April 26, 2010 17:11
There are other solutions too...
There are other NMEA servers that can repeat all of your helm data to your iPad without the need to have it "tethered" to the Mac. One negative about using the Mac as the server is that you need to keep the Mac powered up and running just to use the iPad for navigation. The beauty of the iPad is that it allows you to NOT have to use the laptop for many functions. Using the Mac as the server is sort of defeating this major purpose.
I'd also expect other GPS solutions to appear - again, solutions that are apart from having to lug out the Mac, plug it in, run software on it, and connect.
Using MacENC to serve the NMEA/GPS data to the iPad is a great idea if you're actively using MacENC for navigation and would like a second display in another location, etc. Just beware of getting locked into a set of products - flexibility is usually more important.
One last negative about the idea of using MacENC is that I'm unaware whether it can be used to serve data to apps other than iNavX. There are other apps out there and all of them should be evaluated. Practical Sailor, as just one data point, did a pretty thorough review of three iPhone apps in this month's issue. You certainly should read that before spending money on anything.
There are other NMEA servers that can repeat all of your helm data to your iPad without the need to have it "tethered" to the Mac. One negative about using the Mac as the server is that you need to keep the Mac powered up and running just to use the iPad for navigation. The beauty of the iPad is that it allows you to NOT have to use the laptop for many functions. Using the Mac as the server is sort of defeating this major purpose.
I'd also expect other GPS solutions to appear - again, solutions that are apart from having to lug out the Mac, plug it in, run software on it, and connect.
Using MacENC to serve the NMEA/GPS data to the iPad is a great idea if you're actively using MacENC for navigation and would like a second display in another location, etc. Just beware of getting locked into a set of products - flexibility is usually more important.
One last negative about the idea of using MacENC is that I'm unaware whether it can be used to serve data to apps other than iNavX. There are other apps out there and all of them should be evaluated. Practical Sailor, as just one data point, did a pretty thorough review of three iPhone apps in this month's issue. You certainly should read that before spending money on anything.