In a world filled with glossy covers and aluminium unibodies, we find that far too many electronics are incredible fragile and delicate. If you’re not too careful, you’ll break it and you lose out on quite a large sum of money. Not everyone is going to be interested in getting the toughest of the tough, but it doesn’t get much tougher than Getac. We demonstrated this when we visited the Getac headquarters in Taiwan last June and now we get to beat up one of their V100 in our own labs. The company is taking direct aim at the rugged segment currently occupied by a certain “ToughBook” line. But clearly, they aren’t the only game in town.
Features and Specifications
And so, we find ourselves taking a look at the Getac V100 fully rugged convertible tablet/notebook PC. While it shares the same fundamental form factor as something like the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t, it’s obvious that this is a completely different beast. It’s built tough for tough situations.
In fact, it is MIL-STD-810G and IP65 compliant, meaning that it is good to go for military applications, surveying, police work, and all sorts of other outdoor situations that could have it face some pretty rough handling. The 10.4-inch XGA display uses Getac’s 1200 NITS QuadraClear LED technology, meaning you can see it very easily in the sun (yes, it’s matte too). It’s a glove-friendly resistive multi-touch display, so it’s not the same tech as, say, an iPhone.
Rounding out the specs and features are an Intel Core i7-640UM vPro dual-core 1.2 GHz processor (with Turbo Boost up to 2.23GHz), 2GB of RAM, integrated Intel HD graphics, magnesium alloy casing, full-size 83-key keyboard, fingerprint reader, WiFi-N, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, integrated reversible 2.0MP webcam, and a 7800mAh lithium-ion smart battery.
Pricing for the Getac V100 tablets run anywhere from $3699 US for the standard edition (VLD111) which gives you a standard 2GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive as above. Spend $4649 US for the top end version (VWD128) and you now get a backlit keyboard for those military covert ops and 3G Gobi 2000, Dual Pass-thru (WLAN/WWAN) antennas and a GPS . SSD options are also available for additional cost. This is all topped off with a full 5 year bumper to bumper waranty.
Unboxing the Beast
Check out the unboxing video above to get a good look at not only the Getac V100, but also the accessories that come included in the box. It is a little ironic that they used some foam inserts for protection, but we should note that this is not the shock and drop-proof model. You need to upgrade to the SSD for that.
Aside from the V100 rugged convertible itself, you get the power cable and power brick, a cleaning cloth, some sort of strap to hold the tablet in one hand, a shoulder strap, a retractable stylus, and the sizable 7800mAh battery.
Protecting All Its Ports
A big part of the rough and tough exterior of the Getac V100 is that it is able to withstand the elements. Put it in the middle of a sandstorm in Death Valley and it’ll keep on trucking. Brave the Amazon rainforest with torrential rainfall and it won’t skip a tick. At least, that’s the idea.
We put some of these ideas to the test a little later on in the review, but it’s important to note that in addition to having a waterproof screen and keyboard, all the ports are covered by rubber flaps. As you can imagine, getting grains of sand and salty river water in your USB port isn’t such a good thing.
What’s interesting is that while having a decent assortment of ports and connectivity options, you’ll find only one dedicated USB 2.0 port. The eSATA port doubles for your USB purposes, but it would have been nice to have more than two USB ports. It’s a minor quibble, I suppose, since real world applications of the V100 wouldn’t be peripheral-heavy, but it is worth noting.