Waterproof external monitor for laptop

Also consider getting an actual marine chartplotter and a PC interface. Get
a pair of cheap PC laptops (lay in one as a spare) and stick it belowdecks.
Use the PC for it's regular features and chartplotting. Then upload the
routes and download other data from the marine chartplotter. That way you
get at-sea reliability from the 'real' chartplotter but also get the
flexibility of the PC. This is what I do and it works out great. When
looking, check out MapTech's Chart Navigator Pro. It's a repackaging of
Rosepoint's Coastal Explorer in conjuction with ALL of MapTech's US charts
(including contours). Quite a bargain if you buy it online from Boatfix,
and there's a $50 rebate from Maptech running now.

-Bill Kearney
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If you get two PCs that are the identical model you could setup one and
simple mirror the drive for the other one.

Most software also allows more than one install. Most allow 2, some allow
three. Most also allow you to call in and request they rearrange the keys
in the event of machine failures.
 >> Stay informed about: Waterproof external monitor for laptop 

> There are several issues that make PC screens unsuitable for marine use.
> There are considerations for power, protection from the harsh enrinment

True, protection against outdoor moisture levels is well beyond what most PC
monitors can deliver. Not to mention they're not very good at displaying in
direct sunlight.

> etc., but a real driver that few people are aware of is night viewing. It
is
> imperitive that the display dims to black. PC monitors will not.

That's untrue. It's entirely dependent on the application driving the
monitor. If the application program doesn't use the energy star or other
power managment functions then it'd certainly be less than ideal. But in
this day an age very few things remain that defective regarding power
managment.

> If you avoid the commercial
> certified screens and go with the yacht screens, you will end up with the
> marine performance sans certification costs.

+1, great suggestion.

> Please also be aware that when interfacing things like black box radars,
be
> aware of aspect ratio, not just screen size. If the screen size does not
> physically match the resolution to be used, circles appear as ovals and
that
> really looks horrible.

If you're running PC applications just make sure your video display card can
drive the monitor at it's native resolution. Most cards can support the
usual 4:3 aspect ratio as well as newer 16:9 and other variants. Check
first, otherwise stick with getting a 4:3 aspect ratio monitor at pixel
resolutions like 800x600, 1024x768 or 1280x1024.

Avoid the automobile screens with only 400 line vertical resolution. That's
fine for presenting a touchscreen FM radio/CD player but it's horrible for
the sort of precision you'd need for chartplotter applications.
 >> Stay informed about: Waterproof external monitor for laptop 

This may be what you're looking for. The CarrolTouch model is probably
most suitable. 15" touchscreen lcd designed for harsh environments
(imagine doing worse to it on your sailboat than at a bar on the beach
during spring break). A quick Froogle seach turns them up for around
$700

http://www.elotouch.com/products/lcds/1529l.asp
 >> Stay informed about: Waterproof external monitor for laptop 

Bill Kearney wrote:
> Also consider getting an actual marine chartplotter and a PC
> interface. Get a pair of cheap PC laptops (lay in one as a spare)
> and stick it belowdecks. Use the PC for it's regular features and
> chartplotting. Then upload the routes and download other data from
> the marine chartplotter. That way you get at-sea reliability from
> the 'real' chartplotter but also get the flexibility of the PC. This
> is what I do and it works out great. When looking, check out
> MapTech's Chart Navigator Pro. It's a repackaging of Rosepoint's
> Coastal Explorer in conjuction with ALL of MapTech's US charts
> (including contours). Quite a bargain if you buy it online from
> Boatfix, and there's a $50 rebate from Maptech running now.
>
> -Bill Kearney

All he needs is a waterproof super-hi-candela screen (shatterproof glass, of
course), mounted in a steel bulkhead (preferably by welding), with a steel
plate door, double locked, a waterproof keypad and a waterproof mouse or
scroll ball, with a drop-down table for the keypad. The whole think linked
by Wi-Fi to his laptop down below. Seven or eight thousand dollars should
easily cover it. Thank God I'm not sailing on the boat with him!

BTW, a Garmin GPSMAP60C or CSx will cover most cockpit navigation problems,
particuarly if you use the same Bluecharts in the Garmin as you use on the
laptop. Less than $500 if you know where to look, and you take it home with
you at night!

Dennis.
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Gordon wrote:

> Doesn't most nav software allow only a limited number of usages (like
> 2?)? So what happens when your cheap ebay laptop crashes? Isn't your
> software history also?
> Just wondering
> Gordon

I've never seen a software that required a key or unlock code that could
not be reinstalled and have the key re-entered. So if you rebuild your
system or acquire another, and are smart enough to have kept the
registration key or unlock code, you simply install again and start over.

