Tablet keeps users going all day

MOTION COMPUTING HAS ADDED a dual battery model to to its tablet PC line-up which the company says can do a full seven-hour shift without sloping off for a tea break and a quick recharge.

The J3400, which is designed for users who have to walk and work at the same time, is built to take the knocks and bumps you'd expect when you're lugging a computer about all day, but isn't quite in the same league as some of the company's bomb-proof rugged systems.

Aimed at people in healthcare, construction and other outdoorsy types, the tablet is dust and waterproof to IP52 specs, has a bright 12.1-inch WXGA display designed to be readable in sunlight and has an integrated 2 megapixel camera.

The batteries are also hot swappable, so if the company's claims of a seven-hour day on a two-battery charge does turn out to be a bit on the imaginative side (heaven forfend), you can pop another battery (or two) into the tablet without having to save everything and shut down (don't do this at home, kids).

The J3400 comes kitted out as standard with an 80GB 1.8-inch hard disk drive with an accelerometer which parks the drive heads safely away from the platters should you drop the thing down a lift shaft. If you're prone to such mishaps, you might be better off stumping up for the optional SSD which has no moving parts and is more likely to survive severe abuse.

Processing duties are carried out by by either a 1.2 or 1.4 GHz Intel Core II Duo CPU and 802.11 Wi-fi comes as standard. The 2GB of supplied RAM is upgradeable to 4GB

There's a smart card reader and biometric fingerprint scanner for added security and GPS for real-time mapping and location tracking. It'll even tag your photos. Add-ons include a dock which makes your tablet look like a desktop PC and a mobile keyboard which will disguise it as a rather chunky laptop.

The tablet comes with Vista Business pre-installed but you can 'downgrade' to XP. Prices start at £1600 for the basic configuration. µ

L'Inq
Full tech specs