What is 'Rugged'?

It's more than surviving a few splashes of water.

It's more than the ability to deal with a bit of mud.

It's a Design Philosophy, not a marketing statement.

Read any vendor's marketing literature about how 'rugged' their computers are and you'll see more or less the same claims from all of them. Yet clearly, if the Australian Armed Forces has chosen Opentecs above and beyond other products, for mission critical, battlefield and homeland defensive applications, after trying - and rejecting - other products, there MUST be a difference.

So what IS a 'rugged computer', and why are Opentec products any different from, or better than, any other 'allegedly rugged' computer?

Pick up an Opentec.

Immediately you'll understand the difference between what we classify as "toughened" (and sometimes, more correctly, "rubberised") office-grade products, and a truly "ruggedised" product such as ours.

Now, consider just a few of the refinements that make our products some of the most durable, reliable, rugged portable computers you can buy, and why they 'feel' more substantial than most other products:

• Heavy-duty, cast Magnesium Alloy chassis
  (that look strong because they ARE - the photos of the 2.4 tonne 4WD parked on a 13" Opentec RPC are not faked!)
• External device ports that are isolated from the motherboard
  (to keep the outside OUTSIDE - ask the Australian Army how reliable Opentecs are in the Outback, where many other products simply fail due to dust-induces electronics failrues)
• Fully sealed, water and dustproof keyboards
  (to deal with more than the ocassional splash - and the photo to the left with the PDA in the water is, again, not faked)
• Fan-less (passive) cooling systems
  (because fans, waterproof or not, are just another thing to fail - check out THE CHALLENGE section to read more on this)
• Heavy-duty screen hinging mechanisms
  (because when hinges break, screens - the most expensive component of the computer - generally fail as well)
• High-brightness daylight readable backlit LCDs
  (because you simply can't see standard TFT screens properly in full sunlight)
• Sealed, field-swappable drives and battery packs that don't need any special tools to remove
  (because Murphy's Law says you'll never have a screwdriver with you when you really need one)

Consider these things, and you start to appreciate why the Opentec range is fundamentally different. And fundamentally more 'rugged'.

CONTINUE THE TOUR >>