OpenCPN On Tablet Computer

[LeoA]

Originally Posted by prroots

Thanks for the great review. Sounds like it fulfills all my requirements. Have you ever determined what the average current consumption is?
Pete

I haven't had a chance to put a meter on the tablet to measure actual usage, but the OEM Fujitsu AC power block has an output of 16 volts
23.75 amps. The battery in the tablet is a 10.8 volt 7800mAh and it will usually run for 5-6 hours on it.

[LeoA]

Originally Posted by prroots

Still another couple questions! I see you use a serial-to-usb converter to read your gps. Do you also read AIS data (as I plan to)? Can you think of any reason why that wouldn't work? I suppose that would use up both USB ports. Note: I don't intend to use the dock (with the extra USB ports) while navigating since the tablet would be attached to the bulkhead of nav station. Also, I believe there is a Microsoft COA on back, but do you know of a source for the original Windows XP Tablet edition on DVD (as opposed to some type of recovery disk)?
Pete

I don't read AIS data now as this is not a heavy shipping traffic area that I fish in. Bluetooth is also available in both Windows and Xubuntu, but I don't have a bluetooth gps to check it with. Pcmcia port is also located on the tablet, so there are options to connect external items.
I have the Microsoft COA on back also, but I have not been able to locate a recovery disk set. Also, Microsoft never released WinXP Tablet Edition as a retail product, so the only way to get it was pre-installed. Student edition Windows7 professional is on sale for $29.95 from Microsoft store right now. You have to have a .edu email address to get it with, but I have 2 kids in college now and will probably order me a copy. Tablet compatibility is supposed to be built into all Win 7 s above Home Basic.

[prroots]

Originally Posted by LeoA

I haven't had a chance to put a meter on the tablet to measure actual usage, but the OEM Fujitsu AC power block has an output of 16 volts
23.75 amps. The battery in the tablet is a 10.8 volt 7800mAh and it will usually run for 5-6 hours on it.

Thanks. The specs show it as 60 Watts, but that is probably the rating of the AC adapter and I suspect average current draw is well below that.
Pete

[prroots]

Originally Posted by LeoA

I don't read AIS data now as this is not a heavy shipping traffic area that I fish in. Bluetooth is also available in both Windows and Xubuntu, but I don't have a bluetooth gps to check it with. Pcmcia port is also located on the tablet, so there are options to connect external items.
I have the Microsoft COA on back also, but I have not been able to locate a recovery disk set. Also, Microsoft never released WinXP Tablet Edition as a retail product, so the only way to get it was pre-installed. Student edition Windows7 professional is on sale for $29.95 from Microsoft store right now. You have to have a .edu email address to get it with, but I have 2 kids in college now and will probably order me a copy. Tablet compatibility is supposed to be built into all Win 7 s above Home Basic.

I already have two USB-to-serial converters that I would hope to use. Based upon my investigation, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 is a superset of Windows XP pro. It seems you would be missing stuff if you just installed Windows XP Pro. I googled on the tablet edition using "en winxp tablet 2005 iso" and found several available for download. Also, you might find this of interest:
Does anyone have recovery discs for the ST5112?
Pete

[LeoA]

Originally Posted by LeoA

I haven't had a chance to put a meter on the tablet to measure actual usage, but the OEM Fujitsu AC power block has an output of 16 volts
23.75 amps. The battery in the tablet is a 10.8 volt 7800mAh and it will usually run for 5-6 hours on it.

Sorry, but that is supposed to be 3.75 amps

[prroots]

Originally Posted by LeoA

Sorry, but that is supposed to be 3.75 amps

Thanks. I guessed as much! BTW, I called Fujitsu at 1-800-fujitsu and they transferred me to tech support. They stated that recovery discs are $15 + tax + shipping each, but I would need to supply serial and configuration numbers for them to determine the correct recovery disc. They also sell the drivers and utilities disc, but he stated they can also be downloaded from their site.
Pete

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by prroots

Thanks. The specs show it as 60 Watts, but that is probably the rating of the AC adapter and I suspect average current draw is well below that.
Pete

The charger will charge the battery AND run the thing at the same time, hence the 60 Watt. Once the thing gets charged, consumption will drop.

Our 10 inch netbook seems to consume below 1.5 A when running a single simple task. Charger nominal 40 Watt.

b.

[prroots]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

The charger will charge the battery AND run the thing at the same time, hence the 60 Watt. Once the thing gets charged, consumption will drop.

Our 10 inch netbook seems to consume below 1.5 A when running a single simple task. Charger nominal 40 Watt.

b.

