Rugged pen Tablet
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

In March of 2007, JLT Mobile Computers merged with DAP Technology to form Roper Mobile Technology. In the process, the JLT G-Force 850 became the Roper Mobile MicroFlex G-Force 850. Before the merger, JLT Mobile Computers had been creating designs for tough mobile computing environments for over a quarter of a century.

The G-Force 850 is not easy to classify. It is not a Microsoft-spec Tablet PC since it does not have an active digitizer. Instead, it is a very rugged, compact and lightweight touchscreen tablet computer with a power-efficient processor. It runs Windows XP (it has a 20GB hard disk), or Windows XP Embedded via a custom build. Memory configurations are very flexible, and there are plenty of interface options via USB, Firewire and Cardbus peripherals. Despite impressive sealing and drop specs, the G-Force 850 weighs less than four pounds--in part thanks to its glass fiber reinforced polyamid plastic housing. A multi-directional hand grip and wrist strap make the device easy to carry and use. At this point, the G-Force 850 is a bit in need of an update as the 800MHz Transmeta TM5800 is no longer a very viable processor option.