At last a Tablet for the boat

It looks from the link that it uses Windows OP system.
So, just install a copy of the free OpenCPN and you will have a complete plotter.

As a sideline
Vers 4 of OpenCPN was released last month and it seems to be moving more and more towards "touch screen mobile devices".
I am waiting for the native Android version - that will give us a really cheap configurable system across a multitude of platforms.
I don't think it will be that long in coming.
 
What's the candela 1000?

Just looking at some new Furuno Screens £3300 each and we need two. Ouch!! Furuno offer a 14inch all In one touch computer for that without the need for an IP rated box to keep it in!

The ipad with the all action German case for £199 would be where I would start.
 
Just get any normal tablet and put it in a waterproof case - jobs a good un for a hundred quid!!

I just bought a Lenovo A7 - 7" very nice tablet for £79.99 - and the cases are about £10 - £15 for that......
 
I'm going to get the sony xperia z2 tablet and the navionics app for permanent use on my boat (windy 25) as a simple chartplotter. As you say its waterproof without the need for a separate case.

I was just going to put some velcro on the back of the tablet and the other half of the velcro on the chart table, and then just velcro it in place for when I need it. Will probably run a 12v charging cable so I dont have to worry about battery life.

My only doubt is how visible the screen will be in bright med sunshine.
 
julians said:
I'm going to get the sony xperia z2 tablet and the navionics app for permanent use on my boat (windy 25) as a simple chartplotter. As you say its waterproof without the need for a separate case.

I was just going to put some velcro on the back of the tablet and the other half of the velcro on the chart table, and then just velcro it in place for when I need it. Will probably run a 12v charging cable so I dont have to worry about battery life.

My only doubt is how visible the screen will be in bright med sunshine.
Click to expand...

I tried this in anger last summer as although the plotter screen does split view I quite wanted another view off all those damn rocks in Brittany. I have been really impressed with navionics hd,but in sunshine on the khamsin chart space I really couldnt see anything. I mean, the screen might as well have been off.
 
gjgm said:
but in sunshine on the khamsin chart space I really couldnt see anything. I mean, the screen might as well have been off.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. Was that with the sony xperia z2? if so , thats a bit disappointing. Sounds like its back to the drawing board then for a rethink.
 
julians said:
Thanks for the feedback. Was that with the sony xperia z2? if so , thats a bit disappointing. Sounds like its back to the drawing board then for a rethink.
Click to expand...

I used an ipad on the flybridge in the med sun when I ran out of chart on the plotter, and could see it quite clearly. We have a bimini, and I set the ipod fairly upright, which I guess is what made the difference.

gjgm, you weren't wearing polarising sunnies were you, as I know what a cool dude you are, and you can't see the screen at all with them on :D
 
Nick_H said:
I used an ipad on the flybridge in the med sun when I ran out of chart on the plotter, and could see it quite clearly. We have a bimini, and I set the ipod fairly upright, which I guess is what made the difference.

gjgm, you weren't wearing polarising sunnies were you, as I know what a cool dude you are, and you can't see the screen at all with them on :D
Click to expand...

Yes but only on top of my head... nobody actually wears sunglasses do they? Except in the office,obviously.
No in honesty it is a slightly ageing asus so it may well me screens have improved. My strong suspicion is that Apple owners just think it looks better (discuss).Btw Nick did you hear from GJW ?
 
julians said:
I'm going to get the sony xperia z2 tablet and the navionics app for permanent use on my boat (windy 25) as a simple chartplotter. As you say its waterproof without the need for a separate case.

I was just going to put some velcro on the back of the tablet and the other half of the velcro on the chart table, and then just velcro it in place for when I need it. Will probably run a 12v charging cable so I dont have to worry about battery life.

My only doubt is how visible the screen will be in bright med sunshine.
Click to expand...

and that is what I am about to do, although undecided about which app, although navionics is probably the one I'll end up going for. Instead of Velcro, I was thinking of non slip matt or the sticky type matt I have seen for car dashboards.
 
julians said:
I'm going to get the sony xperia z2 tablet and the navionics app for permanent use on my boat (windy 25) as a simple chartplotter. As you say its waterproof without the need for a separate case.

I was just going to put some velcro on the back of the tablet and the other half of the velcro on the chart table, and then just velcro it in place for when I need it. Will probably run a 12v charging cable so I dont have to worry about battery life.

My only doubt is how visible the screen will be in bright med sunshine.
Click to expand...

I've got a z2 tablet and it's excellent as a tablet but I wouldn't consider it a replacement for a plotter I'm afraid. Bright sunlight will give you a problem, especially if you fix the tablet so you can't move it around easily. It's as good as most tablets but that's not good enough to go up against a plotter. The other thing is that the micro USB port is under a waterproof seal so it's not waterproof whenever the charging cable is plugged in - it's a bit of a fiddly port to open too. That's not a problem most of the time as you simply splash another £50 on the charging dock (it's not just iPads that are expensive), which charges via an inductive patch on the bottom edge. Would be a bit fiddly to use it in a fixed mount scenario as a plotter replacement I think. Battery life is very good by tablet standards but with the screen on continuously and GPS going you'd be talking several hours at very best, much less at full brightness and other stuff going on.

