Daniel wrote in message ...
I am sure that this has already been done but new models are constantly
being produced so... why not?
Your experience is very appreciated regarding:
1) screen dimension
2) Color or B/W
3) speed of screen refreshing
4) different cartographic systems/media
5) reliability
...
all points vs price, of course.

Thanks
Daniel


I have been considering the options for chartplotting from a different
perspective. I am building a 40' sailboat with outboard power and will
be very limited in battery charging potential. I am trying to control
electrical power demands in all ways. While a laptop PC based system
is attractive to me the power demands appear to be too large.
Investigating stand alone plotters the power demands vary quite a bit.
I suppose this is related to screen size and how fast the processors
are running, this would apply to laptops also. I have seen a range of
from less than an amp to a couple amps for large plotters and laptops.
A couple amps for a day long passage would be excessive. I will have
solar panels and a wind generator but I need to conserve power where I
can. PC based systems now can incorporate everything including radar,
fishfinders, plotting, engine instruments etc but it might be more
energy efficient to have small independant systems that can be
switched on or not depending on need. Just thinking outloud here.

my boatbuilding website:

www.thegreatsea.com