Items tagged with Rugged
Acer has been on the Chromebook bandwagon since it began and has learned a thing or two about the platform. The biggest lesson is that any electronic device that is primarily intended for the education market needs to leave fragility at the door. To that end, Acer's new Chromebook 11 C771 packs a few performance upgrades into a rugged design that is not going to shatter into a thousand pieces if dropped.That is not just for the benefit of kids who are still developing their motor skills, but also school administrators, teachers, and everyone else involved the hustle and bustle of a busy school day. The same can be said for business users, though the audience outside of education is a bit smaller...
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Some people have relatively low risk jobs, where the biggest hazard is getting pricked by a staple or poked by a thumbtack. Take Bob from accounting, for example. He sits in his office and crunches numbers that get plugged into spreadsheets all day and for Bob, his thin and light Dell laptop serves him just fine. Then there's Barbara. She's a scientist studying volcanic activity and her job often requires treading rocky terrain in intense heat while recording critical data in the field. Come rain or shine, she's out there with her laptop. Likewise, her husband Joe is a demolitions expert and spends his days on various construction sites, oftentimes climbing over all kinds rubble and debris. For...
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One of the many perks of working at a publication like HotHardware is that we get to attend a wide array of different technology-related events. GPU Tech Days, the Consumer Electronics Show, processor deep dives, smartphone launches -- you name it, and we're there. This Notebook Still Worked After Being Thrown Off The Boat Onto The Rocks Below... At many of these events we get hands-on time with the latest and greatest gadgets and components, sometimes in exotic locations, but there's typically a predictable cadence. Arrive, get situated, learn some new things, maybe have a bit of fun, and then head home. But every once in a long while, things get a little crazy. Like, trying to destroy a $5,000...
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Do you want a rugged laptop or do you prefer a thin and light notebook? Typically you had to choose between one or the other, though Panasonic is looking to change the game with its new Toughbook CF-54, a semi-rugged system that's the thinnest and lightest Toughbook in its category. So, it has that going for it, but it's also well equipped with the latest 5th Generation Intel Core i5-5300U vPro CPU. The Toughbook CF-54 is a 14-inch laptop with HD (1366x768) and Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) display options, the latter of which uses an In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel with glove-enabled touch support. It's also viewable in sunlight, whereas the HD model uses a TFT panel to keep costs...
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Storage on-the-go often comes with compromises, though Drobo is doing its best to eliminate most of them with its new "Drobo Mini with SSD," a portable and rugged storage solution that uses solid state drives. According to Drobo, ideal candidates for its expandable storage device include filmmakers, photographers, and creative professionals who need to capture and protect data while on location, and then safely transport footage and photos back to the studio for post-processing. The Drobo Mini sports four 2.5-inch SSD drive bays and an mSATA accelerator option. If one of the drives fails, the Drobo Mini will automatically repair itself and return to a protected state while still providing full...
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In a world where for some reason there are schools think that outfitting students with delicate and expensive iPads is a good idea, Intel Education has designed a rugged tablet that may actually survive the toughest test there is: kids K-12. The Android-based Amplify Tablet was built specifically for “the K-12 environment” with Corning Gorilla Glass, ruggedized edges that can survive drops, some level of waterproofing, and a tethered stylus. (The key there being “tethered”.) The tablet runs on a dual-core Intel Atom chip (2GHz) and also features a 10.1-inch touch display and 5MP rear- and 1.3MP rear cameras. There are microHDMI and microUSB ports, as well as a 2x2 MIMO...
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Stealth specializes in the industrial computer and peripherals market, and its newest product, the LPC-480FS, fits right in with that mold. It's a rugged mini PC that doesn't have any cooling fans, so other than any electrical noise that might possibly emanate from the system, it's silent rig designed for a variety of demanding applications, the company says. Heat is the biggest concern with any PC, especially silent systems that skimp or skips on active cooling. In this case, the system is housed in an extruded aluminum chassis that acts like a giant heatsink. The system measures just 6.1 inches wide by 10 inches deep by 2.17 inches high, roughly the size of a hard cover book, according to Stealth's...
