RUGGED LAPTOPS

Whether it’s an industrial work site or against the forces of nature, the ruggedised laptop can boldly go where no other computer can. How can it do this and why?

Laptops come in all shapes and sizes. For example, there are thin and light portables for those who don’t mind compromising on features such as screen size and battery life in order to get ultra-light portability, and there are so-called ‘desktop replacements’ for people who want all the power and glitz of a full desktop PC computing experience without the space requirement. And as regular readers of this magazine will know, there are many variants in between, all designed to meet different sets of user requirements.

Most of the time, when we think of the act of using a laptop our minds conjure up a picture of someone sitting in an office, on a train, in a café or at home, working quietly away in a generally warm and dry indoor environment. But what about those who need to work outside? Will an ordinary laptop be able to meet their needs? Probably not, and that’s where so-called rugged, or tough laptops come into play.

Rugged laptops, just like their more common cousins, come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, designed to meet the needs of a number of different kinds of user. Laptop, Tablet PC and handheld devices are all available in rugged versions adding plenty of variety to the mix. Visually, rugged laptops are most likely to stand out from the crowd because of their outer casing, which is larger and more solid than usual and is capable of withstanding harder knocks. But rugged laptops canal so be built to withstand heat, cold, dust and a whole raft of other ‘nasties’. Needless to say there’s a barrage of standards which manufacturers test against and then quote to testify to the properties of their machines.

THE STANDARDS
It’s not untypical to see rugged laptops listed as complying with a number of standards such as MIL-STD 810F, IS and IP. But what do all these mean?

MIL-STD 810
MIL-STD is actually a series of specifications set down by the US Department of Defense. You may see it quoted as MIL-STD 810F–F being the most recent incarnation of the standard. It covers testing against a wide range of different types of conditions including variances in pressure and temperature, rain, humidity, fungus, fog, sand, dust, acceleration, shock and gunfire.

IP (INGRESS PROTECTION)
This is a standard centred on the amount of solids and liquids that can be withstood by a device. It’s a dual number standard, the first number that’s quoted represents solids and the second number denotes liquids. It’s reported on a device specification as IP nn. For example, IP 33.

IS (INTRINSIC SAFETY)
This is a measure of a laptop’s ability to withstand various materials. Like IP, the capabilities of different machines are identified by their ability to withstand a range of hazards.

MARKETS AND BUSINESS BENEFITS
For the most part, people who spend at least some of their time working outside of the traditional office environment, will find that rugged laptops can be extremely useful. Of course, some conditions need machines that will take harsher environments than others, but the range of models that benefit from some degree of protection is very wide indeed. The very toughest of environments include those involving work at sea– on ships and oil rigs, for example – where buffeting conditions and saltwater can combine into a lethal cocktail for IT equipment. Extreme cold doesn’t do much for IT either: rugged computer manufacturers often sponsor treks up high mountains, and to the North and South Poles in order to show that their machines can take the knocks in some of the most difficult conditions in the world.

Closer to home there are plenty of conditions in which rugged laptops are of great use and their deployment can bring long-term business benefits. Public utility workers helping to ensure our water and power supplies remain uninterrupted need to spend time in the field maintaining all kinds of installations and hardware. They can benefit greatly from computers that can store diagrams, manuals, guidance, workloads, and even incorporate GSM and GPRS communications for always-on connectivity to administrative centres.

Local authorities, increasingly interested in track-and-trace, and in equipping a mobile workforce with technology for use on the move in order to avoid form-filling, should consider ruggedised devices as viable alternatives to standard laptops to help ensure a longer field based life for hardware. Similarly health authorities, for whom fully working field-based IT is vital, should look into using these tougher devices.

The education sector, which at first glance is perhaps an unlikely sector to benefit from rugged laptops, is also a potential key market, particularly if IT equipment is to be used away from the classroom on field trips. Prolonging the life of equipment in this environment means that money is saved to be spent elsewhere. And of course any company that relies on sales force automation, warehousing and distribution, or regular customer-facing mobile activity can find long-term financial benefits from using rugged laptops rather than less well protected standard machines. And finally we shouldn’t forget the military, who often require the toughest and most rugged machines available and who, as we have already seen, are central in setting the standards for the rest of the
rugged laptop world.

THE MACHINES
There’s a number of companies specialising in rugged laptops, and each has a range of models to suit different types of client. If you are interested in laptops, Tablet PCs or PDAs, the chances are that there’s a toughened version of what you want that can do the job. Below is a list of some of the leading manufacturers:

• Panasonic (www.panasonic.co.uk) produces a range of rugged laptops called ToughBooks that includes a Pocket PC-based PDA, several laptops, Tablet PC models and a ToughBook Light that looks more like a standard laptop than a regular rugged laptop, but which has a very robust casing

• Itronix (www.itronix.com) covers a range of rugged devices that spans the laptop and tablet arenas, but also runs into handheld terminals ideal for use in vehicles

• Ergo notebooks (www.ergo.co.uk) has a range of rugged laptops designed for specific purposes

• Terrralogic (www.terralogic.co.uk) stretches across the spectrum of laptops, tablets, handheld devices and rugged peripherals

CALCULATING THE BUSINESS NEED
While not all business users will benefit from choosing a rugged laptop, the extra expense they incur can be set off against equipment longevity in a wide number of cases. It might be worth considering going rugged for your next purchase if everyday laptop use in your organisation involves any of the following:

• Exposure to extremes of heat or cold
• Exposure to liquids (anything from light rain or humidity right up the scale)
• Exposure to any kind of dust or other particles
• Proximity to any hazardous materials
• Any kind of shock, for example by dropping, bumping against other equipment or shaking

SPOTLIGHT – CASE STUDY

Yorkshire Water
A customer of Panasonic
Yorkshire Water has 4.5 million customers. The company’s fieldbased staff use the Mini Toughbook CF-M35 to help them work outdoors in the harsh environment of its catchment area where wind, rain and snow, as well as dust pollution from plant and the usual knocks of outdoor computing, all have to be handled well by hardware. With this equipment and its built-in GSM communications technology, field-based staff can stay in touch with their head office and feel confident that they can work effectively out of the office.

SPOTLIGHT – CASE STUDY
Lancashire Ambulance Service
A customer of Itronix
Lancashire Ambulance service has deployed Itronix
FEX21 handheld PCs in ambulances so that crews can
electronically transfer vital information about patients and then pass this quickly to hospital staff as needed. This saves the completion of paper forms and the transcription of data into IT systems. The devices used need to be rugged as they take knocks and bangs in the ambulance, where they sit docked inside the ambulance when not in use.

IP identification numbers – what they mean

NUMERICAL RATING	PROTECTION AGAINST SOLIDS	PROTECTION AGAINST LIQUIDS
0	No protection	No protection
1	Large foreign bodies, eg hands (diameter >50mm)	Water dripping vertically or condensation
2	Medium-sized foreign bodies, eg fingers (diameter >12.5mm)	Water dripping at an angle (up to 15 degrees from vertical)
3	Small foreign bodies, eg tools/wires (diameter >2.5mm)	Spraying water: rain proof (any direction up to 60 degrees from vertical)
4	Granular foreign bodies, eg small tools/wires (diameter >1mm)	Splashing water: splash proof (all directions)
5	Protected against dust in part: dust can enter, but must not affect functioning	Jets of water: low pressure (all directions)
6	Dust protection in full: sealed and totally dust proof	Heavy seas: ship deck
7	Not used	Temporary immersion (between 15cm and 1m)