Rugged Intel Bay Trail-powered 10.1-inch Windows procap tablet for data capture and point-of-sale applications
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

Taiwan-based RuggON Corporation was established in 2014 as a provider of ruggedized computing products. RuggON's stated mission is to raise the productivity of rugged computing solutions through creative, pioneering technology. Their lineup consists of RuggTAB tablets and RuggVMC vehicle mounts. On this page we're describing the PM-521 10.1-inch rugged tablet that's part of the company's Rextorm line.

The PM-521 represents a lower cost alternative to RuggON's Intel Core-powered PX versions of the same Rextorm platform. Weighing under three pounds, the PM-521 offers enough screen real estate and computing power for virtually any Windows application, enough ruggedness for outdoor deployment, and an impressive roster of accessories and add-on modules.

The RuggON PM-521 has a large 10.1-inch display with full WUXGA 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, making for a wide 16:9 aspect ratio and offering more pixels than 1080p high definition TV. The display's 224 dpi (dots per inch) are in the iMac Retina and MacBook Pro retina range, making it very sharp indeed. There's projected capacitive multi-touch with a maximum of ten discrete simultaneous inputs, allowing for all the tapping, panning, pinching and zooming all those hundreds of millions of smartphone and media tablet users the world over now except.

The screen size and aspect ratio make the PM-521 equally suitable for use with contemporary versions of Windows as with legacy Windows-based vertical and industrial market software. The supplied passive capacitive stylus has a pointy 2mm hard tip, making it much more suitable for precision work than those broad, squishy capacitive styli that are still prevalent in most capacitive tablet offerings. If yet more precision is required, there's also an active digitizer option. Also worth mentioning are RuggON's use of the protective Gorilla Glass, optical bonding to reduce internal reflectivity, and glove-touch capability. Finally, the display's very strong backlight presents 1,000 nits luminance, greatly enhancing sunlight viewability.

The RuggON PM-521 is powered by a dual-core 1.75GHz Intel Atom E3827 processor. Note that this is not one of the older, performance-challenged Atom chips. Instead, the E3827 is part of Intel's "Bay Trail" lineup of vastly improved CPUs that are powerful enough to not only be sold under the Atom brand, but also the Celeron and Pentium brands. "Bay Trail" is based on the "Silvermont" processor architecture, which is really the first true architectural update to Atom since its introduction in 2008. Bay Trail processors use up to four Silvermont cores, and for the first time in an ultra mobile Intel SoC pairs them with Intel's own graphics IP. In fact, Bay Trail leverages the same GPU architecture as in the Ivy Bridge Core processors, just with fewer EUs (execution units).

In terms of connectivity, the PM-521 provides a high-speed USB 3.0 port, an additional USB 2.0 port, micro HDMI, a 3.5mm audio jack, and RJ45 Ethernet. A legacy RS232 DB9 serial port is optionally available instead of the USB 2.0 port. For documentation and video communication, the PM-521 has two cameras, a rear-facing 5-megapixel autofocus unit with LED illuminator for documentation, and a front-facing 2-megapixel webcam.

Integrating optional components is not as easy with thin and light designs such as the PM-521, and RuggON chose a hybrid approach here. Customers can specify optional integrated NFC and industrial-grade 2D barcode reader, but magnetic stripe reading and smart card reading are handled via bolt-on modules instead.

For wireless communication, the PM-521 includes Bluetooth 4.0 Class II, fast 802.11ac WiFi, and GNSS. Optionally available is 3.5G or 4G LTE mobile broadband capability. The unit's gyroscope, G-sensor, E-compass and ambient light sensor can be used for innovative functionality in system software and apps.

Even though the PM-521 looks almost playful with its bright-red protective side, edge and corner protection, it is actually a fully rugged design that is much tougher than any consumer media tablet. There is an impressive 5-feet drop spec, the tablet offers equally impressive IP65 sealing (total protection against dust, protection against low pressure water jets from all directions), a wide operating temperature range of -4 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to +50 Celsius), and a variety of other MIL-STD-810G testing.

The device comes standard with a 48.6 watt-hour watt-hour battery that RuggON rates as good for about six hours between charges. If that's not enough, there's an optional extended battery that doubles capacity and battery life. Given the tablet's power-efficient processor, we have no doubt the PM-521 can meet those estimates, and likely more.

The RuggON Rextorm is a timely and attractive tablet platform that should be of substantial interest to enterprise, industrial and vertical market customers. It's a modern and impressively rugged solution for all sorts of field data capture and communications deployments via a roster of add-on and snap-on modules. The Intel Broadwell-powered PM-521 is positioned to provide suitable performance at a lower price point than the Intel Core-based versions.