Posted: 11/26/2012 10:29:22 AM EDT
| I would like to have a computer for the field that isn't too large, that is ruggedized to military standards and that can accept jump drives, etc. It would be nice if it was small enough to fit in a pack without taking the entire pack over. What features should I be looking for and any units you would recommend? |
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Panasonic Toughbook.
In particular if you want something that doesn't take up space look at the Toughbook U1. The U1 isn't the fastest machine but it does have an exceptionally long battery life (even more so if you get the duel battery option). http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/handheld-computers.asp |
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Panasonic Toughbook. In particular if you want something that doesn't take up space look at the Toughbook U1. The U1 isn't the fastest machine but it does have an exceptionally long battery life (even more so if you get the duel battery option). http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/handheld-computers.asp Ive been carrying one for a couple years....they are rugged......not much as far as a fast machine but it gets the job done |
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my company sells a bunch of these: http://us.getac.com/products/notebook Definitely heavier than a standard notebook, but very durable. A customer of mine had a bunch of these for his service trucks. He replaced them earlier than planned with Panasonic toughbooks after the usb ports in the getacs stopped working. The Toughbooks are still chugging along 5 years on. YMMV Also you might want to check out Dell's ruggedized laptops. You can pick them up on eBay for reasonable prices quite often. |
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I have 14 laptops at work for myself and all the other service techs, and have always purchased the cheap $500-$600 HP's. They get the crap beat out of them on service calls and live in very dusty/oily conditions, and have held up very well. Initially I bought cheaper ones to be somewhat disposable, but the only problems I really have is with dirt in the DVD drives which is easy to clean out. One was in the direct path of a violent tire explosion and only suffered a broken screen.
I would love to have a bunch of Toughbooks, but cant justify the cost when the cheapies work so well. |
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I have a toughbook CF-18 that I got off ebay for about $350 about 3 years ago which I use almost daily. As said above, not the fastest but gets stuff done.
I am typing on a CF-29 that I got abou the same time for around $400, and it is easier to type on but larger. I am looking at the CF-19 MK 3s now on Ebay. When they get cheap enough I will upgrade my 18 to one of those. These were $3000-$4000 computers new, and I believe are some of the most rugged computers built. I have used them while traveling in Haiti and Nicaragua. |
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http://rugged-laptop-review.toptenreviews.com/
Happened to be looking this up today |
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I have 14 laptops at work for myself and all the other service techs, and have always purchased the cheap $500-$600 HP's. They get the crap beat out of them on service calls and live in very dusty/oily conditions, and have held up very well. Initially I bought cheaper ones to be somewhat disposable, but the only problems I really have is with dirt in the DVD drives which is easy to clean out. One was in the direct path of a violent tire explosion and only suffered a broken screen. I would love to have a bunch of Toughbooks, but cant justify the cost when the cheapies work so well. This really isn't a bad way to go, especially since some of the manufacturers have semi-ruggedized designs they don't sell as rugged for obvious reasons. The Thinkpad I use at the moment (X220) was routinely demonstrated live at computer trade shows I went to with a pump dumping water onto the keyboard continuously for hours. It probably won't do as well as a toughbook when dropped, but it'll do fine if it's babied just a little. There are some in-between milspec-specs such as discussed here: http://www.lenovo.com/news/us/en/2009/02/rugged_computing.html Otherwise, used Toughbooks. |
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I have 14 laptops at work for myself and all the other service techs, and have always purchased the cheap $500-$600 HP's. They get the crap beat out of them on service calls and live in very dusty/oily conditions, and have held up very well. Initially I bought cheaper ones to be somewhat disposable, but the only problems I really have is with dirt in the DVD drives which is easy to clean out. One was in the direct path of a violent tire explosion and only suffered a broken screen. I would love to have a bunch of Toughbooks, but cant justify the cost when the cheapies work so well. I have a cheap old dell I cant seem to kill. Big, heavy, crap battery but it boots every time. Also have had great luck with an acer netbook which might suit the OP best. They aren't ruggedized but take a fair amount of abuse and it's very small and light. Walmart carries them for about $250 so they're cheap enough not to get too bent out of shape if it gets stolen. Perfect for sticking in a pack or bag. It's much easier to use with an external mouse, though, but you can get little ones for cheap. |
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I had a ToughBook and loved it, but it was too large and heavy for my uses. I wanted something I could more easily travel internationally with, so I sold the TB and bought an Asus Eee. I used that for a few years and really liked it, then moved on to an Asus Transformer 2 Droid tablet with dock. I've come to value light weight, small size, and long battery life over toughness. |
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I have a cheap old dell I cant seem to kill. Big, heavy, crap battery but it boots every time. Before we settled on the Toughbooks for the 'deliverable' we used some Dells for the prototyping. They survived several field trips - including 2 to the desert. They were tougher than they looked. |
IMO, I worked for a police software company and I assisted in the hardware installs and support for over 200 L.E. agencies in Texas and the most widely used laptop in the vehicles was the Toughbook. Closely followed by General Dynamics GD6000's and GD8000's. I also started working on Getac's but I really didn't care for them due to having a 20% failure rate right out of the box. Sure they have a decent warranty, but I wouldn't waste my time with them if I were going to buy one for myself. I personally have a Panasonic CF-30 that I purchased used and it's still going strong. Slow but it works. I also have a used GD6000 which is easily my favorite of the two. Much faster and it has a better profile and more features. The GD6000 is what some would consider a semi-rugged but mine has had a full cup of coffee spilled on it and it still works after being cleaned with regular tap water. I also have plenty of experience with Dell rugged and for the same price I'd go with a Panasonic. Motorola needs to stick with radios IMHO and Getac needs to be go back to Korea. Just my opinion. If you look around on ebay you can find a GD6000 for less than $500 or a fully rugged GD8000 for around $600. BTW, Toughbooks are great computers with great work history but some of the flash drives will not fit due to the USB's being deeply recessed. There are others options out there like rugged tablets but you're limited to your ability to work on those due to lacking a keyboard. Any questions let me know. (I have no affiliation with any of these companies mentioned) Good luck. 
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I am a big fan of the Dell rugged laptops and even the busines oriented ones which have stiffer chasis then the consumer line.
Whatever you get, get something with a solid state drive or something you can drop a solid state drive into. In my opinion that is one of the places laptops fail quickly when being handled roughly. |