It's an absolutely fantastic tablet (best available for me) and I'm really happy with it but, having tried it a couple of times, it's no plotter I'm afraid.
 
gjgm said:
Yes but only on top of my head... nobody actually wears sunglasses do they? Except in the office,obviously.
No in honesty it is a slightly ageing asus so it may well me screens have improved. My strong suspicion is that Apple owners just think it looks better (discuss).Btw Nick did you hear from GJW ?
Click to expand...

Interesting - it may be my eyes then as I struggle to work outside with an iPad just the same as with Android top end tablets. Asus do have the brightest screens available though - my old Transformer was the best I've used but could devour a full charge (including the battery in the docking keyboard) in 4 or 5 hours.

 
grumpy_o_g said:
I've got a z2 tablet and it's excellent as a tablet but I wouldn't consider it a replacement for a plotter I'm afraid. Bright sunlight will give you a problem, especially if you fix the tablet so you can't move it around easily. It's as good as most tablets but that's not good enough to go up against a plotter. The other thing is that the micro USB port is under a waterproof seal so it's not waterproof whenever the charging cable is plugged in - it's a bit of a fiddly port to open too. That's not a problem most of the time as you simply splash another £50 on the charging dock (it's not just iPads that are expensive), which charges via an inductive patch on the bottom edge. Would be a bit fiddly to use it in a fixed mount scenario as a plotter replacement I think. Battery life is very good by tablet standards but with the screen on continuously and GPS going you'd be talking several hours at very best, much less at full brightness and other stuff going on.

It's an absolutely fantastic tablet (best available for me) and I'm really happy with it but, having tried it a couple of times, it's no plotter I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Yes, I conclude that you need to shade it somehow- as NickH said, it wasn't too bad under a bimini
 
grumpy_o_g said:
I've got a z2 tablet and it's excellent as a tablet but I wouldn't consider it a replacement for a plotter I'm afraid. Bright sunlight will give you a problem, especially if you fix the tablet so you can't move it around easily. It's as good as most tablets but that's not good enough to go up against a plotter. The other thing is that the micro USB port is under a waterproof seal so it's not waterproof whenever the charging cable is plugged in - it's a bit of a fiddly port to open too. That's not a problem most of the time as you simply splash another £50 on the charging dock (it's not just iPads that are expensive), which charges via an inductive patch on the bottom edge. Would be a bit fiddly to use it in a fixed mount scenario as a plotter replacement I think. Battery life is very good by tablet standards but with the screen on continuously and GPS going you'd be talking several hours at very best, much less at full brightness and other stuff going on.

It's an absolutely fantastic tablet (best available for me) and I'm really happy with it but, having tried it a couple of times, it's no plotter I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

I'm happy that functionality wise the tablet + navionics app will be just fine compared to what I have at the moment - which is nothing. BUt the viewing in direct sunlight is a concern. My phone (an HTC one) works ok in direct sunlight, no brilliant by a long way, but acceptable, so was hoping a tablet would be similar.

I dont need a 'real' chartplotter for the boating I do , its purely a nice to have as the last 8 years without any form of device have proved, so I dont want to spend thousands (or even one thousand), but 300 quid or so would be ok.
 
grumpy_o_g said:
I've got a z2 tablet and it's excellent as a tablet but I wouldn't consider it a replacement for a plotter I'm afraid. Bright sunlight will give you a problem, especially if you fix the tablet so you can't move it around easily. It's as good as most tablets but that's not good enough to go up against a plotter. The other thing is that the micro USB port is under a waterproof seal so it's not waterproof whenever the charging cable is plugged in - it's a bit of a fiddly port to open too. That's not a problem most of the time as you simply splash another £50 on the charging dock (it's not just iPads that are expensive), which charges via an inductive patch on the bottom edge. Would be a bit fiddly to use it in a fixed mount scenario as a plotter replacement I think. Battery life is very good by tablet standards but with the screen on continuously and GPS going you'd be talking several hours at very best, much less at full brightness and other stuff going on.

It's an absolutely fantastic tablet (best available for me) and I'm really happy with it but, having tried it a couple of times, it's no plotter I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

From what I can ascertain, you can buy magnetic charger cable instead of the dock station and therefore no need to open up the usb port, something like this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ccessory-Al...23910902&sr=1-4&keywords=sony+z2+charge+cable

I think any tablet will be a problem in direct sunlight, you need to see what works best on the dashboard, I generally always keep the bimini canvas section up. In my case the tablet will compliment my marine plotter so I have a 10inch screen instead of my current 6inch marine plotter.

Thanks for owner feedback.
 
Last edited:
grumpy_o_g said:
Interesting - it may be my eyes then as I struggle to work outside with an iPad just the same as with Android top end tablets. Asus do have the brightest screens available though - my old Transformer was the best I've used but could devour a full charge (including the battery in the docking keyboard) in 4 or 5 hours.

Click to expand...

Changing the subject slightly.
I have an old TF101 Transformer
It was getting a bit slow so I bought a new Samsung tablet.
So, I thought I'd have a go at upgrading the old Asus Transformer.
Nothing to loose so I looked around and found a project called KatKiss which will bring the old TF101 up to the latest version of Android.
It installed really easily and a few tweeks later, the old Transformer was working like new - even better than new.
I'm not sure I'd risk it if it was my only tablet but really worth doing as a spare - or before you give it to the kids.
See here - http://public.timduru.org/Android/tf101/KatKiss/4.3.1/
 
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