Onboard Computer

[Jeff Ritsema]

If you were buying new and had only a desktop PC at home, what kind of hardware would you consider buying to incorporate the functions of: word processing, viewing downloaded navigation SW, downloading and playing music files from the home PC, playing DVD video? Any other fu@?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm not real computer literate and not sure whether to think small such as Palm Pilot type tech or laptop, or I-Pod?????etc....
Thanks,, Jeff

[Frank C]

. . . buying to incorporate the functions of ...

• - word processing,
  - viewing downloaded navigation SW,
  - downloading and playing music files from the home PC,
  - playing DVD video?

. . . . not sure whether to think small such as Palm Pilot type tech or laptop, or I-Pod?

Well you definitely don't want to do word processing on a Palm or Pocket PC (do you?). If you want a single device for viewing DVD plus the other functions, then you're pretty much needing a laptop.

Choose a Dell Latitude laptop with DVD drive, probably around $1100. Add their 3-yr on-site service policy and you're up to $1,200. BTW, don't be pennywise regarding the manufacturer's on-site service policy. Dell's on-site service policy fixes the laptop for almost any problem - they come to you! It also means you can resell the laptop on eBay after two years, recovering half your investment.

Dell's transferable on-site service policy makes the laptop a safe purchase for eBay buyers. Twice now, I've done a twist on this suggestion. I buy a "used" Dell laptop w/ 2-yr remaining service policy @ $800, then resell after one year for $600. One of those used models had an intermittant display problem, but Dell came to my house and replaced the screen. (That unit was already 18 months old).

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

Same question, except the only thing I would like is the navigation SW part. I am not computer literate enough to even ask a good question.

[Moe]

For music, I'd get an iPod. Take your music places you wouldn't carry a big notebook that only gets 4 hours of use off the battery and has tiny speakers that sound like crap. The iPod gets 12 hours, and saves wear and tear on the notebook. Plus the iPod charges off the notebook's USB port. You'll need some decent speakers whichever way you go.

A 15" widesceen notebook (like my Dell 8600 Inspiron) is nice for playing DVDs if you're sitting close enough. A 17" is nicer. If you're going to do this, get a Pentium M-class processor. I can play a 2 hour DVD and still have about an hour of use. Plus I carry a spare main battery, as well as the Dell vehicle/airline adapter for charging off the boat/trailer batteries as a last resort. You need decent speakers for this as well.

Get internal wireless capability, but remember to turn it off when not using it to save battery power. Even if your marina doesn't have WiFi, a coffee shop or book store down the road might. FlyingJ truck stops do.

If your GPS adapter is serial (and most are except for the recent Garmin handhelds, which are USB), you might need a USB to serial adapter since most notebooks don't come with serial ports any more. It's nice doing the trip planning with MapSource on the notebook rather than directly on the GPS.

Except for the Gateway convertible (a tablet on steroids), we've pretty much switched to Dell notebooks at work, and get them with the basic 3 year warranty.

--
Moe

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

A laptop is about the only choice if you include playing DVD's. Although I hear that with a big memory card in one of the new Pocket PC's with the 640x480 screens you can play movies, they are pretty much a one person deal. We have two laptops with the 15" WXGA screens and they work well for movies at the distances in the Mac. We also get great sound from them by plugging in a FM modulator. This puts the audio output from the computer on a FM channel that you can tune with the stereo. This also works great for all the MP3 files I have stored on the computer. We have our full CD library in it. Even better than the modulator is to get a stereo with a aux input and hard wire a connection.

We used to use a simple portable DVD player and these would work fine as well but their screens are usually only 7"-8" verses the 15" of the computers.

For navigation software inside the boat a laptop is fine, but not very practical in the cockpit. I still like my Pocket PC at the helm. It is great for navigation, can hold a reasonable amount of music, and I use it a lot for books on tape from Audible.com. It easily can mutitask and play the book or music in the background while it does the charting on the screen, Dell's new VGA model is only $424 right now, quite a deal as it has the hi res screen, lots of memory and slots and wifi and Bluetooth. Get a Bluetooth GPS and you don't even need a hard wire to feed it the locations. It also can serve for word processing. I have a fold up IR keyboard that does a fine job of allowing me to type into the PPC. Pocket word is great for this and easily syncs to the main computer. I also have tide software that runs on the PPC and has some custom tools to help with anchoring in mid tide waters and making sure you won't go dry during the night.

If it weren't for the movies we wouldn't bring the laptop along. The PPC can do everything we need. We connect our laptop to the inverter, when you're out for weeks you can't count on batteries so there is no need to bother with a spare.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

While you are at it, get a TV card and antenna too...a nice thing to have when sailing during football season Guess you could also use it for watching news and weather when you are anchored out. So you can tell when the weathermen royally screwed up the forecast..like last night for example, when the forecast was for a nice balmy evening with no chance of rain..and instead, you get a squall line with 30+ mph winds and torrential downpours. I have a new found respect for my Guardian G-11 anchor now...really holds well in Florida mud.

