WxWorx continued

[Dan Luke]

Today the Sony VAIO PCG-TR1AP notebook arrived, so I was able to install
WxWorx on it and add the GPS map option.

The Sony is a dandy little machine. It's about 10.5"x7"x2" folded up. The
screen is 10.6" diag. and, as advertized, very bright. It was easily
viewable in the car when I took it for a test drive in very bright sun
conditions. However, the screen is not anti-glare coated, an annoying miss
by Sony. Still, I had no trouble seeing what I needed on the display.

Loading the WxWorx software was no problem, and neither was connecting the
USB-powered GPS. All I had to do was copy the USB driver from the CD to the
Sony's hard drive, plug in the GPS and point Windows to the driver. The GPS
LED started blinking in about 30 seconds, indicating it had position.

The only glitch came when I started WxWorx: it couldn't find the GPS. A call
to WxWorx soon fixed this, but be warned: you have to keep them on the right
track. The guy I talked to had a solution ready for me, only trouble was it
was for some other problem. Once I got him convinced what my real problem
was, he went and asked someone who really knew something (this seems to
happen a lot) and we quickly got things sorted out.

Now! Let's fire it up and try it out! I set the laptop on the car seat
beside me. Cables were coiling everywhere: receiver USB cable, GPS USB cable
and receiver power cable. It's going to be a real challenge to organize this
stuff in the airplane. Anyway, WxWorx started up and immediately initialized
the receiver, locked onto both satellites and recognized the GPS. With the
click of two buttons, I had a little airplane driving west on Hwy 90, headed
toward some isolated level 4 cells down around Gulfport. Oh, joy! Oh,
rapture! Blind no more! this is just TOO cool. Barely able to take my eyes
off the thing to drive, I managed to avoid a collision as I checked out the
viewability with the sun at various angles. It was fine. I think I love this
thing.

Next: flight test.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[Nathan Young]

"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

[Ben Jackson]

In article >,
Dan Luke > wrote:
>Today the Sony VAIO PCG-TR1AP notebook arrived, so I was able to install

That looks like a great laptop for cockpit use. I told a friend about
it and he called Sony and found out it was discontinued (!). I wonder
if there's going to be an updated model.

--
Ben Jackson
>
http://www.ben.com/

[Dan Luke]

"Nathan Young" wrote:
> Does WxWorx display the map track up, or is it North-up?

North up.

> Did you order the 'advanced' mapping option - the
> one that shows airports and airspaces?

Yes.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

[Jeff Doran]

>
> That looks like a great laptop for cockpit use. I told a friend about
> it and he called Sony and found out it was discontinued (!). I wonder
> if there's going to be an updated model.

Sony confirmed for me this evening that the TR1 (AP) is no longer
available (from Sony direct), and is discontinued, with NO relacement
announced..This seems strange because the TR1 was introduced as
recently as June 2003! And yet, in another bizarre twist, there is an
EBAY listing for a SONY vaio "TR2". Sony denies that this model
exists. The Sony rep I chatted with suggested a "Z" series laptop, 14"
screen with the "xbrite" technology....much larger than the TR
series...

jeff N1159P ACY

[Marc]

Nathan Young wrote:
> "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.
>
>...
>
> 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.

I'm using a NEC Versa E120 Daylite with a transflective display. My
previous Toshiba laptop was basically unreadable in the cockpit during
the day. The NEC is wonderful in full sunlight. In fact, the more direct
light, the better the display looks! I only turn on the backlight at night.

It's not as nice a display as a standard TFT for indoor use, but that's
an acceptable tradeoff for me. It's also a 10.4" display which is a
reasonably small package, though not as nice a form factor as a tablet
for the cockpit. It has good battery life (~6 hrs) and I've also built a
28v->19v converter so I can run off ship power for long flights.

Marc

[Alan Bell]

The Sony TR2 exists and in two models: TR2/E and TR2B. Here are
specifications on both models compared with the TR1.
http://www.dynamism.com/tr2/specs.shtml



"Jeff Doran" > wrote in message
om...
> >
> > That looks like a great laptop for cockpit use. I told a friend about
> > it and he called Sony and found out it was discontinued (!). I wonder
> > if there's going to be an updated model.
>
> Sony confirmed for me this evening that the TR1 (AP) is no longer
> available (from Sony direct), and is discontinued, with NO relacement
> announced..This seems strange because the TR1 was introduced as
> recently as June 2003! And yet, in another bizarre twist, there is an
> EBAY listing for a SONY vaio "TR2". Sony denies that this model
> exists. The Sony rep I chatted with suggested a "Z" series laptop, 14"
> screen with the "xbrite" technology....much larger than the TR
> series...
>
> jeff N1159P ACY

[Yarrow]

Jeff Doran wrote:

> Alan, would you have any idea why neither the Tr1 or the Tr2 is not
> listed at all at the Sony Styles web site?? And when you call Sony,
> they say the the TR series has been discontinued....this is all very
> confusing.

Sony has discontinued the TR1 both in the U.S. and in Japan. In Japan
only, they've announced several models of the TR2. I believe they've just
started shipping the low-end TR2/E (slower than the TR1) and will ship
the high-end TR2/B and TR2/P in October.

I don't know what will happen in the U.S. Possibly they're planning to
bring the TR2 over here eventually, or possibly they'll discontinue U.S.
sales of the entire line. Ultralight notebooks are much more popular in
Japan than over here. As Alan said, the TR2 will be available here from
Dynamism; they buy Japanese notebooks, install English software, and sell
them here at a premium. (About $700 more in the case of the TR2).

The TR1 is still available for around $2000 in some of the online stores
here; I've ordered one from pcmall.com. (They had 37 left this morning,
only 20 this evening, so the rush is on.)

-Yarrow

TR2 pages
Japanese TR2 page (translated): http://makeashorterlink.com/?B45423FE5
Dynamism.com TR2 page: http://www.dynamism.com/tr2/

Where to buy TR1 online:
TR1 with Win XP home: http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2A412FE5
TR1 with Win XP professional: http://makeashorterlink.com/?O2B415FE5

[Mark T. Mueller]

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