Droid X apps?

I have, and really like, a Verizon Droid Incredible:

https://www.panbo.com/archives/2010/05/verizon_droid_incredible_indeed_it_is.html

But there aren't many marine apps for yet, Navionics Mobile and Bluefin Marine Weather being notable exceptions. Unfortunately it's not at all easy to take screen shots on Android phones, which makes it harder to write about apps.

Jeff Siegle, who comments a lot here and has cruised the coast with both Verizon and ATT, says they both have weak spots and are competitive overall.

I delighted in offering my Droid to a crew member with an iPhone on numerous occasions during my trip from Panbo Country to Annapolis. At no time did he have web access when I didn't. I had a similar experience coming up from Key West earier this year. I'm led to conclude that Jeff is being a little too 'fair' to ATT. It takes hutzpah to stand against the VEA (vociferously evangelistic applephiles). [g]

Head offshore about 2 miles and see how well Verizon works out there. Check out the signal and speed differences in Northport, NY on Long Island and your friend will be offering you his iPhone.

Hey - we have both Verizon and AT&T. There are strong places for both and both are generally getting better. Here off the Potomac, both are giving me more than 1 mbps - I can't complain.

When a lot of people's prayers are answered and Verizon has an iPhone (January?) we'll see how the Verizon data network responds when a few more million people really start using their data plans.

I've just returned from the Bahamas Rally, part of the Caribbean 1500, and a great adventure for me. Unfortunately, I have to report that my Droid reception stopped 24 miles east of Charleston, SC.
the GPS continued to work, and the Navionics charts were quite nice, but since there were five other GPS sources on board, I didn't use the Droid for the whole trip. There was one boat in the Caribbean 1500 that carried no paper charts on board, but had multiple iThings for the trip. Organizers approved their participation based on the multiple redundancy of electronic sources. I haven't heard how that worked out.

I'm sad to report that my latest pride and joy, one of Garmin's newest 78SC hadhelds didn't survive. It was mounted at the outside helm of Siesta's forward cockpit. We had 20+ knot tailwinds going into the Gulf Stream's northerly course, and the bows were pitching 9' at times, with an occasional spray (never more than spray) into the cockpit.
the unprotected mini usb connection corroded and fried the handheld. Hindsight assures me a squirt of dielectric goop and a dab of silicone sealer would have prevented the problem, but that's how I learn things. As a result I resurrected a trusty old Garmin Foretrex 101 from the dinghy bag and that's how we steered the remainder of the trip while at the outside helm. Inside we relied on a Garmin 545 with a vision card for the Bahamas that plotted a braver route than I would in strange waters! My point is, when it got messy outside I was very glad to have purpose-built, trusty old tech waterproof navigation equipment to fall back on. I would never take my cell phone out on deck off shore.

Sandy - I'm surprised that you were sad that your phone wasn't connectible 24 miles offshore. That's a long way for 3G mobile (or any mobile) signals to travel, considering that they are line of sight devices. One of the problems with most mobile phones is that once they lose signal their batteries plummet very quickly while they try valiantly to find something to reconnect to - and it's sometimes not easy to turn off cell hunting to conserve power.

Does Garmin not supply a rubber cover for the min-usb connector on the 78SC? (not that rubber covers are the be-all, end-all of weather protection).

Sorry, Roy, the first remark was slightly tongue-in-cheek. And no, the usb connection to the Garmin 78sc has no particular weather protection. In fact, I think the old Garmin 4-pin barrel plug is better for that purpose, (yes, there is still one of those on this jewel) but it needs a db9 plug on your PC, or a db9-to-USB converter to transfer data to a PC. Not all converters work. A little dab or dielectric grease would work for the original plug.

Garmin attaboy: They replaced my original 78sc in less than two weeks. Not bad for this time of year! After all this, I still am glad to have it rather than my trusty old 76, if for no more than the preloaded charts. I just wish there was room in the design for a weather shield at the connectors, and some protection of the internal circuitry against voltage on the wrong pins.