Weather Info for Mac

[moements]

Hello all,

Does anyone use a weather information system for Mac computers? I can't seem to find one.

Cheers,

Moe

[Gene :^)]

MacWX.com for weather.
MacENC.com for navigation, planning, and GRIB weather.
GPSNAVX.com if you don't want the full blown MacENC.

[TrevC]

I second Gene's recommendations.

I would also advise skipping out on GPSNavX, it doesn't support vector charts. For a relatively small price difference and far more flexibility, just get MacENC to start with.

Also, if you want vector charts be sure to get them from Fugawi X-Traverse and not chartworld.com

The charts on x-traverse are Navionics gold, and the chartworld ones are older style navionics. The older style Navionics don't seem as easy on the eyes and take longer to load/scroll.

We're planning to use a Mac Mini on board, with a second waterproof/sunlight-readable display at the helm. I'm currently leaning towards running Maxsea Time Zero instead of MacENC. We have Windows 7 running on a second partition. The Mini runs Win7 perfectly. I've upgraded the HD and maxed out the memory.

[moements]

Brilliant! Thanks for all your great suggestions. I'll check them out.
Moe

[RHoodJr]

We're planning to use a Mac Mini on board, with a second waterproof/sunlight-readable display at the helm.


What are your power arrangements for the mini? Are you using an inverter or do you have a DC solution? I'm still looking for a solution for my macbook pro.

[GPSNavX]

Lots more info on using a Mac for marine use ..

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[TrevC]

RHoodJr: A DC to DC regulator is the best option. We went with a model from Carnetix. They make a Mac Mini adaptor. Their regulator is supposed to be quite efficient compared to the smaller converter "bricks". I believe the Carnetix units have also been used with Macbooks.

Mikegyver also makes ready-to-use Macbook adapters.

I use Mac OS to earn my living and prefer it to anything else. However, I decided it wasn't the smartest choice for a boat computer. There's simply a way bigger selection of marine-related software on the Windows side of things. The Windows-based navigation software in particular is more mature, generally higher performance, and offers more (useful) features.

I would have much preferred to stick with Mac OS, but I only would have been doing so for the sake of convenience and familiarity. If you're serious about your boat computer, I believe you're much better off with a Windows 7 boot-camp partition.

If for some reason you can't (or really don't want to) run Windows on a spare partition, MacENC / MacWX are the best combo by far. MacENC in particular is the furthest ahead out of any of the Mac options.