Hardware Setup - MacArthur HAT or Generic x86?

[rdd]

Hi everyone,

I am planning an OpenPlotter setup for my sailboat and I am facing a decision.

The boat has Raymarine AIS transceiver with SeatalkNG, a Raymarine Autopilot, Raymarine GPS and a Raymarine Tridata. I will add a masttop wind instrument. 

My objectives are:
  - Touchscreen at the helm with avnav or OpenCPN
  - mirrored screen at the nav station
  - stuff should be future-proof and modular

The two ways I have considered:

1. RPi5 + MacArthur HAT
2. x86 Thin Client Hardware with OpenPlotter + NMEA2k USB adapter + nmea0183 via serial port.

1 has the advantage of being the development focus of OpenMarine and being tested and integrated. On the other hand it is very specific hardware and not much use for anything else.

2 is a more generic direction. The USB adapter is quite expensive right now but the hardware is way more versatile. Also, I really hate SD cards and when I add the M.2 HAT etc. things quickly get expensive on the RPi side too. On the x86 I can add mirrored M.2 SATA quite cheaply and will not have to worry about failures there.

I would be grateful for your opinion and experience on this.

Thank you
Thomas

[igmatic]

As my opinion, for the helm touchscreen, ensure compatibility with either subway surfers online setup, especially regarding sunlight visibility and waterproofing. If you go with x86, you might need additional effort for touchscreen drivers compared to the RPi.