On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 17:35:21 GMT, "Vic Fraenckel"
wrote:

One question that needs to be addressed is repair. Having delved into
repairing a laptop and trying to find parts, I know how near-impossible this
is. Seriously consider a small tower and build it up with of-the-shelf parts
you can get at most computer places or cheaply obtained on-line. You can
replace bad components easily and any local computer store can also do it.
Look into DC/DC power supplies (same form factor as PC power supplies). Some
of the small form factor PCs, like shuttle are interesting but their
mother-board is not easily available and with most major components on the
mother-board, if one goes bad its a new mother-board! Don't get me wrong, I
like laptops but there are some inherent problems with them for on-board
use.

HTH

Vic

Well, if space and heat and to a lesser extent, power consumption
aren't issues, then a box PC is a good idea. You still can't beat
modular systems for repair and I could probably build a reasonably
fast system from my junk box/LINUX benchmark box...

However, you still don't have portability, and while this isn't a
problem in North America, laptops being easier to steal out of cars
than boats, it could be a problem elsewhere, where slipping a Sony
VAIO or other ultraslim PC would be a real security advantage.

Perhaps the best of both worlds is a robust mid-sized tower slung
safely in a cushioned rack beneath the nav table, with a video
splitter to a 15" LCD at the station and a small LCD mounted in the
cockpit (if dry enough). Then I would suggest merely that a removable
USB or SCSI hard drive be used, as this would slip practically into a
pocket, and it's the only bit you'd miss when Pentium III systems
(without monitors) around running $300 or so.

Very few programs in use on a boat are particularly
graphics-intensive...even the Fugawi/Oz/etc. programs...because they
are only as fast as GPS updates and the redraws are not particularly
complex.

Oh yes, and because boats travel slower than planes in flight sim
games.

R.