[Greg]

I bought a HP Pavilion and use a portable converter on the boat to keep it fully charged. It is nice to have for playing DVD's in the evening for the kids while my wife and I relax in the cockpit.
I haven't seen a reference to this but I use Verizon Wireless and bought a mobile office kit to use with the laptop. It comes with the software and the wire needed to connect my phone into the USB port on the computer. Once installed, you have internet access wherever Verizon service is available, which is most of the country. It's nice to have access to current weather maps while on trips and local notice to mariners if needed. On our summer vacation to the Adirondack Mountains, we were setting in a cove at the base of Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid NY and I had internet access (1 radio station for AM and FM, no TV stations).

[Catigale]

I use a Dell D400 with DVD for the kids - I have a 19 inch LCD-TV screen on the head bulkhead which makes for nice viewing - I also work from the office sometimes in the summer....hee hee.

The Verizon card, computer and www.wunderground.com make for a poor mans weather radar - spend the $5 for the no-ads version for a year!

You can get the Sierra Wireless Card for the PCMCIA slot (which also doubles as a phone) or a cable for an Internet ready Verizon phone.

This combination has saved me and the kids from thunderstorms a couple times on the Great Lakes.

[Tom Spohn]

I've been looking at the HP 7000 series with the 17" tru-brite screen. Runs programs super fast with 3.2 GH processor and I've auditioned DVD's in the store--Amazing. Only drawback I see is the Pentium P4 sucks a lot of energy (about 7 amps). Centrino's running at 1.6 or 1.7 (forget exactly which) run at about 1/2 that. Best price for this so far is at Circuit City ($1699) Ouch

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I have been thinking about putting in a permanent laptop bracket in my boat. I posted something about this in a previous thread back in April. A laptop is really the way to go. Besides all the obvious benefits of a computer on board, it can play DVD's, become a TV set with a USB tuner added, get on the Internet for weather updates, etc. Of course, it can also be used as a navigation station for my Garmin 176C although I don't believe I can use it as a moving map at the same time that the Garmin is driving the autopilot. Because it only has one output port and that port would either have to be doing NMEA or a different (Garmin proprietary) protocol to connect to the computer. Eventually, I will also install a stereo and interface the stereo with the computer for a full on-board entertainment system.

I found this company on the web last night that makes aluminum brackets for laptops.





There is also a tubular mount available which might work well attached to the structural pole at the galley of my X boat.



Anybody have any other possible solutions for mounting a laptop in the boat?

[Chip Hindes]

I don't believe I can use it as a moving map at the same time that the Garmin is driving the autopilot. Because it only has one output port and that port would either have to be doing NMEA or a different (Garmin proprietary) protocol to connect to the computer.

The Garmin Mapsource software on the laptop accepts NMEA as well as Garmin output. I know this is so because it is the only output that works from my Garmin Geko backup GPS. I've not tried it yet with the 176C primary GPS, though it does work in Garmin mode. I was thinking I could run both the autopilot and the PC tracking at the same time in NMEA mode, but haven't tried it yet since the autopilot isn't yet installed. If I can't get it to work I'm going to be seriously annoyed.

I've found a major issue with both the 176C (in Garmin mode) and the Geko (in NMEA mode) is the serial to USB interface; and of course there hasn't been a laptop made in several years with a "real" serial port. If I don't connect, power up the GPS, boot, and launch the software in the correct sequence the software doesn't find the serial port.

[Moe]

Under the Help menu in the Mapsource software, I selected Contents, then looked at Real-Time Tracking. There, it says that that using NMEA is possible, but that any unlocked charts will remain locked. What good is it if you can't see the details you paid to unlock? That doesn't make sense. Guess they don't want you using MapSource with just any brand of GPS, or a Garmin unit not tied to certain unlock codes. Oh well... having a GPS with two NMEA ports solves this problem.

If you're thinking about buying a tuner card, keep in mind we're only one year away from analog NTSC broadcasting being shut down, leaving only digital ATSC broadcasting of both standard and high-definition TV. I haven't really kept up with it lately, but have been following the goings-on with ATSC and HDTV for several years. To my knowledge, there is only one external ATSC/HDTV USB2 tuner available right now and that's the Sasem OnAir USB2 HDTV tuner. Besides ATSC, it also tunes the current NTSC, as well as unencrypted (non-premium) QAM digital cable. I haven't seen any independent reviews of this product, however, but there is a forum here.

--
Moe

[on edit] Fixed URLs

[Mark Prouty]

Wow,
You guys are catapulting me in I whole direction I hadn't thought of. Awsome thread!!

How about this laptop Dell Inspiron 1150? I was thinking of the one for $1,099. I'm going cable modem with wireless routers at home and would like to get a laptop. This thread is motivating me in that direction.

[Moe]

cNet Dell 1150 Review

[Mark Prouty]

Thanks Moe!