Mar/April 2009

'Field service' means different things to different people, but if your type of operation includes work in really rough terrain, you might find a lot of appeal in the latest rugged Getac PDA from MiTAC Technology Corporation.

Not only does the PS535F include GPS for positioning; it also incorporates an altimeter and what is described as an e-compass. The company says these resources allow pinpoint positioning of longitude, latitude and altitude, as well as showing the exact directional relationship between any targeted subject and the user's current position.

MiTAC suggests that it would be particularly appropriate on work such as GIS surveying applications, utility infrastructure maintenance, oil and gas exploration, forest patrols and mapping of geology and mineral resources.

Other relevant features include a sunlight-readable 3.5in VGA touch screen and a 3 megapixel on-board digital camera.

 

The PS535F has several wireless connectivity options, including integrated Bluetooth V2.0 and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. Its drop resistance and atmospheric performance ratings are MIL-STD 810F and IP54 compliance respectively.

In terms of basics, the unit comes well specified with a 533MHz Samsung 2450 processor, 128Mb of on-board MDDR memory and 2GB of NAND flash storage. The operating system is Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1.