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Remember Polaroid? Yeah, that Polaroid. The brand that helped define an entire era of photography has had some ups and downs over the years, with more "downs" in recent years. But now, the company is staging a comeback by producing items that are far more germane in today's society. The latest is the XS80, a mountable HD action camera designed to rival GoPro and the like. It'll take 1080p30 video in the wild, making it ideal for recording extreme sports. It's housed in a waterproof case along with anti-shake technology, and it's even shock + impact resistant. Additionally a variety of mounts that come standard allow video and still images to be captured virtually anywhere. Polaroid XS80 Specs...
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Sprint and Kyocera announced the new Kyocera Torque ultra-rugged smartphone. This smartphone is Sprint's first ultra-rugged smartphone to offer 4G LTE connectivity. The Torque runs on Android and is designed to withstand dust, drops, vibration, solar radiation, humidity, blowing rain, low pressure, salt fog, and extreme temperatures. The phone can also withstand a dunk in water up to one meter for up to 30 minutes. The Torque will also be the first handset in the US to feature Kyocera's Smart Sonic Receiver audio technology. This technology eliminates the need for a traditional speaker. Instead, vibrations are used to transmit sounds directly to the eardrum. This technology promises excellent...
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With its orange bumper and snow-white housing, the LaCie Rugged looks downright dainty. But LaCie says that the portable SSD can handle 4-foot drops and is meant to withstand the rigors of frequent shipping. Toughness aside, what makes the device really interesting is its dual USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports and support for bus power. According to LaCie, the Rugged offers up to 380MB/s bus-powered speeds. You’ll need to use electrical Thunderbolt cables (as opposed to faster optical Thunderbolt cables) to bus power the device. The box includes an electrical Thunderbolt cable and a USB 3.0 cable, so you’re good to go. LaCie is releasing the Rugged in 120GB ($199.99) and 256GB...
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There's really just a single name in tough PCs these days, at least on the mainstream front, and that's Toughbook. Panasonic's Toughbook line has been taking beatings in the field for quite a while, and now the Toughbook 19 Convertible Tablet PC is getting a refresh. The unit now ships with Intel's Core i5-3320M vPro processor (up to 3.3GHz), and an innovative ambient light sensor, allowing automatic backlight shut-off to improve battery life. There's also expanded storage -- up to 500GB of 7200RPM space, shock-mounted with a quick release hinge. There's a 10% improvement in battery life (up to 10 hours or so), an added USB 3.0 port, Interlink’s VersaPad for improved touchpad performance...
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DRS Technologies unveiled three new rugged tablets that are designed to withstand drops, temperature extremes, water, and more. All three new models are part of the company's Armor line. The ARMOR X7et runs Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and features an Intel Atom Z670 processor. This tablet weighs less than 1.5 pounds and promises six hours of battery life. The ARMOR X7ad in an Android-based tablet running on Android v3.2. This tablet weighs 1.3 pounds and offers a battery life of up to eight hours. The ARMOR X7ad uses an NVIDIA Tegra 2 1.0Ghz dual core processor. Both of these tablets have a 7-inch outdoor-readable multi-touch display and are certified to MIL-STD 810G. DRS also announced...
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There's rugged, and then there's professional-grade. Sometimes, they mix, and in the case of cameras, Olympus is mixing the two quite well with the new Tough TG-1 iHS. This just might be the most impressive "rugged" camera we've seen yet, combining high-end photographic qualities typically reserved for nice mirrorless units with a hardened, trail-ready shell. The new cam fits into the Tough Series, making it waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof, crushproof and even dustproof. There's a high-speed f/2.0 lens, support for 1080p movie capturing and a 3" OLED display on the rear. More specs? Why, of course. There's a TruePic VI image processor, 10x zoom (digital), burst shooting -- a rare thing on...
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Lenovo is hoping to attract the attention of schools and students with the introduction of a new laptop that has been ruggedized for education. Lenovo recognizes that kids can be hard on electronics, so the company has designed the new ThinkPad X130e with a reinforced and extra durable top cover, keyboard and hinges. Key durability features include a top cover rubber bumper, reinforced and recessed ports, stronger hinges, and a stronger bezel. This 11.6-inch ultraportable laptop offers AMD Fusion E-300 and E-450 or Intel second generation Core i3-2367M ULV processors. You'll also find AMD Radeon or Intel HD-powered graphics onboard. The ThinkPad X130e weighs less than four pounds and touts a...
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