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Old 09-06-2024, 17:21   #16
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

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What software and charts are you using?
QtVlm with MBTiles and purchased chart packs mainly but we also use the Navionics Boating app.
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Old 09-06-2024, 19:29   #17
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE (wifi only version is fine).

The 10.9" is $450 the larger 12.3" (FE+) is $600.

Technically you could use the cheaper A9 but it isn't waterproof.
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Old 14-06-2024, 07:39   #18
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

This company makes fantastic stuff:

https://www.xenarcdirect.com/RT101-PRO.html

Would look through there other products as well. Full military grade and testing, it’s unbelievable.
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Old 14-06-2024, 08:01   #19
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

I was just looking at the same 3 models mentioned in the blog post yesterday. The new iPad Pro screen is nothng like previous models. It is much brighter and the colors more vivid. The price is crazy high, but likely still the best choice. We used a iPad mini 4 for a long time on the boat, not sure we will replace it with a new Mini.

The big question is if the internal GPS is worth $200 more when we never have them associated with any cell plans.
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Old 14-06-2024, 08:39   #20
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

Our Oukitel is waterproof but not quite bright enough, we built a simple sun visor from corrugated plastic. Helps a fair bit.
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Old 14-06-2024, 09:13   #21
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

The only reason to use an iPad instead of a cheap chart plotter like a Lowrance TI 7 is the cost of charts, I guess. Are they THAT much cheaper? Enough to make up for the glare, overheating, power demands, and all the rest?

qtVlm is at least decent software. How people live with clunky old OpenCPN is a complete mystery to me.
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Old 14-06-2024, 09:30   #22
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

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The only reason to use an iPad instead of a cheap chart plotter like a Lowrance TI 7 is the cost of charts, I guess. Are they THAT much cheaper? Enough to make up for the glare, overheating, power demands, and all the rest?

qtVlm is at least decent software. How people live with clunky old OpenCPN is a complete mystery to me.
The cost of charts varies quite a bit depending on vendor and location. But on Navionics on an iPad you might pay $100 for high quality Navionics charts for a season for a couple areas, and you might pay close to $1000 for similar charts of a lower quality on a dedicated chart plotter. So yeah, the difference is worth it.

I have put some effort into learning qtvlm. It is certainly much more modern, something I doubt OpenCPN will ever achieve because of it's dedication to being cross platform and dependence on wxWidgets. So it does have that appeal. But damn, I can't figure out the most basic stuff. They have redefined terms that have had specific meanings for decades to mean something else, and adding new terms creating a new language. I spent 2 weeks and probably 20 hours trying to figure out how to create a route and add waypoints to it, only to figure out that in qtVlm a route means something different from every other plotter ever produced for 30 years. It wasn't until I stumbled on a youTube that talked about "pathways" that I was able to create what is rightly called a route, and it is still more difficult than in OpenCPN.

I would love to love qtvlm because of it's better more modern interface, but it needs to work easily also.
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Old 14-06-2024, 10:49   #23
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

We’ve used iPads for years, running either iNavX or Aquamaps. They get mounted high up under our dodger, on a swing arm acquired from Monoprice. Worked well for us, summer or winter.
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Old 14-06-2024, 11:22   #24
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

We have a 19” B&G glass helm at our lower helm station and then have a new IPad M4 that I run Navionics on as a backup/comparison.

I would not suggest going with the Nano texture, we don’t have it and it’s fine.
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Old 14-06-2024, 11:25   #25
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

As a samsung fan I would definitely say Go with the Ultra S9, but the iPad might be catching Samsung's Tail, but for the Job you're looking for you'll have less trouble with the S9
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Old 14-06-2024, 12:08   #26
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

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Originally Posted by jalmberg View Post
The only reason to use an iPad instead of a cheap chart plotter like a Lowrance TI 7 is the cost of charts, I guess. Are they THAT much cheaper? Enough to make up for the glare, overheating, power demands, and all the rest?

qtVlm is at least decent software. How people live with clunky old OpenCPN is a complete mystery to me.
Now that's funny. I tried both and found OpenCPN more convenient to use and with the better user interface.



A real chartplotter able to run native Android or Windows would be great, but it doesn't exist unfortunately.


Personally I would hate to be enslaved to one chart suppliers subscription scheme because I use their hardware. As pointed out the proprietary hardware forces you to buy expensive hardware again and again.



If you know how to use SASplanet charts are essentially free.
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Old 14-06-2024, 12:29   #27
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

Bonjour Sabado!

We also have the same glare/brightness issue with our iPad and are contemplating an upgrade. I was thinking about solving the issue with an anti-glare film covering. Have you tried one, and if so, did it work?
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Old 14-06-2024, 14:02   #28
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

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Bonjour Sabado!

We also have the same glare/brightness issue with our iPad and are contemplating an upgrade. I was thinking about solving the issue with an anti-glare film covering. Have you tried one, and if so, did it work?
Hello friends! Our main issue at the moment is that our ipad pros are 4th gen and the screen simply doesn't get bright enough. It looks like the new ipad pros and the s9 Ultra are almost twice as bright.

Unfortunately, we are no where near a place we can view any of them in person so we'll have to rely on specs and reviews.
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Old 14-06-2024, 14:05   #29
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

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Now that's funny. I tried both and found OpenCPN more convenient to use and with the better user interface.



A real chartplotter able to run native Android or Windows would be great, but it doesn't exist unfortunately.


Personally I would hate to be enslaved to one chart suppliers subscription scheme because I use their hardware. As pointed out the proprietary hardware forces you to buy expensive hardware again and again.



If you know how to use SASplanet charts are essentially free.
Unfortunately, OpenCPN isn't available on the iPad and the Android interface really isn't optimized for a touch interface on a mobile device. We do use and like OpenCPN on our laptop for some tasks like creating wind polars and viewing radar but for navigation, weather and weather routing, qtVlm is very hard to beat.
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Old 14-06-2024, 17:45   #30
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Re: New Tablet for use at the helm

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The big question is if the internal GPS is worth $200 more when we never have them associated with any cell plans.
Essential to buy the cellular + wifi model if you want to run charting software.

I’ve got the new iPad Pro running Navionics and can confirm it is just brilliant.
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