£100 for a 7" Water Proof Chartplotter.

[TSB240]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008270135039.html

Well
I thought this was too cheap but it isn't.

It is a 7 inch waterproof Display.
800 nits brightness viewable in full day light.
Built in wifi and Bluetooth.
Just wired mine into the supply for the compass light. It is not a tablet.

The essential bit it has a full android operating system.( as do most locked commercial systems for the marine market) It is essential to have android play store...

This is the magic key as Open CPN, Navionics or Orca can be downloaded over the internet.

You can also download for free a program that allows display of your boats key data including depth. Wind True and Apparent which is excellent if your old displays have faded or are virtually unreadable. You will need an nmea to wifi converter (Yakka) added to your boats nmea network.

It has other use potential including monitoring solar charging and battery condition.

It a lot cheaper than a 7" Axiom!

 

[ridgy]

Interesting, is there an IP rating and does the touch screen work when wet?

 

[TSB240]

Interesting, is there an IP rating and does the touch screen work when wet?

Claim is IP67. 12v power cable sealed well and reinforced into case.
SD card and USB have individual rubber seals retained by cover plate and screws.
IMHO better sealed than most so called IP 67 waterproof tablet cases.
Inevitably will see wet weather use next week when I launch and give it a test in North Wales!

 

[KompetentKrew]

Interesting, is there an IP rating and does the touch screen work when wet?

By coincidence I too was looking at these just yesterday. I have a midlife hankering for a motorcycle and someone on one of the bike forums said they had one. There are a bunch of similar models on AliExpress and at least one biker reports using one for over a year, so I doubt water ingress is much of a worry.

@TSB240 if you're still on the boat, is there any chance of some screenshots of the Settings > About Phone pages please? It might be "About Tablet" or "About Device" on this. I'm interested in the Device Name, Model, Android Version (plus the next entry, not sure what it'll say on yours) and also the Build Number at the bottom.

I'm guessing it'll be a MediaTek chipset, which isn't so good for modding.

 

[TSB240]

By coincidence I too was looking at these just yesterday. I have a midlife hankering for a motorcycle and someone on one of the bike forums said they had one. There are a bunch of similar models on AliExpress and at least one biker reports using one for over a year, so I doubt water ingress is much of a worry.

@TSB240 if you're still on the boat, is there any chance of some screenshots of the Settings > About Phone pages please? It might be "About Tablet" or "About Device" on this. I'm interested in the Device Name, Model, Android Version (plus the next entry, not sure what it'll say on yours) and also the Build Number at the bottom.

I'm guessing it'll be a MediaTek chipset, which isn't so good for modding.

I can follow up next time on boat. I very much doubt it is android 13 for a start. I think 11 is more likely.
Will let you know.

 

[nigel1]

I can follow up next time on boat. I very much doubt it is android 13 for a start. I think 11 is more likely.
Will let you know.

The description on the Aliexpress website states it is Android 13.0

 

[DangerousPirate]

My general advice related to aliexpress: Do not go there to buy anything. It's just a third party merchant website. Like ebay or whaterver. Go to the source, which is albiba.com Those are the actual producers of the same things you can find on aliexpress, usually for even less money.

Also OP, did you test how water proof it is? I see that as the potential bottleneck where they cheap out because you don't usually notice immediately.

 

[PaulRainbow]

My general advice related to aliexpress: Do not go there to buy anything. It's just a third party merchant website. Like ebay or whaterver. Go to the source, which is albiba.com Those are the actual producers of the same things you can find on aliexpress, usually for even less money.

Also OP, did you test how water proof it is? I see that as the potential bottleneck where they cheap out because you don't usually notice immediately.

I think you will find that Alibaba is also a third party merchant website.

But: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...ksON&priceId=ee82fff163ea42e9bca98719be8f0ead

There is a video there of it in a bowl of water.

 

[DangerousPirate]

I think you will find that Alibaba is also a third party merchant website.

But: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...ksON&priceId=ee82fff163ea42e9bca98719be8f0ead

There is a video there of it in a bowl of water.

No, alibaba actually links the manufacturers directly. And those videos are not worth overly much as they can easily be faked with better housing than they use in production, or it breaks soon after but as longa s it worked for the video it's fine etc.. Can't trust ads

 

[gjgm]

My general advice related to aliexpress: Do not go there to buy anything. It's just a third party merchant website. Like ebay or whaterver.

Not sure how much on Amazon is actually sold by Amazon? Or go to BnQ and the vast majority of stuff online is not sold by them anymore either.
I ve been using Ali for years and what I have bought has been reliably good. At least, good for the price.
Do I believe that the £150 power tool miraculously available for £20 is genuine? Er, no, and nor I assume does anyone else. Does it work ? Yes. Is it worth £20? Yes.
So my experience is definitely use Aliexpress ,but dont be a dunce. Take the promo with a pinch of salt.

 

[PaulRainbow]

No, alibaba actually links the manufacturers directly. And those videos are not worth overly much as they can easily be faked with better housing than they use in production, or it breaks soon after but as longa s it worked for the video it's fine etc.. Can't trust ads

I just did a search on there and it returned several different sellers, not the manufacturers. Also, a lot of fakes.

 

[DangerousPirate]

Not sure how much on Amazon is actually sold by Amazon? Or go to BnQ and the vast majority of stuff online is not sold by them anymore either.
I ve been using Ali for years and what I have bought has been reliably good. At least, good for the price.
Do I believe that the £150 power tool miraculously available for £20 is genuine? Er, no, and nor I assume does anyone else. Does it work ? Yes. Is it worth £20? Yes.
So my experience is definitely use Aliexpress ,but dont be a dunce. Take the promo with a pinch of salt.

