Indestructible and Pocketable? Olympus Intros R1000 Series WinCE device

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/335/C3850/' target='_blank'>http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/335/C3850/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Until the release of the Olympus R1000 series tough digital assistant (TDA), there have been no rugged PDAs maintaining the compact size of consumer models. By no means would a hotel consider handing out for example; a Dell Axim X30, to their customers upon arrival, the thing would be dead within weeks. If you wanted something durable and reliable, it would have to be big and chunky! If you wanted something secure, it would have to be specifically designed to your hardware and application specs with custom modifications. The R1000 series is all that and more. &lt;...> We dropped it from 4 feet, 5 feet and 6 feet, threw it, spilled drinks on it, Olympus even ran it over with an SUV (we didn’t have the guts, or authorization to do so), but we’ll take their word for it."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/r1000-wet_s.jpg" /><br /><br />Okay folks, let's clarify right away. This is NOT a consumer device. As such, there are many peculiarities with this product line that would prevent most of us from ever wanting one, such as the DragonBall MXL processor, the lack of expansion slots (though plenty of RAM), and the OS selection (WinCE 4.2 or Qtopia Linux v2.3.6 but no option for WM2003/WM2003SE). At a size of 5.2" x 3.0" x 0.6" (132 x 76 x 160 mm) and weight of 6oz (180g), the real significance is that this device is the first industrially "rugged" device available with the compact form-factor of today's consumer PDAs. Until now, if you wanted a physically tough device, you either had to buy a much larger and heavier industrial PDA from a specialist such as <a href="http://www.symbol.com/products/mobile_computers/mobile_ce_ppt2700.html">Symbol</a> or you had to resort to larger, specialized cases such as the <a href="http://www.otterbox.com">Otterbox</a>. Let's hope that future PDA's will make use of the same polycarbonate plastic shell that makes this one so light and strong.

[Typhoon]

Kind of cool, but it is kind of long. Like the PL 720. It will show up in your pocket. So is this thing submersible in the water?

[seaflipper]

Now I just need 4 of these with in phone edition. That would be great!!!

[surur]

Kind of cool, but it is kind of long. Like the PL 720. It will show up in your pocket. So is this thing submersible in the water?

Hey, the loox isnt any longer than any other pocketpc!

Toshiba e800/e830: 134.6х76.2х15.2 mm 192 g
HP iPaq 4700: 131x77x14.9 mm 186.7 g
FS Pocket LOOX 720: 122х72х15.2 mm 170 g
Asus A730: 117.5х72.8х16.9 mm 170 g
Dell X50v : 119х73х16.9 mm 175 g
HP iPaq 4150: 113.6х70.6х13.5 mm 133 g

http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/review/dell-aximx50v-en.shtml

Surur

[CCollins]

Have you checked out the new Symbol MC50? The model without the keyboard is quite comparable to the consumer models.

Specs: 6.42 oz. (182g) 121 mm H x 75 mm W x 24 mm L)

Ruggedized, backed by Symbol, SD expansion slot, and has WM2003SE!

http://www.symbol.com/products/mobile_computers/mc50.html

Pricing is comparable, so it looks like the Symbol MC50 smokes the Olympus.

[skywarner]

...there have been no rugged PDAs maintaining the compact size of consumer models.

I can't agree with the magazine's comment above. Casio released late last year the PC-10 or something to that effect that was billed as being a fairly ruggedized unit but in a consumer form factor.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Have you checked out the new Symbol MC50? The model without the keyboard is quite comparable to the consumer models.

Specs: 6.42 oz. (182g) 121 mm H x 75 mm W x 24 mm L)

Ruggedized, backed by Symbol, SD expansion slot, and has WM2003SE!

http://www.symbol.com/products/mobile_computers/mc50.html

Pricing is comparable, so it looks like the Symbol MC50 smokes the Olympus.
Nice find. I hadn't heard of this one before, but it certainly looks intruiging as a consumer device.

The Olympus looks geared strictly towards niche uses as mentioned in the article... something you might just hand out to hotel customers as a digital guide so-to-speak.

[CCollins]

Don't know if @ $1100 I'd call the Symbol MC50 a consumer device. I'd get an HP 4705 for the money and get the sweet 4" VGA screen.