Using a laptop for GPS

[RUMBLEFISH]

Does anyone us a laptop for GPS on this site. I was thinking of using it for my late nights stripper fishing but not shure if its cost effective. I get a new lap top every 2 years with great graphics but what would I need for the entire set up.

I have an older Garmin black/white with the local chip that is fine but looking at whats available with the nav charts look real nice.

Thoughts or opinions?

 

[gradyfish22]

A guy in my marina did it, he loved the program he had and the big screen but said the biggest issue he had was keeping it in a location where ti wont get wet or rattle off the dash and break. This was 2 seasons ago and he does not use the boat much, I'm sure if you used the right computer that can handle a little water and got a mount for it to be removable, it would work well. I've been on a few charter boats where they had them permanent and they loved them. Not sure what brand program they used.

 

[wshackne]

Check out MaxSea that is distributed by Furuno. There may be better, but this one works pretty well.

 

[conshykid]

I used to install laptops in every kind of veichle you can think of including boats at my last job.They were all Panasonic ToughBooks for the most part.We did many police boats and A few boats for other state and military agencies.They were not used as a chartplotter but more for information and data that could be sent via cell and sat antennas.They all had real time gps once installed.

I looked into using them as a chartplotter since we would use them ourselves when we had to travel for our installs like all those street gps units for your cars that are out there.We were using them before there was any real market for in car gps.

If you go to the Nobeltec web site you will see navagation software.Their Visual Navagation Suite is what you want to turn your computer into a plotter.The only thing it dosent come with an antenna.I dont believe they sell antennas but any gps antenna which plugs into a usb should work.

The ToughBooks are the way to go.I can tell you from experience thet can handle a lot of abuse in very kind of enviroment.I have an CF-M34 touch screen unit thats only about 10" square and would make a great plotter.They are very expensive to buy new but you should be able to find them on ebay.

 

[RUMBLEFISH]

I'm going to look into this more and thanks for the info. I'm getting a new toshiba portege touchscrren in a few weeks and like other tablets I can swing the screen around to cover the key board. Then I just use the touch pen and Im all set. The best thing is if it takes a crap I send it back and get a new one. For once Im getting one over on the man.

 

[gradyfish22]

I agree, toughbook is the way to go, that was my initial thought when a laptop on a boat was mentioned. Unless it is enclosed in a pilot house, I would buy a unit that can withstand abuse, saltwater spray and changing conditions over time will kill a normal computer faster then you would think. I have used the nobeltec programs on other boats and liked them when I used them, but never used them enough or other brands to really compare. Your other option is a permanent screen and a small desktop installed inside the cabin, but that would not be my top choice for installation.

 

[freddy063]

The way I look at it would you use a screwdriver to pound in nails? Or a hammer to take out screws? Use them for what they where made to do. But I have a plain flat screen tv and dvd down below in my cabin and it's still work 5 years now. But what do I know. still have a comadore 64, what a trip fired it up the other day, brought back memorys. :lol:

 

[Sprocket]

A good alternative

Hello,
I have used notebooks for navigation on many boats for over 5+ years now. I also work in the industry (for a major IT vendor out in CA). There are a number of outstanding plotter/nav programs out there (Maptech, Nobeltec, Raymarine, C-MAP, etc).
The advantages:
1) Options of programs. Choice of vector or raster charts.
2) Portability. Do extensive trip planning at home (with detailed annotations) then take to the boat.
3) Size and viewability of the screen.
4) Various input devices: notebook keyboard, touchpad, trackstick, mouse, touchscreen.
5) Many gps options: CF cards, usb external, PCMCIA cards, etc.
6) Data aquisition & management. Can pull boat and engine data. Wx data, etc.
7) Notebooks have their own battery backup!
Disadvantages:
1) Tolerance to environmental conditions. As previously stated, unless you buy a ruggedized notebook, the high salt ladened humidity, shock and vibration, and thermals will signifcantly reduce the life of the notebook. Any water intrusion, will double or more the chance of a major failure. And, I hate to say it, but most manufacturers will not honor warranty repairs for failures determed to be customer abuse (such as salt water intrusion) or using the product outside of "normal" operating environments. Regarding Tablets. You need to consider the vibration and shock loads on the single hinge if the screen is opened like a regular notebook.
2) User interface. Some ergonomics that would enhance usability in the office are not suitable for trying to enter data or moving cursers while underway. Touchscreens are nice, but if you need to have accurate touchpoints, you may want to consider an alternate means of i/o while underway.
3) Mounting. Security, accessibility, viewability need to be evaluated.
4) Power consumption.

I secure my notebooks with velcro strips at various locations in the cabin, navstation, and cockpit. (If you want to see something, look closely at pictures from the space shuttle & ISS. They have notebooks velcroed everywhere!). I also have the notebooks networked (local wifi) so I can share data among them.
In summary, I prefer using notebooks than smaller chartplotters. When used appropriately and installed with care to the environmental factors, I have found them to be reliable.

 

[conshykid]

I would not velcro anything,not to say it wouldnt hold just that there are mounts designed strickly to secure laptops into anything.Our company made mounts for computers for doing just that,installing them into cars,truck,boats,etc...When there are installed the final product looks very professional.Also our mounts are docking stations which when docked the computer will automaticly be pluged into its charger and all antenna connections are wired right into the mount itself.All of the antennas we used are Antennaplus hockeypuck style antennas.If anyone wants further info on this let me know,I have done over 15,000 installs on every type of veichle you can think of.I can get any mount,dock,antenna you need.

As far as tablets go we installed mostly Toughbooks but started to do more and more Itronix as well which are nice.More Police and EMS were going to Hammerhead computers which I personally did not like and are a pia to install.

We installed a bunch of cf-18 toughbook tablets into Humvees for the US Army that are used in very rugged conditions and from what they tell us they love em,and can take some real abuse,more than you or I could do.

I think as far as the software goes its a matter of what kind of features and how many of them you are looking for.The basic Maptech is probably the cheapest,but the basic Nobletec has more features,like bathy charts.

 

[gerrys]

I used my laptop with Maptech offshore navigator and a Garmin USB antenna on our last trip from VA to Montreal. It worked great. I used it as a backup to the primary Ray unit. We never needed it but it was handy for the first mate to be able to watch our progress from the work table on the upper deck or at the dinner table below. You have to be diligent in keeping the maps current.