Xplore+Tech+iX104C5+三防坚固型平板电脑

美国Xplore Technologies 公司是一家坚固的电脑、坚固耐用的配件及显示和通信解决方案的领先供应商。

产品广泛应用于如外勤，制造/仓储，公用事业/能源，执法，消防/ EMS，国土安全部，政府，和交通运输等部门.美国Xplore Tech iX104C5是一款优秀的三防坚固型平板电脑，具备了防水，防尘，防摔等各项综合性能，能够在包括战地等极端条件下工作。

∙专为极端工作条件和工作人员设计，外形设计彪悍粗犷，使用镁合金机身外壳，机身坚固，在接口和边缘处覆盖橡胶保护材料，有效地保护机身，当之无愧为世界最坚固的平板电脑之一。

∙强大的处理性能：英特尔i7 U620处理器+最高可升级到8GB内存∙Allvue Xtremre阳光直射可视技术，亮度比普通屏提高50%（可参考评测中的图片）∙可以单点手触和笔触，支持Wacom压感，适合绘图使用。

∙完美支持XP/Windows7/Windows8系统，官方提供原厂驱动。

∙产品适用：公用事业及能源业(石油、天然气，油井)、制造及仓储业、外勤人员、运输与配送、政府部门、执法部门、消防部门、户外科研、部门等。

防爆认证：- ATEX Zone2 Category 3- UL1604/ISA Std 12.12 (CSA 22.1)(Class 1, Division 2, Zones A/B/C/D)主要面向户外工作者和客户，性能超级强劲。

Xplore 科技的iX104C5 为一款坚固型防爆平板电脑，机身拥有厚实无比的坚固外表，并配备了10.4 吋触控主屏幕幕、1024 x 768 屏幕解析度，同时还搭载了一颗主频2.13GHz 的Intel Core i7 620UE 处理器，配置2GB 容量的RAM 内存，使用者也可以自行扩充到8GB 内存。

野外工作性能Xplore Technolgies iX104C5 防爆平板电脑就是为野外工作所设计的，所以具备专属的GPS 卫星定位，支援3G 网卡，内置蓝牙2.1 和Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 无线网路，另外内置的Gobi 2000 移动宽频芯片，也可以让使用者直接使用3G 资料服务。

续航时间超持久比较强悍的是Xplore Technolgies iX104C5 採用Windows 7 操作系统，内建还拥有10 芯热插拔式锂离子电池，这也让此平板连续作战续航时间得到了最大的保证，另外Xplore Technolgies iX104C5 还配备了双SSD 固态硬碟，并支援RAID 阵列。

Xplore Technolgies iX104C5 功能特色◎10.4 吋触控主屏幕、1024 x 768 屏幕解析度◎内建Intel Core i7 620UE, 2.13GHz处理器◎支持GPS 卫星导航◎支持蓝牙2.1◎支持3G 网路◎支持Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 无线网路◎内建2GB RAM◎内建80GB SSD 固态硬盘型号美国Xplore Tech iX104C5 防爆平板处理器型号以套餐为准芯片组Intel QM57内存DDR3 1333Mhz，大小以套餐为准硬盘容量以套餐为准显卡集显：Intel HD Graphics屏幕 10.4寸正屏LED背光 1024*768 比例: 4：3接口2×USB2.0，VGA接口，RJ45（网络接口），耳机接口，麦克风接口，9针COM接口重量约2.4Kg尺寸284.4mm×209.5mm×27.6-40.7mm装箱信息机器*1 电池*1 电源*1 礼品套餐(光电有线鼠标*1 鼠标垫*1 键盘膜*1 小红帽*1)发货标准95成新以上，预装WIN7系统，如需安装XP/Win8请和客服说明其它【IT168资讯】具有三防功能可以户外使用的平板之前有报道：摩托罗拉，松下，华硕TOUGH ETBW11AA等都具有防水、防尘及防摔功能，这些平板大都配置相对高端，功能多样，外形彪悍,价格高昂，使用环境相对恶劣等特点，今天介绍的这款平板是国外一家名为XploreTechnologies公司推出的产品名为：iX104C5，这款平板外形其彪悍性不是一般的强，小编我也被雷的下身一阵痉挛。