Thanks. That's about what I would expect. I'm not at boat so don't have access to my battery monitor, but a amp-hr spreadsheet I created shows that my Dell Inspiron E1505 draws 2.6 amps or 31.2 watts under average conditions. I will hope that any solution I come up with does not exceed this figure by much.
Pete

[prroots]

I just ordered a Fujitsu ST5112 tablet PC on eBay. I hope to install a dual boot Windows/Ubuntu system. I will run OpenCPN under both.
Pete

[prroots]

My ST5112 is due to arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, I have had a change of heart. Based upon discussions in other forums, I now favor Windows 7. Based upon this I ordered a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium off eBay. I will compare the original Windows XP the ST5112 comes with to Windows 7. I will make Acronis images of both to facilitate quick and easy switching back and forth for evaluation purposes. I do not plan to go with a dual boot since I want to save as much of the 80G HDD for charts and a few other apps. I do need to decide whether to install the 32 or 64 bit version of Windows 7. I'm favoring the 32 bit version at the moment given the limited 1G RAM the unit comes with.
Pete

[dacust]

Originally Posted by prroots

My ST5112 is due to arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, I have had a change of heart. Based upon discussions in other forums, I now favor Windows 7. Based upon this I ordered a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium off eBay. I will compare the original Windows XP the ST5112 comes with to Windows 7. I will make Acronis images of both to facilitate quick and easy switching back and forth for evaluation purposes. I do not plan to go with a dual boot since I want to save as much of the 80G HDD for charts and a few other apps. I do need to decide whether to install the 32 or 64 bit version of Windows 7. I'm favoring the 32 bit version at the moment given the limited 1G RAM the unit comes with.
Pete

Windows 7

I was a late adapter pf Win 95.
Then a late adapter of XP.
Never even got close to Vista.
But, on the advice of a Windows guru here at my company, I got Win 7 early.

I haven't been disappointed.

Only problem I've had is the Firewire drivers suck. But then from what I've been reading on the forums, the XP ones were not much better.

It takes a little getting used to the new places they moved things, but it's not too bad. A quick Google finds me what I need.

-dan

[prroots]

Originally Posted by dacust

Windows 7

I was a late adapter pf Win 95.
Then a late adapter of XP.
Never even got close to Vista.
But, on the advice of a Windows guru here at my company, I got Win 7 early.

I haven't been disappointed.

Only problem I've had is the Firewire drivers suck. But then from what I've been reading on the forums, the XP ones were not much better.

It takes a little getting used to the new places they moved things, but it's not too bad. A quick Google finds me what I need.

-dan

Thanks. You didn't say, but are you running Windows 7 on a Fujitsu ST5112? I will be mounting the ST5112 to a bulkhead at Nav Station and using both USB ports for usb-to-serial adapters to read gps and AIS data. That will use up all USB ports so I'm hoping that a keyboard and mouse will not be required. For doing routine maintenance (such as updating charts or Windows) I can demount tablet and plug it into dock which will then provide additional USB ports for keyboard, mouse, CD/DVD drive, etc. Therefore, I am anxious to see how the stylus pen can be used to operate OpenCPN when underway without use of dock. Comments please.
Pete

[dacust]

Originally Posted by prroots

Thanks. You didn't say, but are you running Windows 7 on a Fujitsu ST5112? I will be mounting the ST5112 to a bulkhead at Nav Station and using both USB ports for usb-to-serial adapters to read gps and AIS data. That will use up all USB ports so I'm hoping that a keyboard and mouse will not be required. For doing routine maintenance (such as updating charts or Windows) I can demount tablet and plug it into dock which will then provide additional USB ports for keyboard, mouse, CD/DVD drive, etc. Therefore, I am anxious to see how the stylus pen can be used to operate OpenCPN when underway without use of dock. Comments please.
Pete

Oh, sorry. That's what I get for responding quickly to a post as I'm on the way out the door. Left out some important points.

I was only commenting on general usability and stability of Win 7, which is excellent. I'm on a desktop, quad core, 6gb ram. Don't know what performance would be like with 1-2gb and slower processor.

-dan

[prroots]

Originally Posted by dacust

Oh, sorry. That's what I get for responding quickly to a post as I'm on the way out the door. Left out some important points.

I was only commenting on general usability and stability of Win 7, which is excellent. I'm on a desktop, quad core, 6gb ram. Don't know what performance would be like with 1-2gb and slower processor.

-dan

Thanks. Yes, I run Windows 7 on my Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop with 2G RAM and dual Intel T2500/2GHz cores. It runs great even though it was originally designed for XP. All reports suggest that it's a definite improvement on the ST5112 compared to the original XP version. I'm hoping to get some feedback to help make a decision on whether to go with the 32 vs 64 bit version. I'm also looking for more feedback on running OpenCPN using the stylus alone. I would rather not have to depend on keyboard or mouse.
Pete

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by prroots

(...) That will use up all USB ports so I'm hoping that a keyboard and mouse will not be required.(...)

But the ports can be clonned with an adapter (hub). Or so I believe.

?

b.