I know what you mean, and amazon has ALWAYS been a marketplace, not a producer. NOTHING on amazon is made by amazon. Only very few items, and only since recently as they establish their own brand now. And even those "amazon" products are mostly just subcontractors.

Aliexpress is another marketplace, just cheap. Alibaba though, that is the actual source. You are dealing with the manufacturers directly.
Regarding the fakes and several sellers - Yes, I admit there are many who try to make their cut but the manufacturers are on there, too. You just have to do research. Unlike amazon, where you will never be able to contact the manufacturers directly.

 

[st599]

I know what you mean, and amazon has ALWAYS been a marketplace, not a producer. NOTHING on amazon is made by amazon. Only very few items, and only since recently as they establish their own brand now. And even those "amazon" products are mostly just subcontractors.

Isn't Amazon just a window to show how well Amazon Web Services runs so companies will choose AWS as their cloud provider?

 

[TSB240]

By coincidence I too was looking at these just yesterday. I have a midlife hankering for a motorcycle and someone on one of the bike forums said they had one. There are a bunch of similar models on AliExpress and at least one biker reports using one for over a year, so I doubt water ingress is much of a worry.

@TSB240 if you're still on the boat, is there any chance of some screenshots of the Settings > About Phone pages please? It might be "About Tablet" or "About Device" on this. I'm interested in the Device Name, Model, Android Version (plus the next entry, not sure what it'll say on yours) and also the Build Number at the bottom.

I'm guessing it'll be a MediaTek chipset, which isn't so good for modding.

By coincidence I too was looking at these just yesterday. I have a midlife hankering for a motorcycle and someone on one of the bike forums said they had one. There are a bunch of similar models on AliExpress and at least one biker reports using one for over a year, so I doubt water ingress is much of a worry.

@TSB240 if you're still on the boat, is there any chance of some screenshots of the Settings > About Phone pages please? It might be "About Tablet" or "About Device" on this. I'm interested in the Device Name, Model, Android Version (plus the next entry, not sure what it'll say on yours) and also the Build Number at the bottom.

I'm guessing it'll be a MediaTek chipset, which isn't so good for modding.

In the settings as follows.

About Device
Android 13

IP address ..... unavailable
Wifi mac address
Blue Tooth address
Uptime
Build number
QC-EC5E_SH700MTBA_EC5_700
Car Charger_user_2024110511
UPDATER
DEVICE NAME
EC5E_SH700MTBA
RAM

By coincidence I too was looking at these just yesterday. I have a midlife hankering for a motorcycle and someone on one of the bike forums said they had one. There are a bunch of similar models on AliExpress and at least one biker reports using one for over a year, so I doubt water ingress is much of a worry.

@TSB240 if you're still on the boat, is there any chance of some screenshots of the Settings > About Phone pages please? It might be "About Tablet" or "About Device" on this. I'm interested in the Device Name, Model, Android Version (plus the next entry, not sure what it'll say on yours) and also the Build Number at the bottom.

I'm guessing it'll be a MediaTek chipset, which isn't so good for modding.

In the settings I have the following for you.

About Device page
Android 13
No IP ADDRESS
WIFI MAC ADDRESS
BLUETOOTH ADDRESS
UPTIME
BUILD NUMBER
QC-EC5E_SH700MTBA_EC5_700
Car Charger _user_2024110511
UPDATER
DEVICE NAME
EC5E_SH700 MTBA
RAM 2GB
IMEI

My son is employed by the UK's no1 chip developer. He is not Cambridge based. Sadly I don't have his interest or skills in electronic packages.

His comments so far are mainly not repeatable on here!

It works for what I want it to do so far.

I suspect ram will be the limiting factor.

 

[Mark-1]

Inevitably will see wet weather use next week when I launch and give it a test in North Wales!

Sadly we'll never find out if it's sunlight viewable.

 

[KompetentKrew]

In the settings as follows.

About Device
Android 13

IP address ..... unavailable
Wifi mac address
Blue Tooth address
Uptime
Build number
QC-EC5E_SH700MTBA_EC5_700
Car Charger_user_2024110511
UPDATER
DEVICE NAME
EC5E_SH700MTBA
RAM



In the settings I have the following for you.

About Device page
Android 13
No IP ADDRESS
WIFI MAC ADDRESS
BLUETOOTH ADDRESS
UPTIME
BUILD NUMBER
QC-EC5E_SH700MTBA_EC5_700
Car Charger _user_2024110511
UPDATER
DEVICE NAME
EC5E_SH700 MTBA
RAM 2GB
IMEI

My son is employed by the UK's no1 chip developer. He is not Cambridge based. Sadly I don't have his interest or skills in electronic packages.

His comments so far are mainly not repeatable on here!

It works for what I want it to do so far.

I suspect ram will be the limiting factor.

Thank you very much.

 

[peteK]

I thought Aliexpress was owned by Alibaba,Alibaba is the parent company,Have been buying off Aliexpress the for many years with no problems but always check sizes before buying.

 

[st599]

I thought Aliexpress was owned by Alibaba,Alibaba is the parent company,Have been buying off Aliexpress the for many years with no problems but always check sizes before buying.

Alibaba is designed as a B2B platform, AliExpress as a B2C platform, both owned by AliBaba Group. Like Amazon, they're both shop fronts for software as a service components on the AlibabaCloud.

 

[TSB240]

Sadly we'll never find out if it's sunlight viewable.

Well we had a mysterious and rare ball of light in a blue sky today.

I think it was full sunlight.

A very rare occurrence as I believe it is now taxed by the Senedd!
I snapped this with all distracting rays and reflections avoided with the built in screen deflector.

 

[KompetentKrew]

This looks really remarkably good.

I wish you could install AOSP open-source Android on it though, and I'm sure you can't. But almost nobody else will care about that.