这款iX104C5除了刚硬的外表之外，内在配置也不走寻常路，其采用的是10.1吋1024×768分辨率电阻触屏，主要是方便户外带手套操作，这是电阻屏的优势，同时这款平板电脑支持手写笔输入，可以随意切换输入方式，对比度为600:1，其环境光感应芯片可以调整屏幕光亮度。

iX104C5这款有两款X86架构配置型号：分别是搭载Intel 酷睿i7 620UE处理器，据悉主频最高至2.13GHz;搭载Intel 赛扬双核U3405处理器,可选配2GB DDR3内存或1GB DDR3内存，最高可扩展8GB，系统应用方面可以选装Windows 7 32或64位系统。

因为定位于户外，所以户外平板的续航一般都比较长，保证长效续航除了本身产品功耗要比较低，电池容量要足够大之外，另外一个就是能够可拆卸，可随时更换备用，这款产品因为采用Intel芯片组，功耗相对比较大，其采用的10芯锂离子电池可续航6.5小时，保证电力，此机器采用8芯可拆卸电池，增加续航4小时。

80GB SSD硬盘。

千兆网卡、WIFI，蓝牙，HSDPA/HSUPA，EVDO 300万像素摄像头都有配置。

具有独立增强GPS功能，还有天线接收，内置TPM1.2安全芯片和防盗技术，防止丢失数据意外泄露。

其高清音效的扬声器和降噪麦克风以及可胜任在零下20摄氏度到零上60摄氏度工作环境，海拔1.2万米高度操作都为野外活动提供坚实保障。

整机尺寸为284.4mm×209.5mm×40.7mm，重量为2.27千克。

平板类似我们在电视上看到美国大兵野外战场使用的那种设备，从外形到配置都无异是为野外量身定制，目前平板的应用领域的不断拓宽，使得平板电脑也越来越细分，这款平板目前售价还不是太清楚，估计价格不菲，但户外的复杂环境，有这么个家伙带着，虽然有点沉重但心里多少会踏实一点。

