BLUEMOMENT

Nick described his 10" netbook used as a chartplotter. The refurbed ones are an attractive price. Before I splash out have you, Nick, or anybody else got a view on any pros and cons over an extended time ?

I have a Compaq Mini 110 which is perfect for my needs - caveat - as long as you have access to power. I can run mine from ac or dc but battery consumption is high. You can expect only about 3 hours max with this.

Other than that - I really haven't missed a cd drive. Use of pen drives is so common these days.

I am running Garmin charts on mine with a wee bluetooth GPS at a tenner.

Regards
Donald

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http://www.rdpatterns.co.uk/
Skype:donaldandsheena

I have a Samsung N140 with 2gb RAM. Battery life is 8 hours, or it uses a miserly 0.7 amps (around 8 watts) on the 12v system including losses from the converter charger thingy.

I find it excellent, although I have not pressed it hard this year.
I bought a rollaway rubber waterproof keyboard for £6 and a laser mouse, so that keeps dripping fingers away from the netbook in use.

It has everything attached now.
Memory Map
C-map plotter and USB reader so I can transfer to the old JRC chartplotter at the helm
AIS
Navtex
3g telephone dongle
Enhanced Wifi antenna for increased range in port
SIRF 3 Globalsat BU-353 GPS, with avaialbe spare backup Garmin 72, and feed from the main plotter.
Also bought a DVD external drive for 20 quid so can watch DVDs as well.

Will improve the swing arm mount that I put it on, but very happy with progress so far.

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eastcoastpilot.com - No, not that East Coast.
Anglian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Dalriada and Alba

I might be able to get you a robotic arm so you can connect the 'kin thing to the wheel, then you can start winning races!

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Just because you're paranoid
doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

I think you will find it is an anti gravity device I require, so as to lessen the weight effect of my Banqueting and Comfort Enhancement equipment on board.
It would also help if the Skipper revised his rather louche attitude from taking part to winning.

I am taken with the thought of an Avtex 16 inch LCD Entertainment Centre on electric riser brackets for next year.

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eastcoastpilot.com - No, not that East Coast.
Anglian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Dalriada and Alba

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For me one of the big pluses of my eee-PC is the solid state hard drive - WinXP loads in 20 sec or less and there's no whirry bit to go tits up when dropped or bumped. When not travelling it's mostly used as an MP3 player connected to my stereo and a portable USB hard drive with 300 albums on it.

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- Nick

. . . . . . . . .

Ah yes, forgot the entertainment element.
Mine is hooked to my 160Gb iPod, and to get round the horrid iTunes idiocy, I have loaded a freeware program called Copy trans, which allows me to load what music I want without rude messages. It also allows me to back up all my nav and personal data to the iPod as a secondary device, which is genius.

Downside of solid state is that it decays gently over time, losing small amounts of capacity as you go, but it should not significantly bother me in the expected lifetime use.

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eastcoastpilot.com - No, not that East Coast.
Anglian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Dalriada and Alba

I made the decision to use a Netbook (Samsung N145) running Open-CPN with C-Map charts and a GPS dongle from Maplins….. works a treat.

The reasons I chose a Netbook are:

Smaller footprint,
Minimal power usage,
And around 10 hours battery life (apparently some can give you 14 hours).
Plus everything-else a new low-end laptop can provide with the addition of an external DVD drive.

PM if required

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The only downside we found using the netbook alone when we ran out of charts for Norway a wee bit North of Bergen was that it is almost impossible to look very far ahead and get the bigger picture, but we got round this by using the maps on tourist leaflets for passage planning (don't try this at home folks) and the netbook for actual navigation. Otherwise it was excellent. If you feel the need the NASA AIS engine for around £100 makes an excellent addition - very comnforting in the oilfields in the dark on the way back across.

Our netbook doesn't have a great battery life (maybe three hours constant use) but the power drain through a car adapter is very low - much less than a laptop - so we left it plugged in a lot of the time.

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- Nick

. . . . . . . . .

Back in October 2010, I was tempted by Currys sale to add a small amount to my Christmas 2009 money and splash out on a Packard Bell dot s2 netbook at £230. A wheezy, whirlly style storage of 250Gb, 6 cell battery for 7 hour life, and Windows 7 Starter 32 bit. From further research since, it would appear that despite the branding it is actually an Acer Nav50 but I have no reason to complain yet.

My grandson spent his 2010 Christmas money on a Samsung of similar spec, but with the advantage of built in Blue tooth, for similar money during Currrys Boxing Day Sale.

I've committed to an O2 £5 / 500 MB per month internet dongle but haven't used it in anger yet - I can't get a 3G signal at home and I couldn't get a signal when we stayed in the outskirts of Aberfoyle.

The plan is to take the netbook with me on my work travels.

I also plan to buy this GPS puck on a wire, and this 12 volt power supply, and Memory Maps £40 chart bundle so that I can make use of the netbook on board.

I wish that I could get a power supply that would cope with a 24 volt input so that I could use it in the truck, but I haven't found one at a reasonable price.

I like the netbook, and think that the only drawback is the 600 pixel depth - many login pages are designed for 800 pixel.

Ash

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"This is a sailing Forum"

Puck is a great choice, but you have overspecced the 12v power supply, as a Netbook draws little power, so a 3a one will do the job nicely.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/universal-3a-dc ... ply-228639

I have hardwired mine in on its own fuse and switch.

You might also want to consider getting a Wireless Antenna with extended range. Something like this....

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/Edim ... 25462.html

I also have a POWERED USB hub, very useful for when I run out of USB sockets.

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eastcoastpilot.com - No, not that East Coast.
Anglian Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Dalriada and Alba

Thanks for all the info.

I had already been to Maplins this afternoon - before reading your post - so I thought - Oh s**t, but then I noticed that 'your' unit only supplies up to 12 volt.

My netbook runs at 19 V and 2.15 A. I also have a laptop at 19.5 V and 4.7 A, although this is less likely to be run off 12 Volt.

I've read somewhere that the netbook / laptop doesn't need it's rated voltage to run ( but the battery wouldn't be recharged ) but I don't know.

I also thought that the USB / phone charging facility might also be handy.

I also remember Nick saying that his first 'cheap' unit blew up - he didn't provide any other info but I thought that I might be better to spend a reasonable amount.

I'll need to get myself a storage box as there's lots of bits.

Ash

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"This is a sailing Forum"

PM Sent.... hope I'm not to late!?

Got it! Seems like a nice piece of kit. My only worry would be the mounting magnet which is built in - might not be very friendly towards compasses and magnetic storage media.

The unit comes with software on a disc, including a Serial to USB Driver and a program called GPS Information which allows you to control and get readings from the puck without any navigation software. I used this on the Sony. I went online to the Globalsat website and downloaded the software, manual, etc to the netbook.





You can get live readings on Google Earth, but I then can't get the zoom to work, and I get that annoying time line that GE seems to have introduced.

Typing in some readings from GPS Info into GE gives positions within 3 to 5 metres



Ash

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"This is a sailing Forum"

Hi Ash,

March I am over at Inverclyde, so I can drop-off the CD with the software etc.

Kip Marina office in a Jiffy-Bag addressed to Ash, or in the cockpit of Mistral?.

Will set-up and configure for the price of a cup of tea.

OG.