August 2009

Samwell is entering the heavily contested market for rugged notebooks with the tough-looking SR858 that provides a good balance between performance and battery life. Also unique in this class are the wide-format 13.3-inch 1280 x 800 pixel touchscreen and the convertible notebook form factor. We found the RUGGEDBOOK SR858, with its fully sunlight-readable display, an interesting addition to the current rugged notebook offerings. [Read full review of the Samwell RUGGEDBOOK SR858]

Replacing a hard drive with a SSD
We're seeing more and more rugged systems with solid state disks (SSDs) instead of conventional hard drives. SSDs have a number of advantages in terms of performance, heat generation, ruggedness and reliability. SSD prices have come way down, though they are still more expensive than hard disks. For a video tutorial on how to upgrade your rugged machine to an SSD, check Hot Hardware's excellent SSD upgrade guide. For all sorts of general SSD information, check the Solid State Disks Buyers Guide. -- Posted Tuesday, August 25, 2009 by chb

Added: full PDF reviews of three rugged Winmate tablet PCs
We've added "print-style" PDF layouts for download of three of Winmate's rugged Tablet PCs. These are interesting as they compare a mostly common platform with three different processor architectures. The Winmate V280 uses a VIA chip, the Winmate IA80 an Atom N270, and the Winmate I880 an Intel Core 2 Duo. -- Posted Saturday, August 22, 2009 by chb

Motion extends its mobile Point-of-Care offering with Motion Clinical Workstations
Motion Computing announced a new line of Motion Clinical Workstations (MCW) designed to support a broad range of clinical workflows. They can be configured with the Motion C5 or Motion J3400, a small form factor PC, laptop, thin client or a combination of the available devices. Motion developed the MCWs as a complement to existing healthcare offerings that combine industry-leading technologies with specialized services to streamline access to patient information at the bedside. “This new line of MCWs is an extension of Motion’s healthcare expertise and focus on developing complete solutions for mobile clinicians,” said Mike Stinson, vice president of marketing for Motion. [See Motion MCW press release] -- Posted Wednesday, August 19, 2009 by chb