转载自国外三防平板评测网站Ruggedpcreview的文章。

Xplore Technologies iX104C5Xplore seeks to extend tablet mania into the field with 5th generation ultra-rugged product(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, with most photography by Carol Cotton)Xplore Technologies Corp. of Austin, Texas has been making rugged tablet computers for about 15 years and they have sold about 100,000 of them, first the GeneSys line and then, since 2003, the iX104. This is a comprehensive review of the 5th generation of their flagship product, the iX104C5.While tens of millions are now using sleek and elegant media tablets and analysts are predicting massive growth in the tablet market over the next several years, Xplore has always viewed tablets as serious tools for demanding jobs. That included making them tough enough to hold up under extreme conditions, and useful enough to bring true value to applications in such vertical markets as field service, law enforcement, fire/EMS, manufacturing, warehousing, military, transportation/distribution, utility/energy and wherever a tablet was a better choice than a laptop.In the process, Xplore became one of the most innovative players in the ultra-rugged mobile computer field, pioneering such concepts as modular expansion pods, dual mode digitizers, and truly outdoor-viewable displays. It's now Xplore's hope that as demand for tablets is surging, so too will the need for rugged mobility solutions with technology advances that allow greater reach into extreme environments. To that extent, Xplore introduced the fifth generation iX104 line of ultra-rugged tablet computers in May of 2011.What has changed?For those familiar with the iX104 family of rugged tablet computers, here's what has, and hasn't, changed compared to the predecessor model:Design: Outside, there was, with the exception of some details, no need to change what was already one of the best rugged tablet computer designs on the market, and so the new top-of-the-line Xplore retains the exterior looks and concept of Xplore Technologies' existing iX104C4 and earlier iX104 models. The improvements are inside the computer.Performance: To provide a substantial boost in performance (more on that later), Xplore switched from the aging Intel Core Duo U2500 to a modern Core i7 processor with the accompanying QM57 Express chipset. The new ultra-low voltage 620UM processor with integrated graphics and memory controller combines speed and power-efficient operation. It also supports DDR3 memory and in Turbo Mode can operate at up to twice its rated 1.06GHz base clock speed.Memory and storage: Maximum onboard memory has quadrupled to 8GB of faster DDR3 RAM, and instead of a hard disk standard storage now consists of solid state disks that are quicker and more immune to shock and vibration. Equipped with dual SSDs, the C5 can be configured for RAID 0 striping (with potentially significant performance enhancements) or RAID 1 mirroring operation. There's also a tool-less SIM/microSD compartment.Wireless: Wireless communications has been enhanced and expanded and now benefits from not only 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, but also technology and carrier independent mobile broadband with Qualcomm Gobi 2000 technology. Fast50-channel GPS modules with WAAS/EGNOS correction capabilities are available for up to sub-meter precision.There's also an enhanced WWAN antenna.Camera: A 3-megapixel still/video documentation camera has been added.Display: The display, which was already excellent in the predecessor C4 model, now has consistently wide viewing angles from all directions and is considerably brighter as well.Battery: The main battery has larger capacity (68.5 vs. 56 watt-hours) for considerably longer rated battery life (Xplore claims up to 6.5 hours).Ruggedness: The C5 has incrementally improved ruggedness in several areas, most notably a greater drop spec and better sealing (now IP67).Unchanged: Same buttons, audio, dual-mode digitizer (resistive touch + active pen)Design and implementationLike its predecessors, the iX104C5 is a rugged Tablet PC slate computer. It has a footprint of almost exactly an American-standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and is just over an inch and a half thick. Our test machine weighed 5.44 pounds including battery, making it a bit heavier than earlier versions we tested (original 4.5 lbs., C4 5.25 lbs.). The C5'shousing is made of magnesium alloy (Xplore also calls it high-density and hardened) and feels like a solid block. The top part of the housing has a very fine steel-gray powdercoat finish. The bottom part has the same fine powdercoat finish but is a much darker gray.For protection against scratches and other harm there are thick contoured rubber bumpers on all eight corners. Rugged computers must also be sealed against dust and liquids, something that's most easily accomplished with as few external ports and openings as possible. However, some onboard connectivity is needed so as not to impede functionality in the field, and Xplore has