Some of these softwares can be installed on multiple devices as long as
the devices all have the same user I.D.

On some hardware, particularly PDAs, the device must have the same
Device I.D. (normally the name used for syncing) in order for the
reinstall to work.

And some software (Tom Tom 5 Navigator is a good example) a unique
number in hardware (like the ROM I.D. or MAC address) is used in
conjunction with the unlock code to prevent installation on more than
one single device. On those the process is to install the software,
send the installation code generated by the install process to Tom Tom,
they then send you an unlock code, you enter that, and the software
becomes fully capable. That PDA and the software are paired for life
and it cannot be installed on any other device ever.

Magellan limits their MapSend nav software to use with one GPS receiver
and uses the hardware serial number embedded in the receiver to make
that work.

Garmin lets you use MapSource software products with two hardware
devices. That is controlled by unlock codes obtained instantly via the
internet, only two unlock codes are allowed for a given software serial
number.

There are minor variations in the processes for different type of
software (street, topo, or marine mapping) and the process is not the
same for all older versions of the software.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)
 >> Stay informed about: Waterproof external monitor for laptop 

I don't know where the $4K number comes from, but the firm I mentioned has
marine displays below $1,000.
Steve

"purple_stars" wrote in message

> DPFresh wrote:
>> Hi all, different topic. SO in setting up my nav center - Dell laptop
>> with
>> SeaClear software... I want to keep the laptop in the cabin so as to
>> avoid
>> exposing it to elements... So I was thinking I could find some sort of
>> waterproof external monitor to run from the laptop to outside the boat
>> near
>> the tiller.... Does anyone know of such a monitor for this purpose?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> David
>
> personally i think it's better to think "big picture" on this. what is
> the goal ? to see your charts and other information out in the cockpit
> near the tiller from now until the cows come home. you want it to work
> in all conditions, have high reliability, be difficult to steal, etc.
>
> one solution to that is to get a marine monitor which is going to set
> you back about 4k$us. has high brightness and is made for the
> environment, that's it's high point, it's the "perfect solution" or as
> close as there is to one. bad points include things such as ... well,
> it's expensive, you'll worry about someone taking it, you'll worry
> about it being damaged and you might turn into one of those annoying
> "don't touch that" people, chances are it's going to get scratched or
> broken by your man over board pole or when you're loading supplies or
> during that unexpected storm that drops giant hail stones or something.
> a marine monitor is going to be a princess and will want to be treated
> as such, it's just a very expensive piece of deck equipment, one that's
> exposed to the same sort of abuse that any deck equipment is.
>
> OR, you can just get a couple of cheap monitors and shield them from
> the sun. tons of choices and they are coming down in price all the
> time. even better you can get used laptops off of ebay for 100$us or
> 200$us and have some sort of mount made for them. disadvantages are
> obvious, it's not the perfect display, harder to see if you don't have
> some kind of sun shield, not as fancy as your perfect marine monitor
> maybe though i'm sure you could make just as nice a mount for it, etc,
> etc, i'm sure there are some other disadvantages as well. advantages,
> price .. since it costs a few hundred $us you can buy TEN of them
> instead of one marine monitor. in the "big picture" that's better
> because then you won't worry about it so much, you won't be a "don't
> touch that" person, you won't care so much that it's getting salt
> encrusted on it, you won't care so much that it's sitting in the sun
> all the time. if someone gets onboard and steals it, who cares, you've
> got another one, and if someone accidentally scratches the face of it
> with deck equipment it doesn't matter either. true peace of mind, if
> it breaks, you install another one, just like anything else on deck, it
> becomes a tool that can break and that you can have spares for,
> something you can rely on.
>
> your significant other has really already proven the point, you've got
> an expensive Dell laptop you don't want to expose to the elements. if
> you had a couple of 200$us ebay laptops you wouldn't care, and you'd
> have spares.
>
> just a thought.
>
> (i realize fully that there are people for which 4k$us is pocket change
> and they can afford to swap out 4k$us monitors all day long ... but
> that's not me! lol)
>
 >> Stay informed about: Waterproof external monitor for laptop 

wrote:
> This may be what you're looking for. The CarrolTouch model is probably
> most suitable. 15" touchscreen lcd designed for harsh environments
> (imagine doing worse to it on your sailboat than at a bar on the beach
> during spring break). A quick Froogle seach turns them up for around
> $700
>
> http://www.elotouch.com/products/lcds/1529l.asp


My guess is you'd hardly be able to see it in bright sunlight.
 >> Stay informed about: Waterproof external monitor for laptop