Which Laptop ? (a bit boaty)

Fascadale

Fascadale

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As a long time Mac user I'm afraid....................I think I need to buy a PC laptop.
(Oh no I hear the faithful say)

I have not been able to get OS mapping software for the Mac. ( It seems you don't get full functionality using an emulator) My present Mac does not have Windows potential. A new Mac, plus a Windows OS would be the best part of £1K

I thought I might get a cheap and cheerful PC laptop for MemoryMap and as a chart plotter to play with at home. The laptop, with a USB GPS, could then also go on the boat as required.

Having heard rumours of Vista problems, and not knowing much about PCs what does the team recommend ?

The machine would only be for maps, charts, GPS, maybe some music on board, and even a bit of internet weather.

The boat is an MAB (small), so I guess power consumption is an issue though I think the laptop plotter would mainly be for planning use.

Cheers
 
I'm going the other way - now have a Mac and want to ditch PC.

I've been pointed at Mac-native charting software by the Forumites - GPSNavX and MacENC (the latter looks pretty good). Have you any experience with these?

Neil
 
Hi Neil

I use Macs at home and at work . I've never used one as a plotter. I agree that MacEnc looks good but its the OS stuff that I'm stuck with.

I'm also not sure that I would be happy to take my precious Powerbook with all the work and domestic stuff onto the boat

Paul
 
Well, I still reckon I'll be going with a Mac at some point - just upgraded to leopard today and so far very impressed. MacENC is very cheap.

I used a Lenovo (IBM) Z80M when we lived on board, mostly for planning, email, photo's, notes etc. It was ok, but getting a bit tired now after nearly 2 years. If I was going to look for something cheapish again in the PC line I'd probably give medion a look, low cost and seem to be pretty good - we had one of their desktops and it was fine, especially for the price. Otherwise you probably can't go much wrong with a bog-standard Compaq/HP/Dell something or other.

I'm sure there'll be plenty of differing opinions.

Neil
 
As a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer with more than 20 years experience, I now run a computer services business which sells around 500 laptops every year.

Lots of software companies have been very slow off the mark when it comes to being Vista compliant, even though Vista is nowhere near as "full of wholes" as many of the so-called technology guru's claimed it could be.

Vista is actually prety good by most accounts. However, take it from me and steer well away from Vista if you need to have compatibility with USB devices such a GPS, AIS, Navtex etc. and/or compatibility with older 'legacy' programs (i.e those not specifically written/re-written) for use on Vista. Many will work, but you have to try it and find out the hard way.

For once Microsoft has done a decent job, the software companies on the other hand need a red rocket flare up the back passage!

That being said, XP is still readily available from independant computer sources, but don't waste your time with the big high-street retailers as most of them can now only offer Vista boxes.

XP is currently installed on 94% of the Worlds PC, and this wont change overnight. Microsoft has therefore said that XP will continue to be supported for at least the next 5 years, and that Vista will not become the dominent platform until around 2011.

drop me an email to steve@minstercomputers.com and I will send you a useful 4 page insider info on what to know when selecting XP or Vista.

Cheers, steve W.
 
You don't need Windows. Why don't you get a secondhand iBook, a copy of MacENC, an s57 chart of your area and a Keyspan usb/serial adaptor to connect to a handheld gps. Or you could just get a usb gps receiver.
The recent thread (last week?) on Macs and chart plotting included a number of really useful links, so it's worth searching for. You can download a trial copy of MacENC - it's very nearly fully functional so is worth doing. www.gpsnavx.com
 
That's what I do. GPSNavX needs OS10.3.9 or higher.
A USB mouse works brilliantly, better than my Magellan or old Lowrance!
You can buy an ex education IBook or Powerbook very reasonably from PcAgain.
I'm typing this on a £399 Powerbook.
 
My brother is vice-president of the Belarine Mac Users group in Oz. (That sounds grand but means he does the schedule for about 20 guy's meetings)
He gets a free version of the new OS and has just got Leopard (is that the one?)
He tells me that unlike previous OS it doesn't run PC software in an emulator but runs Windows native. You can run both Mac OS and Windows on the same machine and don't even need to partition. Whichever OS you have running uses all the available memory and disc space and has access to all port etc..
It even runs Windows faster than an equivalent PC.

See How Mac Now Run Windows.
 
Boot camp only works on Intel based macs (not older PowerPC ones) and requires a partition, as the machine effectively reboots from the other partition to run windows. From the webpage you linked too:

[ QUOTE ]
When you're ready for Windows, the Boot Camp Assistant sets up your hard drive for you. It leaves all your Mac data in place while it creates a separate partition on your drive for Windows, and then begins the installation process.

[/ QUOTE ]

That said, parallels or vmware allow windows applications to run without a reboot - and its very fast.

Rick
 
It's been able to do this for some time. Bootcamp is now incorporated into the Mac OS (until Leopard was released it was a public beta). To use Windows you have to have a Windows OS installed on a partition and you choose which OS you want to use when you boot up (or reboot).
The alternative is Parallels, which is not in a separate partition - it runs in a window of its' own just like any other program. More convenient in my view, for me anyway, as it doesn't require a reboot.
Both can run under OS 10.4 (Tiger) as well as the new 10.5 (Leopard).

Edit: Have I been Lakesailored in a reply to Lakesailor? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Is that really new? When I dual booted with Linux (a very similar op system to the Mac one) whichever system was in use would use all resources and could even read all files generated in the other op system. Doesnt really answer his problem anyway since he's said he doesnt want to take his Mac on board. That being the case his best choice is a second hand XP machine, of which there are mirriads about. With XP he can be pretty condident that any driver he needs / and program he wants will run.
 
Don't forget he's in Australia. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'm certainly tempted by an i-Book for tethered shooting with my camera. I want to get back to Macs.
 
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