always offered a rational balance of onboard and docking connectivity. The iX104C5 is no exception and there are two USB 2.0 ports and gigabit LAN onboard. Since there are still a lot of field peripherals using a serial interface, the iX104C5 also has a RS232/422/485 port that can optionally be replaced with a VGA connector.Below you can see the Xplore iX104C5 from the front and all four sides:The front view shows that while many customers will use the machine in landscape mode, it was actually designed with a primary portrait orientation (see the labels). Used in portrait mode, the stereo speakers are properly located to the left andright, and the central fingerprint scanner is flanked by three illuminated hardware buttons on each side. To the right are three programmable buttons that launch applications. To the left are the "security" key, a screen rotation button (toggles 90 degrees back and forth), and a function button that essentially doubles the number of programmable keys from three to six.On the left side is the on/off switch and the connector for one of the optional "snap-on" modules. The right side houses the computer's ports, covered and protected by flip-open rubberized plastic doors. The picture above shows the doors closed. You get a RJ45 LAN port and a DB-9 serial port, on the bottom power, audio in and out, and two USB connectors. The top shows a surface-mount set of contacts, as does the bottom which additionally also has an antenna pass-through. Along the top of the unit are also two antennas under plastic covers that match the design and finish of the magnesium housing so closely that you think they're part of it. Also worth mentioning: the I/O module is field-replaceable, so if a connector gets damaged, there's no need to replace the whole system board.If you turn the unit on its back (see right) you can see thegarage for the active Wacom pen. The pen, which snapsinto place in two rubber clips, is a slightly customizedversion with an a hole in it so it can be tethered to thecomputer.The iX104C5 has an externally accessible drivecompartment recessed into the back of the housing. It'sheld in place via a cleverly designed tool-less pressurelock. Inside sits a mSATA board (mSATA stands formini-SATA, a space-saving SATA connection standard). Inour unit, the mSATA board was populated with two 80GB ssdmaemc080g2 Intel mSATA solid state drives.These Intel SSD drives are not only very fast and more rugged than rotating media, they also support RAID 0 or 1 via Intel's Matrix Storage Manager software and the QM57 Express Chipset's on-board RAID controller. RAID now stands for "Redundant Array of Independent Disks" and describes various techniques with which standard hard disks can be used to increase performance as well as guard against data loss.RAID 0 means block-level striping, where "striping" means that data blocks are writtenon different storage devices, in this instance two, instead of being sequentially writtenon just one physical device. This results in quicker performance, but at the cost oflosing all data if one of the devices fails.RAID 1 means mirroring of data onto two separate disks. This way, if one disk fails, thedata is still safe and accessible from the other. If a C5 user implements RAID 1, totaldisk capacity will still be just 80GB from the two disks, but there's better guardingagainst data loss. Xplore points out that JBOD array configuration is also possible, which sounds impressive, but JBOD really only stands for "Just a Bunch of Disks," which is how we used ours.Underneath the SSD mSATA disk assembly and a metal separator plate you can see more of the C5's expansion strategy. There are two mini-PCIe slots, populated in our unit with a Gobi 2000 module and an Intel 6200 a/b/g/n Advanced N WiFi module. The main and auxiliary antenna ports of both modules are connected.Next to the SSD compartment is a fan. It's part of Xplore's "Cool Touch" thermal management system that also includes heat piping and sensors to regulate heating and cooling in extreme temperatures, and Xplore claims that the C5's skin temperatures are as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than on the predecessor C4. We are not too terribly happy with the continued presence of the fan as it is not silent and the system still occasionally gets warm, but thermal management of a tablet with a bright screen is inherently more difficult than keeping a notebook with its much larger surface area cool.The battery (removed in the picture to the right) is alarge 6.4 x 6.0 x 0.6 inch affair that recesses into thebottom of the computer. It is powerful, too, packingalmost 70 watt-hours (7.4V/9,250mAH). Under thefloor of the battery compartment are the C5's twomemory card slots. In our unit they were populatedwith two 2GB Samsung SODIMMs. The metal coverhas a rubber pressure seal. It is secured with fourPhilips screws. Also underneath the battery is a SIMand microSD card compartment. Since the batteryitself doesn't have a seal, the card compartment issealed separately