Rough & rugged laptops featured at FOSE

The FOSE trade show features a couple of breakthrough in rugged laptops, Federal Computer Week reports, notably the Itronix VR-1 and the Getac MobileForce M220.

The VR-1 is designed primarily for in-vehicle use and focuses on three areas of ruggedization: temperature, vibration and humidity. It meets the military standard, MIL-STD 810F for temperature and vibration.

The VR-1 is the only semi-rugged notebook on the market that publishes a drop specification, which in this case is a drop of 30 inches.

The notebook computer also sports a shock-mounted hard drive and display, a spill-resistant keyboard and palm rest area, and a magnesium alloy case.

Customers won’t be lacking for wireless communication options thanks to the four integrated wireless protocols. The VR-1 can concurrently run 802.11a/b/g, wireless wide-area network, Global Positioning System and Bluetooth.

The MobileForce M220 is:

certified to MIL-STD 810F for environmental factors such as drop, shock and vibration. It is also certified to the IP54 standard, which means the unit is sealed against dust, water spray and the possibility of wires touching dangerous parts.

Other ruggedized features include a magnesium alloy case and waterproof keyboard. In addition, the hard drive is shock-mounted, removable and encrypted by Enova Technology for security.

Another interesting feature is the POGO docking port. The name is not an acronym; it actually describes the design of the port, which is similar to that of a pogo stick. The design renders it waterproof and according to Getac, it won’t wear out.