Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 17:59:13 -0500, Jack Erbes
wrote:

For what you spend for a good 12-15" display you can buy a
Raymarine C120 and some chart chips.

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That's probably true if you are talking about a marine waterproof
display, although I prefer to have both. With the price of small, 15
inch, flat panel displays now down into the $200 range you can use one
of those, protect it reasonably well, and take your chances without
risking a king's ransom. I have an ordinary 15 inch flat panel which
has now survived 5 years on two different boats. I protect it (when
necessary) with one of those large platic envelopes that Maptech sells
to protect their chartbooks. Brightness is reasonably good, although
not as good as my Furuno chart plotter, it is brighter than most
laptop screens. I think if you mounted one on a pivot arm you could
probably use it either at the nav station or in the companionway area.

There has been some discussion on the ssca forum recently about laptops
vs chartplotters. On fellow commented that he tried a 15 inch LCD
screen at the helm but found it too bright at night. He could not dim
it enough. What has been your experience?