IPad vs tablet vs laptop vs chartplotter

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Sure I have a full Windows 7 system running as well, on my iMac!, using VM Fusion. Its the only way to run windows, as crashes only take out the session not the machine. ( and windows crashs quite often) My Windows on my Mac is way better then native windows on a Windoze machine

I must be doing something wrong

I have had Win 7 since day one, I'm still running the release candidate
The box runs probably 12 hours a day most days and I have only had the machine crash once or twice and that was while while encoding video while doing other stuff at the same time so nothing to do with Win 7.

Maybe it has something to do with your mac

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Land an

Hmmmm. So where are we here? I started this discussion and am not sure.

I think the idea of a laptop with GPS and openCPN below deck with a tablet linked to it at the helm. But how do they link? Blue tooth? Wifi would require a router that draws more power.

I think I'm lost again.

If you want to do it without drawing power, you can simply fall back to paper chart navigation. If you go electronic, first take care of the energy requirements.

[OnTour]

iPad with Garmin BlueChart.... I was using Navionics but like the new Garmin BlueChart better.

[Suijin]

A few days ago I read another thread on these boards about using the iPad as a chartplotter. There were quite a few favorable reviews and suggestions, as well as links to waterproof cases and so forth. It does have some serious utility, with the great screen, relative light weight and long battery life, and quality of construction. And there are lots of marine apps out there...anchor alarms and so forth, that expand it's usefulness. A search should turn up the thread.

The Mac Mini is engineered to be highly energy efficient, so give it a closer look. I believe it does not have any moving parts, either, so it's reliability should be excellent.

[Gelfling]

Originally Posted by Tomm0

I have an iPad, transformer prime, and a nexus 4

I did the same thing (my phone is a Stratosphere), because i wanted to see for myself what the difference was out of box. In the box, the difference was the iPad2 (32gb/wifi) was $499 and the Transformer (32gb/wifi/gps) was $338 (tablet@$259 + keyboard@$79).

I will say that the iPad OS seems to be more 'stable'. Not that I have had the Transformer crash, but the page changes and online streaming on the iPad are smoother. But on the value side of it (price vs options) I think the Transformer wins. The Transformer came with the GPS and Keyboard at 67% of price. Also, that keyboard has a battery that extends the use of the tablet by 10 hours and quickly turns it into a 'laptop'.

The only problem I have, is that I keep the Transformer in a gumdrop case (because I can drop and break some electronics!) and it is a snug fit, no in and out with ease. So it is either a cockpit tool OR a cabin tool at one time. I have 'sausage fingers' so I am thinking that a second tablet to put in the keyboard would allow me to share apps between tablets....reducing cost.

Wife now uses the iPad and couldn't be happier with it. So we might just splurge and get the keyboard (approx $100) and the GPS mod (approx $100) for the iPad for a 'cabin laptop', the bummer to this is either the keyboard OR the GPS can plugged in at once. It appears they share the same port. But this is avoided if you spend the extra in the iPad purchase and get the 3G/4G version.

[Gelfling]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

As a convert to Apple in my development environment, about 12 months ago, having been a Windoze fan for 20 years, I now have a 27" IPS iMac, macbook pro,iphone 5 , Apple TV, Ipad and Ipad mini

Firstly , across the board the build quality is better, secondly the display quality is simply far better then cheaper , crappo windoze stuff.

......

Sure I have a full Windows 7 system running as well, on my iMac!, using VM Fusion. Its the only way to run windows, as crashes only take out the session not the machine. ( and windows crashs quite often) My Windows on my Mac is way better then native windows on a Windoze machine

See the light folks see the light, try it youll never go back.


Dave

Dave....compare apples to apples. I am not going to argue that an Apple product is of better quality over, say.... a HP 'windoze machine', but to say that it is better quality than say.....an AlienWare 'windoze machine'....COULD be a stretch.

If Windows 7 causes crashes ..... it will cause it on any machine. It is a heavy duty OS (over XP....but less heavy than Vista) and thus the 'cheapy machines' have trouble supporting it.

Sometimes you get what you pay for....these are all good examples of that.

Apple did themselves a favor and didn't allow other companies to make 'compatible' systems for their OS.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

But, Hey Cheap is good, Right

It works for me.. I'd rather blow a $100 Chinese Android than a $600 I-Pad... gives me the same basic info.. and easily replaced..
Not so an I-Pad... 6 for the price of 1... no brainer..

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Gelfling

Dave....compare apples to apples. I am not going to argue that an Apple product is of better quality over, say.... a HP 'windoze machine', but to say that it is better quality than say.....an AlienWare 'windoze machine'....COULD be a stretch.

If Windows 7 causes crashes ..... it will cause it on any machine. It is a heavy duty OS (over XP....but less heavy than Vista) and thus the 'cheapy machines' have trouble supporting it.

