I thought it might be good to have a compilation of sources of rugged portable and mobile computers. These are the ones of which I am aware (listed alphabetically, no preference intended); please feel free to add to the list:
cyberchron
Dell
General Dynamics / Itronix
LXE
Panasonic
Stealth
Xplore
And now, for something completely different... It's...
A few of my thoughts and findings, some of which have an overly-anal granularity that most overlanders wouldn’t care about:
All in my humble opinion, of course, and based solely on my perspective:
1) MIL_STD 810F is the US Military standard for rugged electronics, and has become a commercial and marketing standard, as well. However, you should be aware that 810F is a general document that must be tailored for each device, and for the environment in which it is intended to be used. The result is that two similar devices, both advertised to meet 810F, may be considerably different.
For example, one manufacturer could design its product for a temperate environment, and another manufacturer design a similar product for an extreme environment. Both products could be marketed as ‘conforming to 810F,’ yet they could be drastically different.
Unfortunately, getting the details from the manufacturer is sometimes difficult, and understanding Military Standards is nearly impossible. You can download the 800+ page .pdf copies of 810F (and the draft of the ‘G’ revision) if you really want to, but for the vast majority of us it would be sufficient to get the manufacturer’s specifications (like operating temperature, for instance) for the products we're considering, and critically compare them to the most extreme environmental conditions we can expect to see.
Also, be aware that the marketing term ‘designed to meet 810F’ does not mean the same thing as ‘tested to 810F.’ Better yet would be a product ‘independently tested to meet or exceed 810F.’
2) AFIK, off the shelf, all the rugged laptops are only rated milspec with the I/O doors closed. And you can't close the doors with I/O cables plugged in, so if you connect anything other than the power cord, you risk compromising the integrity of the housing to some degree. Custom solutions are available, but that’s probably only viable if you are ordering hundreds of units…
As an example, where I used to work we needed a laptop to pass MIL_STD 810F testing, including Wave Splash, with an Ethernet cable attached. We ended up drilling a hole in the I/O door, installing a ‘thru hull’ fitting, and permanently attaching a pigtail that was terminated in a waterproof inline RJ-45 connector. IIRC the connector we used was made by Amphenol.
Now I realize that most overlanders aren’t worried about waves coming over the bow and drenching the laptop, but probably should concern themselves with how much dust could potentially enter the housing when desired accessories (GPSr, monitor, speakers, etc.) are plugged in.
3) Major computer manufacturers that also do rugged versions (Dell, Panasonic) probably have better technology available earlier than custom houses (Stealth, Xplore), since they can design the ruggedized version concurrent with the next generation of non-rugged one. Traditionally, ruggedized laptops were a redesign of a market product, and lagged the non-ruggedized version by a generation or so. This is changing since an 'obsolete' laptop is hard to sell...
Just to illustrate, several years ago the company I worked for was using some Itronix laptops that were fairly obsolete before they ever came to market. That may have changed since Itronix became a part of General Dynamics, but GD isn’t really in the computer business, so I’m not sure that’s a major advantage. I know that one of Dell’s marketing claims is that the ruggedized version is available concurrent with the non-ruggedized version, so that businesses only have one ‘platform’ to support. Panasonic probably does the same thing.
cyberchron
Dell
General Dynamics / Itronix
LXE
Panasonic
Stealth
Xplore
And now, for something completely different... It's...
A few of my thoughts and findings, some of which have an overly-anal granularity that most overlanders wouldn’t care about:
All in my humble opinion, of course, and based solely on my perspective:1) MIL_STD 810F is the US Military standard for rugged electronics, and has become a commercial and marketing standard, as well. However, you should be aware that 810F is a general document that must be tailored for each device, and for the environment in which it is intended to be used. The result is that two similar devices, both advertised to meet 810F, may be considerably different.
For example, one manufacturer could design its product for a temperate environment, and another manufacturer design a similar product for an extreme environment. Both products could be marketed as ‘conforming to 810F,’ yet they could be drastically different.
Unfortunately, getting the details from the manufacturer is sometimes difficult, and understanding Military Standards is nearly impossible. You can download the 800+ page .pdf copies of 810F (and the draft of the ‘G’ revision) if you really want to, but for the vast majority of us it would be sufficient to get the manufacturer’s specifications (like operating temperature, for instance) for the products we're considering, and critically compare them to the most extreme environmental conditions we can expect to see.
Also, be aware that the marketing term ‘designed to meet 810F’ does not mean the same thing as ‘tested to 810F.’ Better yet would be a product ‘independently tested to meet or exceed 810F.’
2) AFIK, off the shelf, all the rugged laptops are only rated milspec with the I/O doors closed. And you can't close the doors with I/O cables plugged in, so if you connect anything other than the power cord, you risk compromising the integrity of the housing to some degree. Custom solutions are available, but that’s probably only viable if you are ordering hundreds of units…
As an example, where I used to work we needed a laptop to pass MIL_STD 810F testing, including Wave Splash, with an Ethernet cable attached. We ended up drilling a hole in the I/O door, installing a ‘thru hull’ fitting, and permanently attaching a pigtail that was terminated in a waterproof inline RJ-45 connector. IIRC the connector we used was made by Amphenol.
Now I realize that most overlanders aren’t worried about waves coming over the bow and drenching the laptop, but probably should concern themselves with how much dust could potentially enter the housing when desired accessories (GPSr, monitor, speakers, etc.) are plugged in.
3) Major computer manufacturers that also do rugged versions (Dell, Panasonic) probably have better technology available earlier than custom houses (Stealth, Xplore), since they can design the ruggedized version concurrent with the next generation of non-rugged one. Traditionally, ruggedized laptops were a redesign of a market product, and lagged the non-ruggedized version by a generation or so. This is changing since an 'obsolete' laptop is hard to sell...
Just to illustrate, several years ago the company I worked for was using some Itronix laptops that were fairly obsolete before they ever came to market. That may have changed since Itronix became a part of General Dynamics, but GD isn’t really in the computer business, so I’m not sure that’s a major advantage. I know that one of Dell’s marketing claims is that the ruggedized version is available concurrent with the non-ruggedized version, so that businesses only have one ‘platform’ to support. Panasonic probably does the same thing.
