DAP Technologies Microflex 2240 Rugged Handhelds

The Good: Handheld computers that can withstand a swim are useful for industrial or military applications. Knowing your employees as you do, do you doubt the potential for such an event?

Equipped with a Windows Mobile 5.0 Premium, the DAP Technologies Microflex 2240 runs on an Intel XScale: PXA255, 200 MHz or 400 MHz. It has two memory configurations: a 64MB high-speed SDRAM, 22MB reserved with a NAND Flash: 128MB (200MHz) or 256MB (400MHz) and 31MB reserved. For its display, the handheld has a sunlight-readable TFT that's 240 by 320 pixels (1/4 VGA). Its 3800 mAh NiMH rechargeable pack offers 15 hours of continuous room-temperature operation. It has both serial and USB ports and type I and II compact flash slots. Manufactured by Roper Mobile's DAP Technologies, the handhelds are available from GroupMobile.com for $1,299.

The Ugly: Perfect for the road warrior, the handheld's environmental resistance complies with MIL-STD-810F. It is designed to operate effectively in temperatures ranging from -22°F to +140°F. It withstands immersion up to 1 meter, is drop resistant and is completely impervious to dust. Available accessories include GPS, GPRS, bar code scanners, camera, 802.11 and Bluetooth compact flash cards.

The Bad: Add a few compact flash cards to the price and you're choosing between this small handheld device and a new Mac.

Rugged Data Storage—BitMicro Networks E-Disk Solid-State Disk Drives

The Good: With products currently put into orbit by customer SpaceQuest, a spacecraft avionics developer, BitMicro Networks of Fremont, Calif., is no stranger to developing storage products for military and industrial applications; it has been doing so since 1999.

For more earthly applications that include the presence of gravity and all its side effects, the company offers a line of rugged flash solid-state storage drives. The E-Disk SSD line is available in 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch sizes and in IDE/ATA, SCSI, VME, and fibre channel interfaces. Currently the maximum capacity available is 155GB. But next March, says the company, it will ship a 2.5-inch E-Disk Altima ATA-133 SSD with capacity up to 416GB drive that will provide 133MB/sec burst with up to 100MB/sec sustained reads and writes and up to 20,000+ IOPS. (Pricing is unavailable.)

The Ugly: E-Disk flash drives meet MIL-STD-810E-compliant guidelines. (If you're keeping score, 810E is the previous version of the current standard, 810F.) If it starts to drizzle freezing rain inside your building or your computer experiences pesky fungus buildup inside its housing, your data will be fine. It's also resistant to shock and a heavy salt fog. With operating temperatures ranging from -40°F to +185°F, the SSD is suitable for 24/7 deployment in extremely hostile environments.

The Bad: Waiting until next year for the 416GB version. Also, some people aren't fans of solid-state disk drive technology.

Next: Rugged Laptops — Panasonic Toughbook 19