Sometimes you get what you pay for....these are all good examples of that.

Apple did themselves a favor and didn't allow other companies to make 'compatible' systems for their OS.

Alienware are very neat computers and I agree much of it is about price. But many people think that Apple just charges more for the same product and that is a mistake.

I think Windows 7 will enter the books as the last meaningful Windows version. MacOS, Linux, fBSD and others will take over.

p.s. you can run MacOS on other systems... Google Hackintosh it is I believe.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Land an

Hmmmm. So where are we here? I started this discussion and am not sure.

I think the idea of a laptop with GPS and openCPN below deck with a tablet linked to it at the helm. But how do they link? Blue tooth? Wifi would require a router that draws more power.

I think I'm lost again.

A wifi dongle or laptop inbuilt wifi will do it, no need for a router. I've had opencpn running on a raspberry pi controlled by a nexus 7 , but wasn't really practical, fingers are too big to do what mice do And it crashed. But might have a play with onboard computer tonight, motherbord only pulls 1.5A with AIS & GPS running (no monitor). I'm not bothered about having anything in the cockpit apart from depth/log, but a display with chart & AIS at the top of the companion way would be handy solo.

Shall report back if i get round to setting something up.

[Suijin]

With Apple you do get what you pay for, with respect to the quality of the hardware, and it's difficult to find machines of comparable quality on the Windows front. Alienware does not come close. You pay for performance with those machines, not build quality, and in that respect you get what you pay for. But the value there is if you're running demanding 3D applications and need raw speed and power. It is literally a fish out of water on a boat. Will it work? Of course it will, but you're paying for the brand and for cutting edge speed while running applications that do not require it.

I'm very technically proficient, having worked in the IT field for 16 years and I'm technology agnostic. Our house is host to four Mac laptops, a Windows laptop, and a desktop that I designed and built myself, with a mixed wifi/ethernet/powerline network that connects them to the internet, network storage, a whole house sound system, and a HTPC (Boxee Box).

The Macs just work. Network tasks are easy, and they talk to the third party devices much more easily, predictably, and reliably than the PCs. They are also overbuilt and extremely sturdy.

FYI, I think Windows 7 is a great operating system. I use it on my daily machine and I don't recall that it has ever locked up, not once. I would put it on a par with Mac OS as far as stability of the OS is concerned. Third party hardware and applications are another matter.

When I move to liveaboard, if there is Apple technology that will do what I want, even following the 80/20 rule, it will be my clear choice.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

It has combined GLONASS+GPS instead of just GPS etc... all next generation and outperforming your points.

Apple is so much better because it has Glonass+GPS you say?
Seems the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) update has taken care of that issue as well.

6th October 2012, 03:11 PM #97
Senior Member
Posts: 232
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sunny South Texas

Not sure if it was some user error on my part in the past or if they enabled some part of the WiFi radio that wasn't enabled but I was happy to see it.
They were disabled under the old software. Another new good thing is glonass (Russian GPS) are enabled now too. Seems that from the beginning the hardware was there but unused by the OS.

xda-developers - View Single Post - Pantech Element on AT&T

[capttman]

I have toys I Pad, I phone, laptop etc all work fine all are good for something. But somewhere in this thread someone stated they thought paper charts were dangerous!!! WTH learn to use them it's getting to the point where people are going to start to get in trouble with just electronic.. Every sailor boater should be seasoned in paper before the go electronic..... Just my opinion!

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I think Windows 7 will enter the books as the last meaningful Windows version.

You may be right. I don't know. What I do know is that people have been predicting the demise of Windows since 3.1 came out. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Safari38LH]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Why not do both?

Get a nice super compact MacMini for the navstation with display that doubles as entertainment system for watching movies etc. Install OpenCPN (or MacENC, etc.) on it and be happy.

Then for the cockpit, get an iPad and install Splashtop on it. Install the Splashtop-streamer on the MacMini and now you can control and use OpenCPN from/on your iPad.

Yes, you need a wifi router for that because the iPad is wireless. Being wireless always used to be so spiff, like with TacTic instruments etc. but now that we can have it all with iPads it suddenly became bad because it was brought to us by big bad Apple without USB ports (oh how I hate USB ports and their drivers...). What a world

Can you get the Mac Mini to run off of 12v?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Safari38LH

Can you get the Mac Mini to run off of 12v?

Yes you can modify it internally, bypassing the 12V power supply. Use Google to find the mod. The MacMini is super low power consumption, 14W IIRC.

I just use a small inverter because the loss of a small load is very small. Let's say I loose 30% This means I consume 14 / 0.7 = 20W instead of 14 so 6W difference which is 0.5 Amps at 12V.