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<P><FONT SIZE=2>I have an OQO and I love it.<BR>
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--- Original Message ---<BR>
From: "Jason Birch" <Jason.Birch@nanaimo.ca><BR>
Sent: Thu 7/27/06 12:59 pm<BR>
To: "discuss@mail.osgeo.org" <discuss@mail.osgeo.org><BR>
Cc:<BR>
Subject: RE: [OSGeo-Discuss] Mobile GPS data collection...<BR>
<BR>
Mateusz wrote:<BR>
---------------------------<BR>
I can't imagine surveying in forest with laptop, but I can with Tablet<BR>
PC.<BR>
There were many attempts and devices tests taken by polish forestry<BR>
officers and laptop was found as unusable in field (works 2-3 hours,<BR>
heavy, damage prone with water and sand, difficult to hold it and work<BR>
on it together). The only option with bigger screen I see is rugged<BR>
Tablet PC.<BR>
---------------------------<BR>
<BR>
I've been a bit disappointed in the form factors that have been<BR>
available recently. We've had good success with a bunch of old rugged<BR>
Itronix FEX21 (<A HREF="http://www.itronix.com/products/hpcs/fex21.asp">http://www.itronix.com/products/hpcs/fex21.asp</A>) units<BR>
that were half-VGA with an integrated keyboard, but I haven't seen<BR>
anything on a more modern OS that comes close other than the OQO<BR>
(<A HREF="http://www.oqo.com/hardware/basics/">http://www.oqo.com/hardware/basics/</A>) product. I have some hopes for<BR>
UMPC, but the battery life is still way too short for useful field<BR>
application.<BR>
<BR>
In a lot of cases, PDAs are too small, and tablets are either too large<BR>
or don't have a keyboard. Trying to force-deploy devices that have<BR>
difficult data entry mechanisms or are too bulky for the field often<BR>
leads to severe resistance to adoption, especially when dealing with<BR>
work forces that are already having difficulty with the paradigm-shift<BR>
caused by digital data entry.<BR>
<BR>
Jason<BR>
<BR>
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