With super-bright, wateproof LCD monitors for the cockpit hovering in 3 to 5 boat unit range (1 bu = $1k), I’ve been looking at other solutions for using a computer as a topside chartplotter. Interestinlgy enough, there are entire waterproof Tablet PCs with outdoor readable screens that can be bought for this kind of money. And when you’re not using them at the nav station, just bring ‘em inside, rinse ‘em off in the galley sink, and write your email with the touchscreen pen. This one would fit the bill very nicely.

A number of the Xplore units have been on the surplus market in the $1,000-$1,500 range, notably on ebay. Apparently a large project was cancelled and lots of them have been circulating. From what I can determine, the screens on these models aren’t very usable in direct sun, and the processor is a bit slow by current standards, but the price certainly is attractive for such a rugged device.