Tests. The forbidden kind

Tech savvy journalists torture two machines designed to survive the toughest of conditions. A Getac laptop. And a Getac tablet.

With some folks, better not ask what exactly they do for a living. Grilling sausages and all relaxed some summer night, they just might slip and answer. And then they’ll have to kill you. In the profession mentioned, they probably used the devices herewith tested: Getac laptop and tablet computers for extreme conditions.

Actually, the laptop V110 is both laptop and tablet. Its 11.6 inch touch-screen may be folded out against the keyboard and used comfortably as a tablet. In either position, it is securely fixed at joints on both sides.

Ample power

With a Windows 8 sticker stuck to the body, the test version run Windows 7 as also the second device tested, the tablet computer F110. That would’ve been one of these rare occasions where Windows 8 squares would have come in handy, as on the 1,366 x 768 resolution screen, it’s quite clumsy to use ones fingers in Windows.

Meanwhile, the touch screen is excellent, reacting even to wet fingers. A smart-glove may also be used. For readability of screen, Getac gets maximum points. Its brightness of 800 nits provides for good readability even in direct sunlight. In ordinary laptops, we’re usually talking about 200 nits or so.

Regarding viewing angles, one may be satisfied; only in the vertical, the picture became duller at large angles. Naturally, the screen is full matt, thus no distracting reflections.

The laptop ‘board has full size keys – not bad, regarding the smallness of the device. In the dark, one is blessed by a nice red backdrop light. That’s the very hue, they say, that draws the least noticed silhouettes in dark woods. At the same time, the tablet’s blue signal lights were so bright that, immediately, one started searching for black tape.

In the hearts of laptop V110 and tablet F110, there buzz the Intel Core i5-processors; i7-procerrors are also an option. The power is more than enough to freely tackle any task offer to a mobile device. For hardly will anybody be sitting in a snow- or sandstorm, mining bitcoins.

On board the laptop, we also find an 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD disk; on the tablet, random access memory is twice smaller. For graphics chip, both use Intel HD 4400. Naturally, these devices aren’t intended to play Call on Duty, rather to live Call of Duty.

For battery life, the producer promises a whopping 13.6 hours. Imitating real use, with radio device on, we got near ten hours. In its device, Getac has installed two (!) batteries, so one may – without interrupting one’s work, pull one out and replace it – with Windows running. So: probably the hardware for critical missions.

Hard disks, by the way, are easily removable as well: just open the «gate» and tear the disk out. Why so? Probably so that, should you have to abandon the computer, you can quickly grab sensitive data along or destroy it. The computers themselves are too rugged for quick destruction.

Getac claims that this laptop is the world’s thinnest among its kind (34 mm) and lightest (2 kg). Of course, it’s not comparable to some Ultrabook; even so, no Ultrabook would ever survive what we put the Getacs through.

Sauna skipped

Both machines boast IP65 and MIL-STD-810G certificates i.e. are totally dust-proof. With waterproofness, it ain’t that good: class IP65 allows not to totally dunk the thing. As assured by value 5, however, water jets from any angle are no problem.

Well so we had fun pouring coffee on keyboard and screen, rinsing it off nicely with water. Total success, the computer stayed alive. 

To test the frost, we went to Balbiino [the ice-cream maker – edit] cold room of –28 °C, even below the officially allowed working temperature of –21 °C. Thanks to the SSD-disks, the devices left in the cold started normally, in some 12 to 13 seconds. Keyboard, screens, and the touchpad reacted as expected. Later, in the warmth of the car, noticeable amounts of condensate humidity appeared on the devices... not killing ‘em, though.

The devices also survived a drop from 1.4 metres i.e. from the hands of a human being standing erect. To test the maximum working temperature of +60 °C, in a Turkish bath, we lacked the time.

Summing it up: hard to say, what the tools might be needed for. Thinking, also, of the price. In the military of course, where one counts not the dollars. Surely, they could help in forestry and construction. The more so that both work with Windows – so there’ll be no trouble with applications and file formats.