with a hinged door that has arubber pressure seal, spring-loaded contacts, and afairly intricate lock.Of note: many modules and other important partsinside the machine carry Xplore labels. That gives the machine a cohesive, elegant look, as opposed to opening a machine and it looks like components have been assembled from all over the place. The labels even show an Xplore part number!The picture below shows the right side of the machine in more detail. Note that the protective covers have been Photoshopped away to get a better look at the interface blocks.Higher performanceWhile the overall exterior design of the iX104 platform has remained almost unchanged over its five generations, inside it's a different story. The original machine had a 866MHz Pentium III processor, the second gen machine a 1.1GHz Pentium M, the third gen a somewhat quicker 1.4GHz Pentium M738, and the C4 had a 1.2GHz Core Duo. Differentprocessors all, but through all generations Xplore clearly tried to strike a optimal balance between performance and battery life. That's no different in the new C5 that gets a 1.06GHz Core i7-620UE processor, the most power-efficient of Intel's sophisticated line of Core i7 chips. Much could be said about the i3/i5/i7 processors that replaced Intel's aging Core 2 Duos early 2010 (most importantly, they integrated the memory controller and graphics into the processor), but for the purpose of this review, Intel's "TurboBoost" may be of most interest. TurboBoost automatically allows processor cores to run faster than the base clock frequency if the CPU is operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits. In the C5, that means that the base frequency is a frugal, power-saving 1.06GHz, but the processor may run as much as twice as fast. Turbo indeed.To see how the new iX104C5 performs compared to its predecessor, we ran the appropriate software version of our standard Passmark Software PerformanceTest 6.1, a suite of about 30 tests covering CPU, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, memory, and disk and then computes scores for each category and an overall PassMark score. The results are as follows:PERFORMANCE COMPARISON Xplore Technologies Xplore TechnologiesModel iX104C5iX104C4Processor Type: Intel Intel Core i7Intel Core DuoProcessor Model620UE U2500CPU Speed 1.06GHz 1.20GHzTurbo Speed 2.13GHz No TurboOS Software Windows 7 (64-bit)Windows XPThermal Design Power (TDP)18 watts10 wattsBatteryMon min draw10.5 watts NACPU Mark1,019.6612.12D Graphics Mark223.1152.6Memory Mark798.1245.7Disk Mark2,634.3326.53D Graphics Mark254.798.1Overall PassMark1,007.6307.9Benchmarks are notoriously inconsistent and difficult to interpret, and especially so if they cross processor architectures and operating systems, substantial differences in sub-systems, or even different revs of the benchmark software. However, by any measure, the iX104C5 is a much faster machine than its predecessor. That is in part due to raw computing power, but also in the Intel Core i7's ability to use new and faster DDR3 RAM, and in the very respectable performance of the Mobile Intel HD Graphics that are part of the i7 CPU. The C5 also takes advantage of Intel solid state disks that are perfectly matched to the processor. We also noticed a very noticeable disk benchmark improvement due to the RAID 0 configuration in our test machine.As a result, the new Xplore iX104C5 scores over 3X performance compared to its predecessor. A technology-based 3X performance boost in fields where speed gains are often measured in single digit percentage points is very impressiveindeed, and also very noticeable.Battery power and power drawWhen it comes to battery size, makers of mobile computers must make a compromise. A big battery provides longer battery life, but it is larger and weighs more.Xplore is giving iX104C5 customers two choices.The standard battery is an "extended life" 10-cellsmart Li-Ion removable power pack with a generous68.5 watt-hours. This battery is, according to Xplore,good for up to 6.5 hours. Also available is an 8-cell55 watt-hour battery, good for a bit over five hours.According to our review archive, that's a substantialincrease in battery power; the C4's extended batteryhad 55 watt-hours and the standard battery only 41watt-hours.We used PassMark's BatteryMon utility to measurepower draw. Using the Windows 7 "Power Saver"setting and display brightness all the way down but all radios on, we saw 11.3 watts. That would translate into a theoretical battery life of about 6.5 hours, which is exactly what Xplore states. With the C5 in "airplane mode" (by pressing Fn P2), power draw dropped to about 10.5 watts, a testimony to the power efficiency of the radio modules. This boosts theoretical battery life to about seven hours.Battery life, of course, is as relative as gas mileage in a car, or more so. In power saver mode and with the computer quickly going into stand-by, a modern computer running Windows 7 and using a processor with all sorts of power savings technologies can easily last