CF -19 on Boat

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum and I'm interested in purchasing a used CF-19 to use on my boat. It will be mounted in a semi-open cockpit. The primary purpose will be to run a real time navigation and charting program - most likely one made by a company called Maptech.
I'm dazed and confused. There a a bunch of the CF-19s for sale on ebay and the prices are all over the place. They are Mk1, through Mk4. Can someone give me an some thoughts about how much computing horsepower I'll need and also which sellers to avoid on ebay.
Thanks,
Petesails

 

Try to buy MK3 or newer.
You don't need much horsepower, but you need a good screen.
Avoid sellers with negative feedback ))

 

Welcome to the Toughbook Forum
I think it all comes down to how much you want to spend. A MK1 will cost you $400+ , MK2 $550+ , MK3 $800+ and MK4 $1500+ . It also comes down to the extra's...GPS, Bluetooth, hdd/caddy. Always check the feedback and take a good look at the pictures.

 

Hello. How dry is your "semi open" cockpit? If you expecting any splashes on your CF19, you must have built in GPS and rubber or emissive keyboard. All ports closed. Run it on the battery. Mounting only for securing it. If you use docking station, the connection is not waterproof. If you can use dimmer screen and lower resolution look for CF-07 wireless display. The computer is in the cabin (out of the weather). CF-07 wireless display is waterresistant and good in sunshine as well. For any charting software and nautical charts, in my opinion large screen is better. Regards, Voytek.

 

I appreciate the replys, keep them coming. It will be mounted on the dashboard area where it might get splashed but not soaked. The cockpit area has a hardtop but no windsheild or side windows. It will not be in direct sunlight but will be in daylight so the screen must be "daylight viewable".
As a reference point, I can pick up a top of the line used chartplotter with more bells and whistles than I need for about $1000 - $1300. Wi-Fi, word processing programs, etc. aren't important to me. I'm only interested in using this as a chartplotter. Hope this extra info helps. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Suggest looking into a CF-08 portable display. It is brighter, slightly larger, and higher resolution than the CF-07. Either will let you mount the real navigation computer below deck, and use just the portable display topside. So the nav computer does not really need to be weatherproof.

Another advantage of portable displays is their orientation flexibility. Let's you eliminate glare and get a better viewing angle than any fixed mounting location.