GETAC G840XT Out In The Field

Over the past few weeks the GETAC has seen some real action out in the field.  This rugged unit from TabletKiosk appeared to be a  great unit for our field work and it was in my hands at the right time!  We used the G840XT as a little experiment to see if it would be beneficial for future data collection. 

This unit was a data collecting machine!! This is how we put it to the test:

The GPS:

The GPS unit built inside the GETAC was part of the reason we decided to use this Tablet PC for our testing, and the fact that I had been shipped the unit about 2 weeks before this field trip.  We weren’t expecting too much from the GPS because it was built in to the unit and there wasn’t an external antenna.  Knowing this information we didn’t expect to use it to collect the location of each item, but it would be great for mapping the general location of clusters, hot spots, corner locations and other general data points.  As we moved further into the testing we realized that it could be used for a little more than general locations we had some results that were within a foot!!

The Custom Application:

With the GETAC in our possession, it went under the hand of Visual Studio.  This unit sporting a touch screen and a number pad was perfect for easily collecting data in the field.  The big button number keys were considered while programming for easily entering numbers into the form, and making the buttons bigger on the screen when creating the application made for easy use of the touch screen.  Adding these two things together made the collection easy and fast after the form was put onto the GETAC!

The Usability (Rugged/Design):

Taking this unit out in the field just made sense I mean it is a rugged unit built up to Mil specs. How about actually using it though?  Well, it ended up being a great experience.  We didn’t have a case for it, but we’ll cover that in another post later in the week.  The bumpers on each corner are there for protection, but they made a great ‘handle’ to carry the unit around while moving to and from each area.  The balance on the G840XT felt good when cradling it in your arm, but was easier for the right handed people because of the placement of the number pad.

I will expand on each of these items over the next couple of days with deeper explanations and with more details of each item.  There will be more thrown in to each post, but these are going to be the main topics for each of the following posts.