Wish for the wind

[roger]

I have a small boat with insufficient room for big kit. Now there are on the market quite nice portable DVD players with 5.6 inch LCD screens. They fold flat and so would fit nicely in a locker - unlike the cheap TVs mentioned recently. They were about 6 inch cubes.
As it is the device is very limited. If it had a TV tuner it would be much more useful. If it would take a CD chart Rom it would be a lot better still. then if it had internet connectivity and... and.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[kilkerr1]

Why don't you just get a laptop? You could get a tiddler - 12" LCD screen - and it would do so much more than a simple portable DVD player: it would play DVDs, CD-ROMs (including your chart software), CDs, games, everything else a pooter can do...you could get a TV card in it and use it as a TV too. Really, you're going to pay £500-£600 for a decent DVD player that, well, just plays DVDs, and you can get a laptop for an ickle bit more that you can use for loads more.

Gwan, gwan, gwan, you know it makes sense... /forums/images/icons/smile.gif



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[Talbot]

If size is still a problem /forums/images/icons/smile.gif then there are a few 10" screen notebooks around that can do all that you want - my personal fav for when I win the lottery is the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://panwebi.com/default.asp?pc=fpcm20202>Fujitsu P5000 range</A>

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[kilkerr1]

Mmm, lovely. HWMO has promised he's got the winning ticket for this Saturday's lottery, but he's lied to me so many times about this I simply don't believe him anymore... /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

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[roger]

I not only have a small boat but I'm mean. The DVD players have prices down to 150 pounds so are much cheaper than most laptops. They are also smaller - though much larger screens than a lot of integrated plotters.
An ordinary sized laptop is too big to keep anywhere permanently on the boat - it will have to go into a locker - and most of those are too small or completely stuffed already.
I'm also prety cross grained about plotters. I sail in the Swedish offshore in among the bricks. A plotter, to be any use, has to be on deck. A cannot afford to go down below to look at the chart every two minutes. Suitable plotters are very expensive, have even more expensive chart chips and will take up a lot of space on the back side of the cabin. I'm also very dubious about their ability to withstand water for lon periods of time.
They do have an attraction though. Last year we met a Swede who was very happy with his new small plotter. He said; "For the first time I know exactly where I am all the time". When you are in the habit of sailing with rocks no more than 50 yards (well probably 100) away most of the time thats a good argument. When out in clear water its a lot less important.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger