A hard day's work often means dirty hands, and dirty hands and keyboards have a long history of not getting along together. Rugged tablets tend to be a somewhat better (or at least easier to clean) solution, the latest entry being Glacier Computer's Everest E4000, a fully integrated device available in 10-, 12-, and 15-inch sizes running your choice of XP Pro, XP Embedded, or Linux. No details are available on what hardware is lurking inside that purposeful looking case, which isn't the most attractive thing we've ever seen, but certainly seems a lot more durable than some of its
competition -- like you could back an 18-wheeler over it and then cozy up with for a nice game of touchscreen 'Solitare' while waiting for your invoices to print. Not that you'd ever play games while on the clock, of course.
Update: We got some further details about this brute to pass along. It maxes out at a 1.4GHz Pentium M with 1GB of memory and a 16GB SSD, which may not sound like much, but since it's entirely sealed cooling anything faster would be something of a challenge. The 15-inch screen is 1024 x 768, 802.11a/b/g is supported, and you can get one to mount on your forklift for between $2,500 and $4,500 -- forklift not included.
posted Feb 10th 2009 8:27AM
i didnt like it.
its very very ugly !
It's an industrial machine, it's not meant to be pretty. It's rugged. http://www.glaciercomputer.com/ (my father in law works there)
I don't know about you, but this looks like a tablet that I would trust to take a rough beating and keep on going.
Given the that previous generation was 512MB and 1.2 Ghz, it's really disappointing to see the specs on these things still suck.
As far as the "self-contained cooling", the outsides of the machine get hot enough after an hours use that it's uncomfortable to touch it, and using the touchscreen it's unpleasant at best.
The Everest will be available with an Atom processor and 2 GB DRAM later in the year. As far as the heat, the enclosure only gets hot if the unit is laid flat on its back and the processor run at 100%. In its traditional vertical mounting scenario, the cooling works well.
This type of computer doesn't need to be attractive or as fast as desktops. It need to be rugged, reliable and easy to use. I support a fleet of 200+ forklift mounted computers and have seen the type of abuse these things get. Solid state drives, sealed chassis and bullet proof cases are what I need, not aesthetics or speed. The computer only needs to be powerful enough to run a browser or telnet session, not play games. A touchscreen with a properly designed application can make training new users (many of whom have never used computers before) much easier. Also in our northern warehouses, forklift operators frequently wear gloves. A touchscreen with large buttons make it possible to use the computer without removing them.
The Glacier units may not be "pretty" but neither are the conditions we use them in. Open loading docks, freezers, and warehouses are not the type of environment you want a slick looking machine. You need a PC that will stand up to abuse and these machines will take almost anything you can throw at them, save for the occasional screwdriver as a stylus. As far as the heat issue, if you read the full specs and understand how a heat sink works, you would realize that the units will feel warmer because there are no moving fans to get clogged with gunk and break down. The warmth is a result of the heat sink transferring heat away form the processor and internals. We'll stick with these.