The problem with a system of this type is that there's no easy way to
bring it to shore to an Internet cafe to download e-mail. If you want a
general purpose computer, then this looks OK. IMHO it's expensive for a
1 Ghz macbine.

-- Geoff

Pete Anderson wrote in
:

VERY, VERY late to this thread, but you need to look at
islandtimepc.com . They offer a very low power computer that operates
on 12 volts and supports DVDs. chartplotting, email, TV, whatever you
might want a computer to do. I have a good friend who has one and he
loves it. I'm buying mine soon. Its based on a line of Windows
supported computers that are optimized for low power applications.

pander

Parallax wrote:

I thought I'd have left on my cruise by now but am still finishing my
nesting dinghy so while that is happening, I am wondering about
taking a computer. Is a computer really desireable on a cruise? I
like to do weird calculations with spreadsheets and work out bizaare
optics for fun and profit. Supposedly you can watch a movie on a
computer although I have never done so and am almost unable to watch
movies but a cruise on a sailboat has a lot of free time...I would
never trust my navigation to computer charts so that isnt a reason.
Is being in touch via e-mail and news groups really desireable or
even practical? At work, we have a plethora of new computers but all
are too big and run on 110 volts. My electrical capacity will be
limited to when the engine is running, whatever charge is in my 2
batteries, and whatever my 10 watt solar panel makes. This argues
for a laptop. My last experience with a laptop had me trying to get
it stolen in airports but nobody ever took it. Even though it had a
damned crappy power supply, I kept it going far longer than I should
have by open-chassis surgery and soldering iron. When it finally did
die, I gleefully extracted its hard drive and installed it in an
adapter for my current home computer so that every time I see it I
imagine it as a brain in a jar and I have gotten my revenge. I can
almost imagine it saying "Dave, I know we have had our problems
but.....Daisy, Daisy...."
So, what do y'all think?
Is there any practical way to do e-mail while underway?
Should I just go back to using my slide rule for calculations?