Mar/April 2009

Our impression

Tablet computers seem to be on the brink of taking a larger slice of the mobile computing market. Users are converting not just from laptop computers, but also from smaller form-factor ruggedised handhelds. To do this, they need both versatility and sufficient ruggedness to cope with life on the road.

Motion Computing's J3400 has both. It is packed with features that will give it a role in a variety of mobile operations, including a slot-on keyboard and PC docking station, and it sports a level of ruggedness that should be more than adequate for most mobile operations – but at a lower weight and cost than a fully rugged unit.

That doesn't imply Motion has skimped on rugged features. The J3400 has a rubberised edges and port covers to dampen any knocks and protect against dust and water ingress. It meets IP52 and MIL Std 810 F standards, so can cope with a 3ft drop to plywood on concrete. The internal frame is designed to protect components against knocks. Yet the weight is just 3.6lb.

 

To prevent data loss, the hard disc drive has Data Guard, an acceleromoter that stops the hard disc on impact. If there is high risk of shock and vibration, you can opt for an optional 64GB solid-state disc instead.

This is Motion's first tablet with View Anywhere technology. Combined with Hydriss AFFSS+ wide-screen display, this really does make viewing outdoors much easier. Motion claims it is the best outdoor display on the market, and we were certainly impressed when we tried it in bright sunlight. There is less need to tilt and turn the tablet to be able to read the screen.

It has a Intel Centrino 2 processor chipset, found in many ultra-slim notebooks, and comes as standard with 2Gb of RAM and 80Gb of storage capacity, upgradeable to 4Gb and 120Gb respectively. So there's plenty of capacity for even the most memory-hungry applications.

To ensure that the J3400 can cope with a full working day on a single charge, a rather neat feature is that it comes with twin batteries, each providing 3.5 hours' operation.

As you'd expect, there are a host of communications options including Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/ and draft-n and Bluetooth. Integrated mobile broadband is optional.

A GPS transceiver is included for mapping, tracking and geo-tagging of digital photographs, and there is a two-megapixel camera.

There is biometric fingerprint reader for instant login, located on the side of the tablet, plus an embedded Trusted Platform module for hardware-based data encryption.

The slide-out mobile keyboard is a useful option for workers needing to input a lot of text. It slots on the back of the tablet, and although this inevitably adds a little weight, it also means you get all the convenience of being able to type data in without having to carry a separate keyboard around.

The VoiceNotes feature allows you to record and send voice messages. Speak Anywhere technology intelligently switches between two of three microphones for clear voice and sound input.

The digitiser pen makes entering notes easy, and we found the handwriting recognition software was impressive; it was able to guess accurately what we meant, even when dealing with hurriedly scrawled notes. The pen also performs a lot of the tasks of a mouse, including right-click functions and scrolling.

Our J3400 came with the useful FlexDock, a desktop charging bay with full input and output connections.

Our verdict

Motion seems to have thought of everything with this very versatile tablet. By resisting the temptation to make it extremely rugged, they have enhanced its portability and user-friendliness, which in turn should give it appeal for a wide range of operations.