Rugged tablet for military and industrial use
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

Based in El Monte, California, AMREL (AMerican RELiance) has a long history of offering value-added applications in vertical markets. The Rocky line of ruggedized computers was introduced in 1995 and has been updated, enhanced, and fine-tuned every since.

The ROCKY Patriot DR8 is a technology update to the company's DR7 rugged tablet computer platform. The DR8 comes in a military version, the DR8-M, and an industrial version, the black/gray DR8-I. The DR8 is a compact, lightweight and yet fully rugged tablet. It has a touchscreen and uses Windows XP, albeit not the Tablet Edition that requires an active digitizer. The DR8 measures just 9.8 x 7.4 inches and is 1.65 inches thick. It weighs a bit over four pound, so it's no larger or heavier than most commercial tablets. The housing is made of magnesium, in military green or black/gray, and the whole design is sealed to IP54 specifications. The unit is built both to MIL-STD 810F and MIL-STD 461E specifications for resistance to rain, shock, humidity, vibration, salt fog, altitude and extreme temperatures. A built-in heater allows operation in -20°C/-4F temperature.

Like is usually the case with AMREL computers, the DR8 offers very good expansion flexibility. There is a PC Card Type II slot as well as an Express Card slot, two additional optional PC Card Type II slots, and inside a mini PCI and a mini PCIe slot. Onboard connectivity consists of a USB 2.0 port, a serial port, a gigabit RJ45 LAN port, as well as docking and power ports. Inside, there are four additional USB ports, two IEEE-1394 ports, and two serial interfaces. If even that is not enough, the optional "Docklight" stand/cradle adds 4 USB ports, audio in/out, and two serial ports and lots more. The touchscreen display is an 8.4-inch XGA LCD with AMREL's Alpha-Star sunlight readable anti-reflective technology. A powerful second battery snaps onto the back of the device.

Compared to the predecessor DR7 platform, the DR8 has been upgraded to a low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB of storage, a higher resolution (1024 x 768 instead of 800 x 600 pixel) display, and various other tech enhancements.

Published ruggedness specs, dimensions and weight are the same for both the military and the industrial version.