What to look for in a new laptop for Open CPN

[RhythmDoctor]

I would like to hear some hard facts in this discussion.

Originally Posted by petter5

Well, on wheel marked equipment, touch display is not allowed due to the reason that it is considered less safe for navigation. Unwanted operaton by clumpsy hands or rain is amongst this reasons,,

You previously made the statement that touchscreen directly led to your friend's death. Please explain how that happened.

Originally Posted by AndytheSailor

...Steer clear of Windows 8, it is so far up its own arse you can have serious problems getting it to do what you want rather than what it wants.

I have two Win8 desktops for my wife and son (who are very rudimentary users) and two Win8 tablets for OpenCPN, and I have never had any issues like you describe. With every one of these machines, the first thing I did was install Classic Shell and set it to boot into the desktop. From that point forward, there was never a problem. I understand that Win8 was considered a failure because the average user couldn't be bothered with installing something like Classic Shell, but anyone who runs OpenCPN is going to have the computer skills to install it. So just install it and enjoy.

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

...especially when considering the PITA that a GPS "puck" introduces...As a bonus they also have a touch screen which although basic and intended for use with a stylus, is nevertheless better than none and works adequately with OpenCPN.

You can find tablets with built-in GPS. And if you have fat fingers, a generic rubber stylus can be found for $1. I keep one in my binnacle organizer, but almost never need to use it. (I have skinny fingers.)

Originally Posted by Snore

...I do not know what the power demand is when it is running, but the power supply is 20v and a max of 2.5 amps.

Yes the machine costs a US boat-buck. Yes there are cheaper machines out there. But if you need to add to your power generation ability to feed the laptop, is that saving money?

2.5 amps @ 20v is 50 watts, so your i5 machine may not be that miserly. Most of the tablets run off of USB power, which by spec is <0.5 amps @ 5 v, or 2.5 watts. Some of them do want a higher amperage USB power adapter (which can be 120V AC or 12V DC, but those are always less than 2 amps @ 5v, or 10 watts).

I fully realize that if you sail with salt spray coming into your cockpit all the time, you need something rugged. (FWIW, I do not.) I do have waterproof pouches for my tablets ($10 each for Travelon pouches online). I acknowledge that it may not be good enough for many you. But some of these other concerns like trashing Win8 are a little overblown IMO.

[petter5]

The accident happend in night time while in white sector of a lighthouse. He was using a touch display chartplotter in a open boat and the white sector from the lighthouse for navigation in the nigt.

All lighthouses are placed on either on solid ground or other permanent constructions and if you follow the white sector until you meet the lighthouse, you are in trouble. He used the lighthouse for the direction and the plotter for position/ distance reference to the lighthouse. When the boat suddenly came in to heavy rainfall, the water on the display acted as fingers on the touch display and panned the nav window away from the actual position, to late this was realized and he hit the stonewall just under the lighthouse. From the marks after the boat at the stones some meters away it was easy to see that the course was straight in white sectors. The display problem was observed by other survivers onboard the boat.

[Snore]

RythmDr

The power supply is always rated at the peak demand- startup. Also comparing a laptop with a real display to a tablet is clearly incongruous. If nothing else the display size of the laptop is notably larger.

[conachair]

Re power, in the past couple of weeks I've been using one of these on a delivery..
DC 10-32 switch to 12-35V 150W adjustable boost converter - UK SELLER - #0431 | eBay
powering an asus x201x
Notebooks & Ultrabooks - X201E - ASUS

Worked perfect so far running 24h for days on end. Pulls under 1A running linux mint 17 with 2 serial converters for ais & gps. Also used for some rtty weather from DWD using a degen 1103 so can't be that noisy.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by RhythmDoctor

I would like to hear some hard facts in this discussion.
You can find tablets with built-in GPS. And if you have fat fingers, a generic rubber stylus can be found for $1. I keep one in my binnacle organizer, but almost never need to use it. (I have skinny fingers.)

Toughbook vs Tablet

• A Toughbook is a "tablet PC". It has a flip screen that turns it into a rather chunky tablet. Touch screen isn't sophisticated but it will work without the stylus and is adequate for OpenCPN
• A Toughbook runs desktop applications. Even my Linux Mint Toughbook can run Windows desktop applications if need be courtesy of VirtualBox which is all I need. For example, I can, in a pinch, use my ToughBook for impromptu video editing. Want to print maps? Easy with an off the shelf cheap printer.
• A Toughbook can be flung from the Navstation / Cockpit seat and be expected to survive.
• I can stand out in the rain and use my Toughbook more than once. Similar rated tablets are $$$ and limited in choice.
• A Toughbook has a COM port and USB Ports. For example, I use the COM Port on my ToughBook to upload to my Garmin GPS unit.

There's probably other advantages, but I'll rest my case. My wife has an iPad and I have a Samsung GalaxyNote but, and I'll confess I'm probably in the minority here with my thinking, I would never, ever consider one as a primary navigation tool for any serious cruising.

Edit: I should have noted that my wife's iPad lives in a lifecase when on the boat. These do toughen the unit up and provide a degree of protection from water but are still not a match for the purpose designed Toughbook and similar devices.