The touch screen display is a standard 3.5-inch transflective LCD with 240 x 320 pixel QVGA resolution. This is the reliable screen technology that's been used for years in PDAs and Pocket PCs. The display is nice and bright indoors and remains very viewable outdoors. Viewing angle is limited both horizontally and vertically, as is usually the case on this type of display. Fortunately, that is not nearly as big a deal as with notebooks.

The PXA27x-powered MARS-1031 we reviewed represents a technology update to the predecessor MARS-1030 that ran Windows CE .NET 4.2 on a 400MHz Intel/Marvell PXA255 processor. Our MARS-1031 machine came with a 520MHz Marvell PXA270 processor, 128 or 256MB of RAM and 128MB of Flash memory. An 11.1 watt-hour Li-Ion battery pack provides full-shift (8 hours) operation under normal use. A 14.8 watt-hour extended battery is available as an option.

Neither hardware nor software of the 1031 is new or untested; this is technology that has been used in the field in numerous applications for years. So why continue with this approach as opposed to designing a sleek new and much smaller device with smartphone functionality?

Further, CE's multi-threaded, multi-tasking, fully preemptive OS environment was targeted from the start specifically toward hardware with limited resources. Windows CE supports a rich subset of Microsoft Win32 APIs and several additional programming interfaces. As a longtime supporter of Windows CE for industrial applications, Advantech has considerable experience with the platform. With the Advantech 1030/1031 there is no need to create onboard drivers or using the Platform Builder to create a CE image; Advantech supplies that, and also a series of enhancement to make the creation of customized software even simpler.

The 1031 is operated either via stylus, touch, or a four-way navigation diamond or the keypad. There are also three large orange scanner buttons, one each on either side and one right below the display. The keys are clear acrylic with the labels at the bottom of the key in white on gray (keypad) or gray on white (navigation and functions). Since they are at the bottom of the keys, the labels can be a bit difficult to read when viewed from an angle. The keys provide excellent tactile feedback and a mechanical click when pressing them.

Our review unit had the smaller keypad meant to be used for applications that primarily require numeric data entry. The keys are arranged in a standard phone keypad with a column of function keys to its left: ESC, BS (backspace), Alpha and Fn (function). The Alpha key toggles between numeric keypad and alpha. In alpha mode, things work a bit like on a cellphone. The "1" key can also issue an "A" (press once), "B" (press twice), or "C" (press three times). In alpha mode, the Backspace key toggles between lower case and caps. Obviously, the emphasis is on numeric data, and not text, entry, but just like on a cellphone, you can type the occasional text.

Above the keypad is a navigation diamond that doubles for page-up/page-down as well as volume and backlight adjustment. To the left and right of the diamond are two programmable function keys each.

The 1031 can optionally be equipped with 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth version 1.2, and also Tri-Band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) and GPRS.

Connection to a PC for synchronizing or communication with a backend server or peripheral can be via USB, WiFi or Bluetooth. Relationships can be established via standard Microsoft ActiveSync.

• UPC-E (universal product code with zero-compression)
• UPC-A (universal product code with check digit)
• EAN-13 / ISBN (UPC-A prefixed with a 0)
• EAN-8 / JAN-8 (superset of UPC)
• UPC-EAN add-ON 2/5
• Interleaved 2 of 5 (very common continuous numeric code)
• Industrial 2 of 5 / IATA (older fixed width space code)
• Plessey / MSI (older code often used for retail shelves)
• Code 11 (often used for labeling telecomms equipment)
• Codabar / NW7 (library systems and similar)
• Matrix 2 of 5
• Code 32
• Code 39
• Code 93 (barcode primarily used by Canada Post)
• Code 128 / UCC EAN128 (high density code with three coding schemes; can use special characters)
• China Post
• Code 4, GTIN
• Korea Code 3 of 5
• RSS (Reduced Space Symbology)
• PDF417 (a stacked code symbology with error correction and over 1KB of data possible)
• DataMatrix (squares or rectangles made up of square dots)
• Aztec (A square code where data squares emanate out looking like a pyramid)
• Code 49 (stacked code with two to eight rows)
• Postnet, and
• QR

The unit's powerful battery can last a full 8-hour shift. If that is not enough, a high capacity battery is available. A four-slot battery charger is offered so that charged power packs are available on demand.

The MARS-1031 is a highly configurable device that, depending on installed options, can handle data and voice communications and 1D/2D scanning in addition to conventional data capture applications. The availability of two different keyboards (16 and 44 keys) also helps in customizing the unit for a given task.

In summary, the Advantech MARS-1031 is a workhorse terminal built on field-proven technology that can flexibly and reliably handle a large variety of retail, warehousing, logistic and ordering service applications. -- Conrad H. Blickenstorfer

Advantech MARS-1031N Specs: