Featured Content
|
|
||||
Maximum PDA Reviews
<< Cross Penabled Executive capless pen with eraser for Tablet PC | WEBLOG | Asus "MyPal" A620BT PocketPC with Bluetooth >>
Posted by: Bill Landon on Apr 21, 04 | 12:17 am Provided by: FreeTranslation.com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
>>>>PAGE OUTDATED -- MaximumPDA has been moved to PDAToday.com -- <<<< TDS Recon 400 Rugged PDA from Tripod Data Systems |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The PDA (Personal Data Assistant) has become the indispensable ubiquitous enterprise tool for many organizations and IT departments. In today’s digital connected world you will find a PDA in the hands of professionals from all industries from state and private survey crews, law enforcement, extreme adventure tours, medical professionals and any other industry that needs fast and accurate data at the tip of their employees fingers.
While the proliferation of mobile technology and devices has increased with the use of cell phones, MP3 players, two way radios, etc. the cost has been shrinking for those devices with one exception; the PDA. In fact many PDA’s have become more expensive as more and more add on features have been included like WiFi, Bluetooth, biometric security, etc. This poses a problem for a company that needs to provide their employees with a connected mobile device for use in the office or the field. The same holds true for industrial professionals who potentially are exposed to rugged and dangerous environments. Replacing a $600 to $800 PDA every time it gets dropped into the mud, caught in a downpour, or bounced off of the hood of a utility truck can become financially draining for even a large company with deep pockets. There are cheaper PDA’s but many lack the options the business or professional customer needs. One solution is to get a ruggedized PDA case. There are a few cases that can help protect a PDA in an outdoor or industrial scenario but they tend to be bulky and can make using the PDA difficult. In some cases they just don’t provide the protection needed. That may be OK for the occasional use in those environments, however for sustained use the only real solution is a ruggedized PDA.  We had the opportunity to take a look at such a device from a company that has 15 years of field data collection experience. The company is Tripod Data Systems out of Corvallis Oregon. TDS designs and manufactures rugged mobile computing devices based on the Windows CE operating system. These tough handheld computers are designed for extreme outdoor and industrial environments in the land surveying, mapping, forestry, utility, machine control, public safety and military markets.The unit they sent us was the TDS Recon. The Recon is such a rugged device featuring the latest Windows Mobile 2003 OS, fast processor, and plenty of expansion options. Weighing in at only 17 ounces this waterproof device exceeds military specifications for drop, vibration and both high and low temperature operation. Looking at the standard features a few of the specifications stand out. The unit comes with 64 Megs of ram and while that in it self may not be impressive the 128 Megs of non volatile flash storage is. With that much onboard storage right out of the box you have many expansion options and using up a precious expansion slot for extra storage is no longer an problem. The waterproof design is especially nice, TDS claims their device will handle 1 meter of water depth for 30 minutes. However they are streaming a video of the unit submersed in a fish tank at their corporate office with the time and date visible. Here is the link: http://www.tdsway.com/fishcampage . The battery life on the unit is impressive to say the least. They have included a 3800 mAh NiMH rechargeable battery pack providing up to 15 hours of continuous heavy use. We tried to test that using SPB Benchmark but ended up not getting it to work correctly, I can say that I ran it for many days with out charging the unit so I have no doubt of the 15 hour claim, it may even be a conservative estimate as after a week of the unit sitting around after the review it still powered on with plenty of juice to spare. The specs say the Recon has a Sunlight-readable color TFT display; however in our testing I found the display to be sub par and not nearly as bright as I felt it should be. They include a pack of rubbery screen protectors and that may have contributed to some of the diminished brightness. I would recommend not using the included screen protectors and opting for a Write Shield from Pocket PC Techs or a screen protector from Boxwave. I prefer a smooth surface with a satinesque finish to provide firm tactile feedback from the stylus as it move across the PDA screens surface. The included screen protector is rubbery and the stylus drags like its moving across an eel’s skin; don’t ask how I know that. Before I continue let's look at the specs:
Let's continue... The usual software suspects are included as the unit runs Windows Mobile 2003. The Recon we tested came with a 400 MHz XScale processor from Intel. The real bonus is the unit comes equipped with two CF (Compact Flash) slots, yes I said two. One type 1 and one type II compact flash slots. However I was disappointed that an SD slot was not included in the line up of options as it would not have taken up much additional room. Of course with the extra CF slot you could just use a CF to SD adapter. This brings me to another sticking point I have, with all the expansion capability with the two CF slots, extra RAM and the obvious demographic for outdoor mobile use they did not integrate a Bluetooth or WiFi radio into the device. You could argue that the extra CF slot could be used for that, however since the Recon is designed for mobile professional use in a rugged environment I think a built wireless connection is a must. Let’s move on the some system benchmarks. We used SPB Benchmark from Spb Software House.
 While the Recon bests the iPAQ 2200 in over all aggregate score but is hobbled by its slow read/write performance.  Here the Recon loses some ground but can still make up for it in the next slide.  Here we see the Recon soundly trash the competition for Active Sync scores. this makes sense as a remote or field tech you want to synchronize your collected data as quickly as possible. TDS has been in the data collection business for a long time and apparently they know the value of fast data synchronization.  Here we see the Recon suffering from a slightly slower file system . this score contributed heavily in the over system score we saw earlier.  Here is another example of why the Recon is a true champ for the mobile professional. It walks all over the competition in graphics scores and considering the XDA II is a real graphics monster that's saying a lot. In the GIS and Survey fields you need a unit that will render graphics on par with a laptop.  One design innovation I really liked was the standard USB port on the bottom of the unit. No funky proprietary cables, just a standard USB A to B cable, what could be simpler than that? OK, I had to ask, how about adding an old school 9 pin serial port. You got it! This really makes sense as most industrial, medical, networking equipment and other data devices still use 9 pin serial ports so connecting them up to the Recon just got easy; and again no proprietary cables to loose and re-buy. I must admit we tossed this thing around, dropped it, submerged it and even took it to a Puget Sound Handheld Users Group meeting the local Handheld/Pocket PC club here in Seattle and let them abuse it for a couple of hours. This device really can take some serious punishment. All if this performance and durability does come at a price. For the unit we tested with the 400 MHz XScale and 128 Megs of Flash storage it prices out at $1,799 while its trimmed down brother is only a mere $1,499 weighing in with a 200 MHz XScale and 64 megs of Flash storage. The upshot to that price tag is that you should only have to buy one unit and not go through the agony of replacing a consumer grade unit every few months. It looks like Tripod Data Systems has set the bar for rugged handheld devices with the Recon. The Recon provides ample performance, storage, expandability, durability all in a comfortable easy to use design that should interoperate well with most systems. Pros: Comfortable design Great performance Innovative connection and expansion options Long battery life Long battery life – yeah it was worth saying twice Unsurpassed Durability Cons: Screen brightness sub par No integrated wireless Included screen protectors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Bill Landon -Senior Editor Recon Units Recon 400 Pocket PC - Gray Recon 400 Pocket PC - Yellow Recon 200 Pocket PC - Gray Recon 200 Pocket PC - Yellow Recon Accessories Recon GPS Range Pole Bracket Recon Rechargeable PowerBoot Module Search for more Recon Accessories |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Email
Print
Comments
(0)