MobileDemand Tablet PC Torture Chamber Video Series

In 2003, MobileDemand was formed to sell rugged tablet computers with special software to beer wholesalers. They were quite successful in that business, so much so that even the nation's largest beer company, Anheuser-Busch, certified MobileDemand's rugged Tablet PC for route sales functions for all of their wholesalers. In time, MobileDemand realized that their rugged tablets could be used to great benefit in other markets as well. As part of that realization came a campaign to demonstrate just how much punishment their computers can take.

Ever since, they've been issuing those humorous "MobileDemand Video Series" YouTube-style shorts that show MobileDemand tablet pcs being subjected to all sorts of abuse, like being strapped to the top of a car going through a car wash, being used to pound nails into a board, and being flung and tumbled down mountainsides. In this page you can see screenshots from the most recent "Tablet PC Torture Chamber" video, entitled...

Tablet PC in a Paint Shaker!

The video starts out innocent enough. Nice music, nice color coordination, nice graphics (Mobile Demand has one of the best websites in the business; those guys know how to do things right).

So then we're shown a MobileDemand xTablet T8700 strapped onto some sort of testing mechanism. The T8700is a compact rugged Tablet PC slate based on a reliable platform that has seen duty in various vertical markets for years. It's a versatile machine that balances good performance with good battery life, has a terrific outdoor-viewable display, an integrated numeric keypad for rapid data entry, and a variety scanner/imager and radio options (see detailed review of the MobileDemand T8700).

Here's a better look at the paint shaker mechanism. That's what they use in places like Home Depot to mix paint. I don't think the military has that in its MIL-STD testing specifications. The blue gizmo attached is an accelerometer.

Below is another look at the torture machine. It's a Red Devil Model 5400, also known as "The Classic," suitable for "a wide range of mixing applications." If you go to the Red Devil site it says right on the front page: "Anyone who thinks a mixer is just a mixer may never really understand how great it is doing what we do. As a company solely focused on the mixing needs of our cutomers, creating the most innovative products is just where the fun begins... day in and day out.. If they only knew...

And there they go, shaking a MobileDemand Rugged Tablet PC. Who'd have thought there was an app for that.

So while the T8700 is being shaken, and shaken, and shaken, the accelerometer records all the acceleration along the X, Y, and Z axes in the Sensware program. Yes, the machine is running and we can see that right on the video.

Below is another look at the data recorded by what looks like a GP2x USB accelerometer and tilt meter, a device that "gives engineers and designers the ability to make data-driven decisions that are based upon facts and insight rather than guesses and hearsay." (see source) No argument there.

Below, in another data-driven decision, the MobileDemand engineers use the Red Devil 5400 as a foot massager.

And below you can see the actual video. It happened all exactly as we told you.