Quote:
Originally Posted by mrlee
...I need some easy help with this stuff. ..... all the jargon ......
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iPad and Android are two competing technologies that provide similar functions ... a flat
screen you hold in the hand, and use your fingers on the
screen rather than a keyboard and mouse. They function just like a PC, but usually run more basic applications. Most mobile phones now are just smaller versions of these tablets.
Android is an operating system (think Windows), and many manufacturers produce tablets for this platform.
iPad is Apple only and it has its own operating system.
Charting software
You can buy a tablet and then buy charting software with charts. Navionics Mobile is popular software and gets my recommendation due to low
price and easy to use. The total cost of tablet and charting would be from around $250 - still quite a
cheap solution. Check that the tablet model has
GPS inbuilt ... most do. An exception is Apple which is dearer anyway, and does not have
GPS unless you buy one that takes a SIM card.
But your post suggests you may already have a laptop. If so, this is a cheaper and better option. My recommendation for the software would be
OpenCPN which is free .... see the dedicated forum on this site.
For charts, it depends what part of the world you want. Many countries including US provide free chart downloads. If your country does not have free charts, the next best would be CM93 charts. There are a few threads about CM93 and where to download them on this forum. As far as I know, the latest version of CM93 charts that
OpenCPN will read is 2010.
To see where you are on the chart you will need to buy a GPS to connect to the laptop. If you already have a handheld GPS you may need a
Serial to USB connverter. The OpenCPN site and Help provides more information about options here.
Without a GPS, you could still download OpenCPN and charts and start experimenting and looking.