a shift or more. But turn the backlight to bright, set the power to high, and run continuous video and the battery drains much more quickly. When running 1080p HD video in high performance mode and the screen set to full bright, the C5 used about 25 watts, which means a runtime of about 2.75 hours.According to Xplore there's a "warm-swap" capability, with warm swap meaning you need to suspend to RAM before you remove and replace the battery.Superb sunlight-viewable displayMost rugged tablet computers will be used outdoors and that includes bright, direct sunlight. Standard transmissive LCD displays, however, wash out in daylight, and that's why over the past few years, sunlight-readability has become a major selling point in the rugged notebook sector. RuggedPCReview's technology editor, Geoff Walker, explained:"There are really only two practical methods ofmaking a notebook screen readable outdoors: (a)crank up the brightness (measured in nits, which isdisplay-industry slang for "candela per metersquared", or cd/m2) to the point where the lightemitted by the screen is sufficiently greater than theambient light reflected by the screen, or (b) treat thesurface of the screen so it reflects much less light,which again allows the emitted light to exceed thereflected light.As far as current outdoor display technology goes,that means a combination of a bright backlight,anti-reflective coatings, and linear and circularpolarizers. All the major players in therugged/outdoor arena use those technologies, andthe difference between approaches boils down to the presence and extent of those expensive optical coatings, how they are applied, how the various layers are bonded (the fewer reflective surfaces, the better), and backlight brightness. All of the major rugged tablet and notebook makers have introduced their own sunlight-viewable technologies. There is DynaVue (GD-Itronix), CircuLumin (Panasonic), QuadraClear (Getac), and Xplore has AllVue.Xplore has an experience advantage because they had a good sunlight-viewable display when no one else did. In our 2005 review of the second gen iX104C2, we quoted Xplore describing their then new AllVue as "an advanced LCD and digitizer assembly technology using multi-layer optic enhancements and production techniques to reduce screen reflectivity and glare, and enhance the overall quality of the display." At the time we praised AllVue as "as close to the perfect compromise as we've seen" but wished for wider viewing angles. With the C5's direct predecessor, Xplore introduced AllVue Xtreme, which was 50% brighter than the original. At the time Xplore said the effective contrast ratio of the C4's AllVue screen was around 8, an excellent figure for a touchscreen-equipped display. However, we still complained about a narrow vertical viewing angle.So how are things with the C5 display? For one thing, Xplore specs 1000 nits brightness, twice that of the C4, which was already 50% brighter than its predecessor. 1000 nits is very bright and is certainly an important factor in outdoor viewability. Xplore clearly fixed the viewing angle problem. The C5 display has an essentially perfect viewing angle from all sides, and he difference is tremendous.Since Xplore often invokes the iPad as an example of how companies are becoming increasingly interested in the tablet PC form factor, but require a far greater degree of ruggedness than an inexpensive media tablet can provide, we took some comparison shots of the C5 and a first generation iPad. The iPad's display gets generally excellent reviews and it has the same resolution as the C5. It is also quite bright (I always have the brightness on mine turned way down for daily use), and both have glossy display surfaces. That, however, is where the similarities end.The first two pictures below were taken outdoors on a bright California day around noon, with the devices placed in a partially shaded area. This is where proper anti-reflective treatment comes into play. The iPad's glossy screen becomes very reflective, in the second picture to the extent where it is almost mirrorlike. The C5, on the other hand, shows hardly any reflection at all. Would we prefer a matte display? We would, but it's clear that proper anti-reflective coatings make allthe difference.The next two pictures show the two devices from angles. Both have virtually perfect viewing angles, but the iPad's glossy display is bedeviled by reflections whenever there is something to reflect. The C5's display is not.Now what about the worst scenario--direct bright sunlight? You have to look at the display so that the sun is not directly reflected into your face. Then, it becomes a matter of the ratio between display brightness and internally reflected ambient light. This is where AllVue excels, to the extent where the display retains a degree of viewability even in bright, direct sunlight. Impressive.Overall, the C5's display is excellent. Xplore had a headstart in offering outdoor-viewable displays in their rugged tablets, and they've improved it with