DT Research, a manufacturer of purpose-built computing devices for vertical markets, has released two new series of rugged tablets that have improved total cost of ownership (TCO) over consumer devices being used in vertical industries.
The new DT395CR and DT395GS Rugged Tablets were designed to be highly durable in both indoor and extreme outdoor environments. The vendor has released several such tablets in the past (and even recently), but the new tablets specifically address business TCO; and according to DT Research, the new rugged tablets cost less than consumer tablets over their entire lifecycle.
“Many businesses have adopted mobile tablets with the goal of increasing productivity by leveraging the versatile tablet form factor,” said Daw Tsai, president of DT Research, in a statement. “But companies within construction, field service, logistics, manufacturing and warehousing have found that consumer-grade tablets are too fragile for their environment — requiring costly repairs and replacements that introduce expensive downtime. Our new DT395 rugged tablets give vertical industries exactly what they need with high reliability and lower TCO over the lifetime of the product.”
In its announcement, the vendor referenced a VDC Research report that found annual ruggedized tablet TCO is about 22 per cent lower than the average TCO of a non-ruggedized (read: consumer) tablet. Additionally, failure rates are noticeably different. According to VDC, non-rugged tablets have a 15.2 per cent failure rates, whereas rugged tablets have a 6.9 per cent failure rate.
The message is clear that consumer tablets don’t always fit the needs of vertical industries. Rugged tablets may last longer and improve productivity over their consumer tablets in some situations.
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The DT395CR and DT395GS are rated for both IP65 and ML-STD-810G. They were designed to withstand four-foot drops, temperatures from -4 to 140 F (-20 to 60 C) and be resistant to water, dust and humidity. Both models feature an 8.9-inch display with 1900×1200 resolution. They weigh in at 2.87 pounds.
The tablets are also equipped with an Intel Atom Quad Core CPU, 4 GB of RAM and Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Enterprise.
The DT395GS also sports a high-accuracy GNSS module that’s compatible with existing GIS software, making the tablet ideal for mapping applications and enabling advanced workflows for GIS data capture, accurate positioning and data transmission.