March 7, 2006 16:43
I have to (actually glad to) agree with the previous post. You can pretty well do anything with the Mac you really need. You may not have as many choices in software, but there's at least one good option. The only omission I've found is a routing package (such as Maxsea's routing module) and my opinion is that's only useful of you're planning a major bluewater passage, such as the transpac or heading to the south pacific or Europe. BTW, I've used Maxsea in the past on a Win machinge, but imho MacENC or GPSNavX is nearly as good and a great deal cheaper, and you don't have to use that stupid dongle.
I'm currently setting up my boat for some major world cruising and I'll have two ibooks along and no Bill Gates things. The second is simply as a backup. For e-charts I'll be using predominately Softcharts where they provide coverage. As an aside, Setsail ([color:blue]http://www.setsail.com[/color]) has the best prices I've found on Softcharts, and they have some packages for the South Pacific and New Zealand you can't get elsewhere.
Finally, I haven't set up a pactor yet, but I have downloaded to my Mac some weatherfaxs at home simply using my portable Sony multiband radio. Worked well, considering the small antenna. I haven't really decided if I want to go the SSB email route. I've been seeing post recently that SSB email is getting increasingly crowded and that connects are getting harder to make, with more people turning to Iridium instead. Lot's of pros/con's either way, and that's not really a Mac/Win decision.
In the end, don't be drawn over to the dark side - it isn't necessary.
Scot
I'm currently setting up my boat for some major world cruising and I'll have two ibooks along and no Bill Gates things. The second is simply as a backup. For e-charts I'll be using predominately Softcharts where they provide coverage. As an aside, Setsail ([color:blue]http://www.setsail.com[/color]) has the best prices I've found on Softcharts, and they have some packages for the South Pacific and New Zealand you can't get elsewhere.
Finally, I haven't set up a pactor yet, but I have downloaded to my Mac some weatherfaxs at home simply using my portable Sony multiband radio. Worked well, considering the small antenna. I haven't really decided if I want to go the SSB email route. I've been seeing post recently that SSB email is getting increasingly crowded and that connects are getting harder to make, with more people turning to Iridium instead. Lot's of pros/con's either way, and that's not really a Mac/Win decision.
In the end, don't be drawn over to the dark side - it isn't necessary.
Scot