every generation. Brightness is up, there's superb internal reflection control, and the viewing angle is as close to perfect as it gets. The odd color effects the C4 had when viewed from certain angles are gone. The C5's display surface is still not totally flat like a plate of glass and so there are some optical reflection distortions along the perimeter, and it'd be nice if the surface were less glossy. And under certain lighting conditions, every fingerprint and smudge shows very prominently. Else, this is among the very best displays available in any rugged machine.To be honest, the glossy display looks vulnerable. To dispel that notion, Xplore did a video where they drop what looks like a large steel ball from a hight of about eight feet onto the display. No damage.Dual-Mode touch screen and active digitizerFirst the good news: Xplore realized early on the importance of combining the complementary features of passive resistive touch screens and of active digitizers. Touch screens respond to the touch of a stylus or a finger. They don't rely on a special pen that can break or get lost. On the other hand, touch screens do not provide "cursor tracking" where the cursor follows the finger or stylus without the screen being touched. Active digitizers, on the other hand, sense the tip of a special pen and the cursor will follow it as it hovers in close proximity (usually about half an inch) of the display surface. This makes very precise cursor placement possible, which certainly comes in handy with Window's intricate user interface.As a result, Xplore pioneered the Dual-Mode touch/digitizer with an ingenious auto-sensing system that works as a touch screen until it senses the proximity of an active pen. Then it stops responding to touch input and the cursor follows thepen. If it can no longer sense the pen, it once again responds to touch. The C5 continues to use this system, and it works as well as ever.There are, however, two problems. The first is that the C5 uses the ubiquitous Wacom active digitizer with its well-known pros and cons. Everyone likes the slender pens that do not need a battery, and the technology is (very) mature. On the other hand, it is difficult to calibrate precisely. The other problem is that there is no margin between the perimeter of the LCD and the protective magnesium bezel. Between that and the fact that cursor movement becomes non-linear near the perimeter, the pen bumps into the bezel as you try to move the cursor close to the edge. It's perhaps atechnology-inherent problem, but it also makes for an imprecise feeling around the perimeter.The second issue is that the iPhone and iPad happened and totally changed user expectations with the effortlessly elegant panning and pinching and rotating and zooming afforded by their multi-touch enabled projected capacitive touch screens. Hundreds of million of people now expect touch screens to work that way. Problem is, for now that technology doesn't work with gloves on, or in the rain, both conditions the C5 will often encounter on the job. Making matters worse is that Windows never, ever was a pen or touch-friendly OS, and that's never been more obvious than with all those millions of iOS and Android media tablets and smartphones out there.The latter is clearly out of the realm of Xplore's influence, but the time has probably come to better synchronize the consumer and the vertical market experience. That would also better help to extend the tablet momentum into vertical and industrial markets.Wireless and expansionExtensive onboard wireless communication is mandatory today, but the emphasis has shifted from just basic connectivity to supporting various technologies and even different international standards. Advancing communicationstandards/technologies also includes increased security, better reception, miniaturization that shrunk cards to modules and then chips, and combination or merging of technologies.In the last generation C4 model, Xplore concentrated on making all the usual wireless systems, including WiFi, WWAN, Bluetooth and GPS, available, and also available at the same time. And the company had switched to a sealed mini-PCI Express based OEM radio bay, an externally accessible SIM cardcompartment, and specially designed integrated antennas.But time moves on, and so the C5's communication arsenal looks differentagain. Mobile broadband is now provided by a Gobi 2000 module. Gobi is amobile broadband technology from Qualcomm that can handle virtually allhigh-speed wireless standards, making users carrier and technologyindependent and allowing them to select whatever carrier is available to them.With the Gobi 2000 module installed, users have access toGSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900), HSUPA/HSDPA/UMTS(850/900/1900/2100) and EV-DO Rev A (800/1900). This is complemented bythe C5's dual 5-band mobile broadband antennas.Another wireless area that's become absolutely necessary in modern life isWiFi (in media tablets, some apps don't even work without WiFi). This means。