So I have been contemplating the same issue.
I have
open CPN on my
laptop and just returned from a
cruise with my buddy
Captain Steve from Snead Island to
Sarasota and back. The return trip was in the dark from the Manatee Bridge and around to the front mark on the Manatee River up to Snead Island.
In this narrow dog leg channel you have no room for error as there are shoals with 2 feet of
water on a high tide on a good day.
The
iPad with
Navionics wins hands down over
open CPN and the
chartplotter for the following reasons in our humble opinion.
Seamless transitioning from chart to chart
Quick & simple go to function using caliper button
Touch zoom in and zoom out in a dark
cockpit no looking for functions & buttons
Chart brightness is easliy changed for night vision by changing settings on the
iPad
Based upon this real time test in a challenging
navigation exercise, I am going to
purchase an iPad and likely will load Navionics as well. I really liked the ease of use underway.