On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 20:54:36 GMT, "Glen \"Wiley\" Wilson"
wrote:

I lust after a ruggedized laptop like a Panasonic Toughbook, but I
can't justify the price. You can buy 2 normal laptops with superior
performance for the same price and just keep one as a spare. Or buy
just one and get one of those extended warranties that fix it no
matter *what* happens. Or, if performance is not a problem, lots of
old Pentium and Pentiuim II Toughbooks show up on Ebay for cheap.

Let software requirement drive your decision here. Corporations
"decommission" hundreds of thousands of laptops per year. You can
frequently get sleek VAIOs and sturdy Dells in the Pentium II/III
range for $300-$500, and they are bright enough to run ALL current nav
software, as far as I know.

I mean, it just has to interface with a NMEA/SeaTalk box, right?
That's not hugely difficult. If you want to run Doom 3 while sailing,
that's a different beast.

Whatever you get, do make sure to strap it down well. Even Toughbooks
don't particularly like to fly across the cabin. If you have critical
data on it, you should be more than usually diligent about backups.
An internal CD burner comes in handy for that.

Agreed. You can brace it with fiddles held with bolts and wingnuts in
holes drilled through the nav table, and secure against capsize with a
broad velcro strap.

Wetness is a function of proximity to the companionway. I have heard
of all sorts of solutions, including plastic covers with vents,
separate LCD screens and "base units", regular PC boxes buried in
lockers and wired remotely, and IR/wireless keyboards and thumb style
mouses/trackballs.

Just don't fall for "marinized" laptops...better you should buy cheap
and figure out your own solutions.

R.