1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194 
HARD DR
Page 60
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
1
VE
If you live in fear of damaging your laptop, Compwise's super-tough portable computers could be the answer. Brian Weatherley reports.
you don't have to look far in road transport to find people using laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) out in the field. However, haulage definitely qualifies as a hostile environment and replacing a portable computer is expensive, never mind having to retrieve lost data.
Unfortunately, the average laptop or PDA is not designed to be dropped from the side of a truck onto a concrete floor. Likewise, British weather is no respecter of electronics — if water can get inside it will.
At the recent Site Equipment Demonstration show. CM encountered Compwise, which offers rugged mobile computers ranging from a laptop to a PDA originally developed for the Israeli Army. Moreover, sales manager at the Enfield,Middlesex-based company, Warren Landau, reckons that as its kit was originally for the construction market, road transport is an obvious extension.
Leading the line-up is its Rugged Notebook130.With a die-cast aluminium case. heavyduty rubber impact corners and shock-mounted hard drive it can withstand a 91cm (3ft) drop onto concrete. It has a waterresistant keyboard and sealed touch mouse pad and can operate from 0-50°C (there's even an optional -20°C operating version).A fully sealed case prevents water or dust penetrating so you can download data in a downpour or humidity approaching 95%.And a sunlightreadable screen ensures you won't be left squinting when it stops raining.
Even the USB and serial ports are fully sealed, while a 4.5-hour battery life should be enough for more remote working. Otherwise there's an optional vehicle adaptor for a quick power boost on the road. It also has its own carrying handle.
Compwise's Rugged Tablet 25 is a touch screen device within a sealed dustproof and waterproof case which is ideal for collecting proof of delivery data or checking blueprints or plans.According to Landau, it is ideal for use in warehouses, vehicles and R&M operations. Add the optional CCD camera and it's ideal for insurance assessors to get details of accident damage down quickly. Roughly A4 in size it also boasts a magnesium alloy case and is resistant to vibration.shocks and water. Like the laptop. it can be supplied with a sunlight-readable screen and can survive a 91cm fall.
Last,but by no means least, is the Rugged PDA.Watching Landau bash it several times against a metal table top had us cringing— but it didn't stop it working. Indeed, its metal case looks tough enough to stop a bullet. More importantly it is completely submersible, can survive a fall from almost two metres and weighs no more than 480g. It has a touchsensitive colour screen, runs Pocket CE Windows and other PDA software including e-mail. It can even be used with gloved hands. All three Compwise products can be wireless enabled and linked to a GPS receiver. •