Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo485
Why would you want to pay the rip-off prices for a chart plotter? And then it only works as a chart plotter?......
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Seconded, my view exactly. Unless you have a huge
budget and HAVE to have the unit up in the open air in the
cockpit, don't get ripped off by
buying a plotter. An
iPad or (IMHO) even better, a cheapish
laptop with
software on it will be a cheaper, easier to use and futureproof solution.
I dont ever remember seeing older
boats having chart tables fitted in the open
cockpit, the chart station was always down below, so why does a modern day plotter have to be there? The only reason I can think of it that some flash systems can be used as a
radar display as well but if you have a stand alone
radar anyway, that makes that redundant.
There is an added
safety aspect too, if you get into trouble and the
boat electrics are knocked out, an iPad or laptop will still have its own
battery power for a couple of hours at least so you'll still be able to navigate to a safe heaven or give out your position via hand held
radio or even mobile
phone should you require assistance. A built in plotter is just a useless lump of junk if the
boats power fails.