PC chartplotters
If you're looking for a budget solution to your plotting problems, you can turn an old laptop into a passage planner and chartplotter for less than £100. You get a lot more for your money with a PC set-up, including extra features and cheaper upgrades.
Garmin HomePort
Garmin GPS users can now use their home PCs for passage planning, thanks to its new HomePort application. The updated software allows users of Garmin's Bluechart, G2 and G2 Vision cartography on SD or Micro SD format to display charts on their home PC, and use them for passage planning, marking waypoints and managing routes. The software can be downloaded from Garmin's website or bought in Garmin outlets on a 2GB SD card. For plotters like the 400 and 500 series where the cartography is built in, you can use a blank SD card to transfer charts back and forth.
£26.99, Garmin
Admiralty RYA plotter
The Admiralty RYA plotter is the one of the easiest programs to use but that's mainly down to its minimal functionality. Installation and configuration is a very simple process and as the copy protection is embedded in the CD, no unlocking codes are required. Five folios of raster charts covering the British Isles are loaded individually from the CD, which is a straightforward but fairly boring process and there are no foreign charts available yet. The tidal data expires at the end of each year but the charts do not, but you can add your own chart corrections as on-screen notes.
£49.95, Admiralty Leisure
Imray Digital Charts
Imray's Digital Chart is our favourite budget buy for passage planning. It offers the basic functionality at a competitive price, and plenty of chart coverage that will meet the needs of most UK-based boaters. One drawback is that the plotter expires two years after publication, with a new edition coming out every December, and the tidal software needs renewing annually. The only advantage is that chart updates are available from the Imray website at the same time as the paper editions.
£165.99, Imray
SeaPro Lite+ 
A great multi-purpose tool for sea use and planning, Sea Pro Lite+ works with Euronav's Livechart, Navionics charts and many other formats. Installation is easy as it comes on a dongle, which is plugged into the computer's USB socket and you don't need any unlock codes. Zooming and panning vector and raster charts are seamless in Lite+ and there's also a tool that lets you draw corrections and notes onto the chart.
£245, Euronav
Neptune C-Map Planner PLUS
The Neptune C-Map Planner PLUS uses UKHO raster charts covering the UK in 10 folios (one is included with the software, the remaining nine are available to buy for £29 each). Installation and configuration is easy and uses a software unlock code system. Neptune's route calculations are very powerful and it can also work as a basic chartplotter. The overview window is a nice touch too, showing a thumbnail of the whole chart and a box indicating the area you are zoomed in to. It falls down in the user interface, though: it's quite basic, and results are displayed in large reams of text.
£34.95, Neptune Navigation
Digiboat Software-On-Board
SOB, as it is known, is an advanced system with all kinds of features. Although it's the most expensive system listed here it represents good value for money due to some additional features like wind data and a GRIB weather overlay. The software uses C-Map NT+ and Max charts, either on CD or cartridge. You can also transfer routes and waypoints between the PC and plotter. In route planning, you can specify either the speed of the boat, or the required ETA, either leg-by-leg or for the whole route. On the downside tidal streams cannot be used in the route calculations. And because SOB doesn't use Microsoft Windows there are no menus - only a toolbar, which can take some getting used to.
£291, Digiboat
Navionics app for Apple iPhone
Probably the cheapest chartplotting solution around, this app does everything from the usual tracking, route planning and tide, current and waypoint marking, to more sophisticated things like geo-tagging pictures, marking routes on Facebook and recommending nearby repair yards and restaurants. But with its limited battery and aversion to water you'll need to keep your handset near a power source and well away from the wet stuff.
From £14.99, Apple
Read the full report from November 2009.
This article has more pages:
- 1. The best chartplotters
- 2. PC chartplotters
- 3. Handheld plotters
- 4. Stand-alone plotters
- 5. Integrated systems
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