On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 09:20:02 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

What's needed is a water-resistant laptop PC with a bright screen that
sells for about a grand. That'll be the kiss of death to the overpriced
"chartplotter" business.

================================

Probably not, although it might help to bring prices down. I have
both, and if one had to go, it would be the laptop. The chartplotter
integrates nicely with the RADAR which is a desirable thing. It also
has dedicated controls clearly labeled, and it will zoom in to a much
greater level of detail than the raster charts on the laptop.

There are two things the laptop does better which is why I use both.
The raster charts are very intuitive and easy to read since they look
just like the paper charts. My paticular software also does a good
job with trip planning and layout of routes, all of which can be done
below decks the night before.