Netbook Chartplotter

[Salmon Troller]

New toy. I just picked up a new HP Mini (Netbook) computer with a built in GPS/Map system. I loaded up Maptech Offshore Navigator that I have been using on my old laptop. I now can take a road trip or navigate the boat from a handy self-contained system. The internal GPS is a Skyhook system which acquires a lock in less time than my digital puck on the boat and much less time than my older Garmin units I had used with a serial port connection. One nice thing is I can now use this Netbook either at the main helm, or up on the flybridge on a nice day.

[Go Aweigh2452]

My only concern is how bright the laptop is verses a true boating plotter. Mine is not bright enough and I have yet to find one I can use at the helm. Hope this one is a bright one...

[Papa Charlie]

My only concern is how bright the laptop is verses a true boating plotter. Mine is not bright enough and I have yet to find one I can use at the helm. Hope this one is a bright one...

I have the same trouble. I have a Dell and it doesn't work well on the bridge. Works OK at the lower helm if the sun isn't shining directly on it. Some claim that they have no problem in the sun. But I haven't seen one yet. I am sure that they are out there.

[2859er]

Sunlight viewable screens and laptop durability and are two good reasons to get a marine chart plotter.

[SomeSailor]

The displays in most chart plotters are the reason they're so expensive. Daylight viewable LCD screens are more expensive than the total cost of most laptops.

Great for planning the ext days trip and casual tracking though.

[Salmon Troller]

It sounds like your results are different than mine. While I have not tried the laptop out on the flybridge yet, inside the cabin at the main helm we have used a variety of them with good results for 10 years now. We had some problem with glare on a permanently mounted monitor (solved with a glare screen), but laptops can simply be turned a few degrees and work well for our purposes. Reliability and resistance to moisture, certainly an advantage to the plotters, but size for size on the screens those plotters cost 3x or more and I find the laptop reliable enough for my needs.

[tolly28]

How much did it run you? I've been thinking of doing the same thing... I run under a hardtop, and have had ok results with a laptop too. It is what it is...

[Salmon Troller]

This is an HP Mini 210 with the external USB DVD/CD drive ($50) and the internal GPS ($20) for a grand total of $400 including shipping & taxes off the HP site. This one runs Windows XP (Windows 7 is an option). Maptech runs on XP, so I did not upgrade. It does everything my old lap top did plus a bunch more (built in wifi card, aircard, web cam, speakers, etc.). The smaller size fits our helm better and will be that much easier to stash out of sight when docked. The only real question is will it make it to the boat - my wife has taken a strong liking to it in these past few days. I'm going to swipe it and make a dash to the boat in the morning before it is too late.

[2859er]

One of the big reasons I went with a MFD is that my laptop was not bright enough and was clumbsy at the helm. There are some great navigation software applications for computer hosted systems though. I really liked Coastal Explorer by Rose Point Navigation Systems. If my laptop would have worked better, I would have gone that route.

[Salmon Troller]

On the workboat we used Nobeltec, which worked great, but was a bit clunky with transition from chart to chart. When I set up my current boat, I initially tried a Beta version of Rose Point, but it had some glitches in it, so I went with Maptech which at the time was a bit more stable. Since then Rose has issued several final versions which I understand work well. One thing that is nice with the computer chart programs is they allow for vessel tracking. When we entered a new area, we would run a trace on our trolling pattern while watching the depth finder. With one or two passes, we had a repeatable "safe" pattern where we would not foul our gear. Somewhere those patterns are still on file should we go back into those areas. Maptech offers a bottom contour chart view which should also be useful for picking out a pattern if I find time for fishing.

[Watts-N-Shots]

My only concern is how bright the laptop is verses a true boating plotter. Mine is not bright enough and I have yet to find one I can use at the helm. Hope this one is a bright one...

Same issue for me but I set mine up for backup purposes only, just in case and well worth the few buck for the software and puck.