December 2, 2009 16:32
I'm not sure that there is any benefit in using NavX, since MacENC can display both types of charts. I started out mostly using raster charts in MacENC because my area didn't have accurate ENCs. As NOAA has updated its ENCs I have almost entirely stopped using the older rasters, though there are times when the rasters will give a better interpretation.
I have found a large benefit in processing speed with ENCs. As I've added ever more waypoints and annotations the app has lately been bogging down very badly on my macbook when I am displaying a raster chart. The annotation is the greater culprit, but reverting to a raster view certainly adds to the slowdown.
Another point to consider is the ease of downloading updated ENCs. Despite steadily improving download speeds in most areas, there is still a dramatic difference in updating your ENCs vs. downloading regional rasters. All of N. America in ENC format is less space on my hard drive than just two regions of Alaska. I know that people care less these days about hard drive space, but if you try putting rasters for all of N. America on the disk you might have reason to care again.
I have found a large benefit in processing speed with ENCs. As I've added ever more waypoints and annotations the app has lately been bogging down very badly on my macbook when I am displaying a raster chart. The annotation is the greater culprit, but reverting to a raster view certainly adds to the slowdown.
Another point to consider is the ease of downloading updated ENCs. Despite steadily improving download speeds in most areas, there is still a dramatic difference in updating your ENCs vs. downloading regional rasters. All of N. America in ENC format is less space on my hard drive than just two regions of Alaska. I know that people care less these days about hard drive space, but if you try putting rasters for all of N. America on the disk you might have reason to care again.
Edmund