Today’s IT managers have more choices than ever when determining which notebook computer is best for their "vehicle-based" mobile workforce. Traditional options included a handful of fully rugged or ultra rugged notebooks, but as budgets tighten, many companies are beginning to deploy products from the Commercial Grade notebook category. This has created a market paradigm where companies either pay more than they need to by deploying fully rugged solutions or incur significant risk of field failures by deploying commercial notebooks. Neither is an optimum scenario.

When deploying fully rugged notebooks, customers gain the security of deploying notebooks that will survive the punishing in-vehicle environment. These notebooks typically pass stringent military tests including: Mil STD 810F Temperature, Vibration, Humidity, Bench Handling, Water Sealing, and Drop Shock as well as ASTM 4169-99 Vibration and IP54. They are also often equipped with outdoor viewable touchscreen displays, backlit keyboards, GPS, WWAN and have dedicated vehicle cradles.

These are pretty tough computers however all this durability comes at a significant cost. List prices for these notebooks run between four and five thousand dollars; which is significantly higher than traditional commercial solutions. In addition to the expense associated with the computers themselves, customers must also purchase vehicle cradles that range from $800.00 to $1,100.00 each. It is becoming more and more difficult for customers justify these costs when this high level of durability is simply not required for vehicle deployments.

To mitigate this expense, many companies are beginning to evaluate Commercial-Grade devices for these demanding environments. This introduces significant risk of product failures that impacts customer satisfaction and employee productivity costing upwards of $3000 with each occurrence. If a laptop fails, there can be significant repercussions including, data/information loss, time lost, lost productivity, employee downtime, customer dissatisfaction, and lost sales.

Gartner Research estimates that Commercial-Grade computers fail at a 25% rate in the first year of use in typical office environments. When these computers are moved into more rugged environments, that failure rate escalates at a rapid rate.

When downtime and repairs are figured into the lifetime costs of ordinary laptops, the ultimate price of those laptops increases substantially. According to Venture Development Corporation, in a typical fixed mobile environment, such as Public Safety over a five year period the Total Cost of Ownership for a rugged computer is $2,863 per unit per year and $3,495 per unit per year for a Commercial-Grade computer. That is a $632 difference in total cost which is directly related to field failures.

Although the data clearly shows that based on a total cost of ownership model, fully rugged notebooks are far less expensive over time than Commercial-Grade products, deploying computers in a vehicle environment remains a costly proposition. The goal must be to minimize initial capital investment while equipping users with notebooks that can survive over time in the demanding "in-vehicle" environment. To meet this demand, Itronix developed the GoBook VR-1 using a new set of standards. Standards that are necessary to ensure a notebook will perform in all types of vehicles and all types of climates. These standards include:

• MIL STD 810F Vibration 

• MIL STD 810F Temperature

• MIL STD 810F Humidity

• Outdoor Viewable Display

• 24" Drop (one drop each face)

• Spill Resistant Keyboard

• Keyboard Illumination

• Option for Integrated GPS

• Option for Integrated WWAN

• Option for Dedicated Vehicle Mount

By developing a notebook that meets this criteria, Itronix has created a new category of notebook computer; "Vehicle Rated". And although most fully rugged notebooks meet this criterion, they also add in many components and features that are not required within vehicles and as such, add unnecessary cost. The Vehicle Rated GoBook VR-1 provides users all the durability and features they need while reducing capital expenditures by up to $1,000 per unit. In addition, we have developed a low cost vehicle cradle that saves an additional $400.00. Now customers can get all the benefits of a fully rugged computer they need while at the same time reducing capital expenses. When equipping a vehicle based mobile workforce, Think Vehicle Rated, Think VR-1.

For more information on this article and the Itronix products available through WAV Distribution, call your WAV account or channel manager today.