Best laptop for screen visibility

It might be a good exercise to find out just what the options are for sub $1000 system, if this is where the thread is going.

I'll submit that the Garmin 94sv, at a street price of $800 would fit the bill for many. Mostly attractive due to its sophisticated bottom finding features with CHIRP. Enclosed GPS system, including antenna, AIS tracking on screen (it does need ext AIS Rx), Sea surface temperature, no ext battery charger rqrd, and a usable screen in S latitude sunlight. It will continue to operate with crashing seawater on it.

NO, it won't do excel and word processing, and email.

I'm one to see a laptop with charting as something for the berths/office. Although I've been know to use an iPhone in a cradle for navigation if called for.

Thanks for the info! Sounds like a great unit!

foggysail said:

Mine is no laptop but last year’s Apple hero, a 9.7” Ipad Pro. First, it has a built in GPS, great for navigation. Next... I can read the screen in daylight whereas with my Asus laptop I cannot.

I usually avoid praising products, especially Apple’s. My Ipad Pro was my first venture into any of Apple’s products and I am well pleased even though this particular model has already been phased out of manufacturing, replaced with the 10.5”.

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I agree I use my Ipad ( I have the larger one) I just bought a new mount for it but have not installed it yet

Garmin 94sv on sale at wm for $599!

Samsung has a few pads with built in GPS for way less than Apple stuff....

Bigfish said:

What monitor???

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Just an old Dell 15 inch I set at quite bright running off a small inverter I wired into the upper helm power buss. The Fugawi software has a clickable Day, Dusk, Night setting so it is easy to adjust for the light level. I have a full canvas enclosure on the flybridge so it is almost always shaded.

Thats kinda what I was thinking... I just have a bimini on my flybridge at the moment so its pretty bright..

psneeld said:

Samsung has a few pads with built in GPS for way less than Apple stuff....

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And various other brands with gps onboard are cheaper than Samsung.
We have an Asus that we bought new for $90 that runs navionics.
Lesser known brands cheaper again

I'm a nit picker

psneeld said:

Samsung has a few pads with built in GPS for way less than Apple stuff....

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Yup. Apple makes very good, very over-priced products that perform no better than many comparable Android-based units.

Simi 60 said:

And how much does an iPad pro cost?

$15 GPS puck off of eBay makes my old but reliable Compaq Presario laptop a fully featured and essentially free plotter (opencpn) with no need to be attached to the internet
A $120 upgrade for increased ram and ssd drive and a clean linux mint install has increased its speed dramatically.


Main plotter is a Seiwa explorer 3 head connected to a 21 inch lcd monitor but I prefer opencpn.

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My Ipad pro was expensive, somewhere in the $800 range if I remember correctly with an external keyboard of course. Now as to inexpensive GPS’s working with any dog computer has a great deal of merit as long as there is navigation software available. I really don’t know what is available for a PC. Maybe Navionics supplys such.

But all this is quite moot. The dog I thought we were searching for was one that could bark in bright daylight, one that would make GPS products from sources such as Garmin obsolete. So it becomes the user’s choice as of course it always is. Put an inexpensive system together and if it solves the problem at hand..... then you have your solution.

My IPad purchase though had little to do with cost and for that matter its ability to function remarketly well at my helm, day or night. I didn’t purchase my IPad for navigation! I purchased it to have internet ability at my disposal regardless of where ever I happen to be. The navigation feature was a complete surprise to me. And the IPad with a built in GPS allows navigation without being connected to the internet. I should mention that I continue to use an old flip phone over an IPhone. My reliable flip phone easily goes over 3 days without charge.

I too have a laptop LCD display problem. Its just an issue with laptops as a screen like the one on a desktop will burn through the battery.

That said I'm thinking of a PC screen or a tv on a hdmi cable. That way I can put the laptop whereever i want and the screen wherever and use a remote mouse.

PMF1984 said:

I too have a laptop LCD display problem. Its just an issue with laptops as a screen like the one on a desktop will burn through the battery.

That said I'm thinking of a PC screen or a tv on a hdmi cable. That way I can put the laptop whereever i want and the screen wherever and use a remote mouse.

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I installed one of these when my ridiculously expensive Big Bay could not play with a new laptop: https://www.gechic.com/en-portable-monitor-onlap1503h-overview.html

It seems as bright, or brighter than the 1,000 nit Big Bay. Cost was around $600, driven by hdmi cable from a cheap Asus laptop.