Must-have software for cruising laptop

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

My objection is having to buy a plan that expires monthly. I'm agin it on principle. WMart has a non-expiring gizmo and data plans but on B/O from China, whereas all the US carriers are monthly, even sans contract.

Here, its an unlocked unit. We use sim cards. A one gig card lasts a month. A 4 gig there is no limit.....I dont have an account,,,,,,,
Ebay is your friend

[bornyesterday]

I used a mi-fi for a couple of years, mainly because I often have a few devices connected at the same time.
Otherwise you have either a dongle/usb lead sticking out - easy to break on a laptop - or an internal, non-transferable modem.

When my service provider finally decided that phone tethering wasn't cheating after all and offered a phone contract with unlimited data and tethering included I took it.
It's one less thing to carry around.

For a laptop with a sunlight-readable screen I like the later Panasonic Toughbook CF-19's. Really expensive and a bit quirky but very hard to break.

edit: sorry for contributing to the drift.

[boatman61]

I spend a lot of time on OP's boats.. never use their equipment.. even if the owners aboard and runs his I still refer to my stuff for confirmation..
I carry a Toshiba Notebook with Nimble Navigator (was $100 a couple of years back) which tied into a GPS puck gives me WW CP info using CM93 charts.. 'Quinn' is a fellow cruiser who knocked up this excellent CP program and does the Atlantic circle.. should be in SMX at the moment.. nice bloke..
I also have OpenCPN and WW CM93 charts stored on a stick.. a downloaded gift from someone I helped out..
For entertainment I carry music and films on sticks and recently invested in a Spot Gen3 so owners etc could track my progress online at home..
My next investment is MiFi to give me WiFi independence.. tired of walking around strange ports trying to find a HotSpot..
Might be an idea to invest in a big monitor to play your sticks on.. cheaper than the other options..

[Kenomac]

Nobeltec Odyssey works well if you have the right pc and processor. Otherwise, we prefer an Ipad Air cellular with Nobeltec app (3D photo overlay) and INavx app, and our Ipad 1 with internal GPS using INavx app.

The Ipad Air cellular name is misleading, it only means that it has an internal GPS and can operate off the cellular grid, so it doesn't need a continuous cellular signal to navigate.

For weather, there are several ipad apps that work great. Navigation via Ipads and the apps written for them has really moved ahead of what's available for pcs. Android tablets on the other hand have very few choices.

Maybe it's time to make the switch over to an ipad? I'm not a huge fan of Apple, but my Ipad air in it's Lifeproof case, bright screen, floating lifejacket, music in the background, 12 hour + battery life... really can't be beat. Add in the 3D graphics, photo overlay and $50 cost for the charts & the Nobeltec app was free... Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the ability to add photos and video taken via the ipad to the charts. Unreal.

Been using the original Ipad 1 for four years on the boat, it's never let us down... unlike the PC or semi permanent navigation gear on the boat.

[Canibul]

we've just started looking at using our iPads for navigation, we have one with GPS. What weather apps do you recommend for iPad?

[Stu Jackson]

There are so many options these days it is staggering. What someone else likes may not always work for you. Work out the options, good luck.

Panbo: The Marine Electronics Hub

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Canibul

we've just started looking at using our iPads for navigation, we have one with GPS. What weather apps do you recommend for iPad?

Last season I used PocketGrib. For this upcoming season, I've downloaded Bouyweather and Sailflow. I'll be using whichever between the three I don't have to subscribe to and pay the least for downloads. PocketGrib worked out well as long as I had access to wifi, I could get a five day forecast for free.