On April 16, 2014, Getac officially introduced its compact T800 rugged Windows tablet designed to be a perfect fit for use in extreme working environments including those found in the utilities, military, field service, public safety and transportation sectors.
The Microsoft Windows-based T800's 8.1-inch display has 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, uses capacitive multi-touch, and has a bright 600 nits backlight. It benefits from Getac's sunlight-readable "LumiBond" display technology that employs direct bonding of touch panel, glass and the LCD. We assume the device display also uses Corning Gorilla Glass for extra protection.
The T800 has a footprint of 8.9 x 5.9 inches (just a little larger than an iPad mini), is about 0.9 inches thick, and weighs 2.1 pounds. Its primary 2,100mAH Li-Ion battery is said to provide up to eight hours of operation between charges. A second battery with the same capacity can be added as a SnapBack module. The picture below shows how the new T800 compares with Getac's 11.6-inch F110 tablet (see review).
The processor is a quad core Intel "Bay Trail" N3530 running at 2.16GHz (see Intel N3530 page). The chip—which has a 2.16 GHz clock speed and a 2.58 GHz burst speed frequency—has integrated Intel HD graphics, essentially the same GPU included in Intel's "Ivy Bridge" 3rd gen Core processors. Standard configurations include 4GB of DDR3L RAM and a 64GB SATA solid state disk.
As far as communications capabilities go, there's speedy 802.11ac WiFi and Class 1 Bluetooth v4.0. Optionally available are 4G LTE WWAN, 48-channel SiRFstarIV dedicated GPS, as well as either an integrated 1D/2D barcode reader or an RJ45 LAN port. SnapBack add-ons can provide a Smart Card reader plus either 13.56MHz RFID or a magstripe reader. The picture below illustrates the Getac T800's "SnapBack" approach of adding functionality and features.
The Getac T800 tablet has dual cameras, the front one a webcam with HD resolution for video calls, the rear one an autofocus unit with 5mp. There is a USB 3.0 port, Micro HDMI, and, for vehicle deployments, triple pass-through antenna ports to simultaneously connect high-gain GPS, WWAN and WLAN roof-mounted antennas.
On the ruggedness side, the device can handle 6-foot transit drops, has a wide operating temperature range of -6° to +122° degrees Fahrenheit (-21°C to +50° Celsius), and carries IP65 sealing, where the "6" stands for complete protection against dust, and the "5" for protection against low pressure water jets from all directions, with limited ingress permitted. Getac likely performed MIL-STD-810G testing for all pertinent ruggedness categories.
In the press release announcing the T800, Rowina Lee, president of Getac, said, "Interest in rugged tablets has never been higher. We designed the new compact T800 rugged tablet with the mobile worker in mind, combining every bit of know-how we've gained building rugged computers over the past 25 years. We're excited to get it into the hands of our customers.""
Below is Getac's introductory video of the T800:
