posted.

Raymarine e7 Sea Trial with C.A. Richardson - YouTube

[Factor]

The Raymarine IPAD integration is a wonderful feature, Instead of having a repeater instrument at another helm (on a cat e.g.) or at a nav table or in a cabin above the bed etc, you can just link the IPAD, wonderful simple and way cheaper than repeater instruments.

[Philsmith]

Thanks all. Thinking time now and boat show to look.