After doing a considerable amount of research on this, and having seen
WxWorx at OSH, my conclusion was laptops and tablets would not be suitable
for my application. My Grumman Tiger is just too bright in sun, or even
light overcast, and will wash out LCD screens.

I looked at the "daylight readable" TFT tablets, but Fujitsu is about the
only one on the market at a "reasonable" price, but there are significant
limitations to this unit, it is very large for "kneeboard" use, and is not
very rugged (check out the Tablet PC users groups).

The "best" solution IMHO was one of the "ruggedized" tactical Tablet PCs on
the market for military/police use. They are the perfect size, with a
daylight TFT display. The problem is, they are niche products and cost a
friggin' fortune. Not very upgradeable, either...

So, after much deliberation, I decided to go down the PDA path. NavAir's
software uses WxWorx. I got a Toshiba e755 for well under $400 after rebate.
Plenty of very good GPS CF cards. And the screen is TFT with fantastic
colors, looks great in the sun. Plus, I can use it as my regular
"work/personal" PDA as well. There are some good mounting options for the
PDAs in the Cockpit. It is not a perfect solution, but it comes closest to
the mark at the price point I am willing to pay.

YMMV


"Nathan Young" wrote in message
om...
"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
Today the Sony VAIO PCG-TR1AP notebook arrived, so I was able to install
WxWorx on it and add the GPS map option.

Does WxWorx display the map track up, or is it North-up? Did you
order the 'advanced' mapping option - the one that shows airports and
airspaces?

Next: flight test.

Good luck and have fun. I've been looking at WxWorx for a while, but
am really concerned by cockpit readability. I've tried several
laptops in the cockpit, and they are really hard to see - except at
night, when they are too bright.

If someone made a tablet PC with a high nit display, it would be
helpful to WxWorx.

-Nathan