Furuno and Timezero Pro

[Iggy]

Its possible to go with a touch screen and not use a mouse or keyboard. Without a touch screen, you can use a mouse with a pop-up (on screen) keyboard it will work fine, just slower when you want to enter or route name or similar.

We have 2 time zero systems running on adjacent screens, and a single track-ball mouse that covers both screens, much like you would do on a dual-monitor desk workstation. I found a small keyboard that will work with any of up to 3 outputs with the push of a selector button.

You can certainly navigate with a laptop or ipad. Its personal preference since an integrated system is a little more expensive and more work to install. Up to you to know if you prefer hidden cables, secure PC mounting, large monitors etc. enough to justify the extra setup time and cost.

As mentioned, I am using a touch screen laptop and works very well. More so with no mouse and the keyboard folded back bringing the screen more forward. I use a rubber mat that holds the laptop in place in rough seas.

 

[SailorGreg]

AFter reading all the comments, the NUC solution sounds pretty good. As to monitors, I have had everything from $200 computer monitors to $6,000 marine touch screens.
Since you are installing in the PH, I dont think you need the environmental protections (IP65) that come with "Marine" or "industrial" monitors. Have you decided on "touch" or not? That adds cost but can be really convenient, especially if you are running s/w that is touch oriented.
High resolution is pretty much a given with the current crop of monitors in the size you are considering. So next is sunlight readability. You can surely get by with less than 1,000 nits but there will be times when a 700 nit screen will be hard to read, even in a PH.
Panel mountable. DC without extra conversions. Plenty of back side connections without physical level conversions (cables that change connectors on either end). Probably need 2 HDMI among others. Consider how you might drive the screen in various back-up modes.
So, with 21", touch, panel mountable, 1,000 nits, 12v DC and multiple direct cable connections you are likely into the higher price ranges.
We have Green Marine Bridge Commander screens but the larger one was $6K or so. Great screens and a good company to deal with, but like you say, quite pricey. None of us can tell you whether you would be satisfied with 700 nits, for example. My suggestion would be for you to go out to the forum with a set of specifications for your screens and see what comes back.

 

[stevemitchell]

Steve, when the beetronics monitors are panel mounted it appears that the only way to control the monitor is the remote control? Is this true?

There is an add-on cable you can buy from Beetronics which can adjust the brightness and turn it on and off (https://www.beetronics.com/external-dimmer-16feet). I have a couple of these for panel mounted versions and they work great.

If you want to change other settings, then yes, you would need to use the remote.

 

[stevemitchell]

Also, one other note on Beetronics - they just announced a 1000nit screen which I have coming to me for testing. Their previous versions are 700nit which I've had very little issues with, but would love 300 more nits to play with!

 

[La Sirena]

I thought I would circle back to let you know what I did and what I learned. I ended up with a Beetronics 22", 1000 nit touchscreen monitor, 12th gen NUC, wireless keyboard and mouse, and Timezero Pro with radar license. I mounted the NUC on the VESA mount on the back of the monitor. Very neat, doesn't take much space and easy cable management. I used available 12V power to drive the NUC and monitor, and they both turn on automatically when I turn on the braker. The monitor was a bit of a challenge to fit on my helm station, but it did fit nicely and looks amazing.


My first impression with TZ Pro is that it's a very feature-rich but intuitive product. I will probably never buy another MFD again. It's nice to have a Windows based nav system since we all are familiar with Windows (like it or not). It's nice to have access to the internet from the helm on a big screen and full keyboard.

The whole system was easy to install. The most time was spent cutting the hole for the monitor (after measuring 5 times!). Once power was applied, installing the software went pretty fast and then integrating to the NEMA2000 network went quick without a lot of techy BS. I did have some problems getting the data from the Simrad autopilot to TZ, but it was an AP setting, not a TZ issue.

The big problem I'm having is that the monitor is not readable with polarized glasses. That's a big problem. My Furuno MFD is clearly readable, but my Beetronics monitor is bladk. Crap. What to do? Also, the monitor remote control IR receiver is located on the back of the monitor (??), so I will likely get a remote sensor that can be plugged into a jack on the back of the monitor.

Does anyone have ideas on how I can solve the polarization issue? I don't want to rotate the screen, I tried a diffraction grating film (that worked, but it makes the screen blurry), and I don't want to used non-polarized sunglasses.