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I’ve gone the route of the WinCE-based WebDT366 LX800 http://www.webdt.org .
It is a weather-resistant, touch screen, flash memory driven, beast. I did not say it was a sprinter, but like my , it does what it is supposed to do well. The OS has been replaced with a slimmed down version of WinXP and I am using OpenCPN http://www.opencpn.org for my chartplotting. I toyed with a USB mouse GPS, tried to run NMEA from my replacement Eagle 350s sounder/map, and ended with a Bluetooth GPS attached to the mounting frame of the tablet.

The cost breakdown is as follows:
WebDT366 $100 (Ebay)
G-sat GPS $35 (Ebay)
Ram mount $50 (WM)
OpenCPN free
Charts free

Satisfaction of having a 8.5”x6” macdaddy chartplotter under $200... priceless.

I have the Navionics app running on my Droid X. The app is great but I need to have the phone on the charger and I don't like having to take the phone out of the holster to see where I'm going. It would be better mounted somewhere. I'm also concerned about spray but my son has a waterproof case on his 'X' so that could be a solution.

On our last couple of trips I've used my Dell 1705 with a USB puck and OpenCPN. I just leave the laptop on the table and I can see if from the cockpit. We learned the hard way that we really should secure it. Laptops don't bounce. I have a 12V adapter for it which pulls about 3.3 amps while running OpenCPN with the wireless turned off.

I'm really interested in the WebDT solution. I checked them out on eBay and it looks like they are available about 10miles south of me in Morgan Hill. How did you shrink Win XP to fit?

Steve

Seapup wrote:.......... I was also thinking of picking up a 7" vizio led tv (supposed to be decent in sun) and connecting it to the video out of my laptop. That way I could keep the computer inside and have an outside monitor...

I looked those up. They look promising for in the cockpit under the bimini. How are you going to hook it to the computer?

I see there are VGA to composite converters. If you get one of these I'd be real interested to see how well it would work under a bimini and how clear a SeaClear screen would look.

Thanks,

Sum

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