While GETAC is not the only company to release mobile PCs that are best suited to war zones or extremely harsh conditions, the company has managed to make quite a recent splash with its B300 notebook and now this rugged Tablet PC.
The first indication that this is something out of the ordinary occurs when you take it out of the box and look to the corners: there are four solidly thick and reassuring rubber bumpers preventing any direct contact between the casing and a flat surface, thus avoiding accidental damage or scratching.
The E100 is surprisingly light at 1.4kg and its compact dimensions (280 x 184 x 32mm) are smaller than a sheet of A4. Yet the gunmetal-coloured magnesium alloy casing tells you that this is a machine that takes no prisoners and when you scan the sides and top you'll notice how every port is protected by more rubber stoppers and plastic shields. When you glance at the back, there's only a heavily protected battery compartment; no direct access to the hard drive and no air vents as this machine doesn't need a fan.
As with the B300, the E100 has been subjected to a vast array of military standard temperature and shock treatments and has emerged completely MIL-STD-810F and IP-54 compliant. This means that it can withstand severe vibration and dropping damage (we checked the latter with trepidation and it emerged utterly unscathed) as well as being heavily resistant to water, dust and extremes of hot and cold. The 100GB hard drive is shock-mounted to prevent any interruption in usage in adverse conditions.
Like its big brother, the E100 also has Sunlight Readable Technology which can boost the LCD luminescence to a dazzling 800-nit for reading in bright sunlight. The extensive ECO settings mean that power usage throughout can be carefully controlled to maximize battery life (we averaged around 4 hours for normal usage) and that includes an auto setting for screen brightness.
The various control menus on this Tablet PC are well constructed and user friendly. Above the number pad on the right of the LCD there's a Menu button that brings up a series of quick start options, including RF for wireless connection, ECO for power saving, Docking, Backlight, Rotate and Display for switching to an external source. In addition, the G-Manager menu gives comprehensive information on battery usage, light levels, economy settings, monitoring and GPS status plus a summary of all systems operations at a glance on one page.
If you're used to the Tablet style then you'll soon become familiar with the plastic stylus-driven touchscreen operation and even if not, there's a Touchkit control panel where you can fine-tune your settings. As you'd expect, the need to maximise battery life has meant a certain amount of trade-off with performance, but GETAC has opted for a low power Intel A110 processor running at 800MHz and with 1GB of RAM, which is more than adequate for anything less than playing World of Warcraft (and this really isn't designed for games anyway).
Connectivity is also vital in remote areas and the E100 has an RJ45 Gigabit LAN connector and two USB 2.0 ports, plus a Smart Card reader, PCMCIA Type II, Ethernet, WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth V2.0 and Wide Area Network technology. So whether you're in the Gobi desert or the Antarctic, you should have no trouble with this gadget.
GETAC - E100 features - Verdict
Perhaps if you can't afford the full-blown B300, GETAC's rough and tough E100 Tablet PC could be the ideal companion when searching for that dangerous journalistic story or setting off on an Arctic exploration.
GETAC - E100 price
Buy GETAC E100 securely online at a bargain price
£1640 to £1900 + VAT
GETAC: 01952 207231
by www.itreview.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment