For this event I have been very lucky to secure sponsorship from Motion Computing with a LE1600 Tablet PC. As many would already know I have been using a laptop in the basket for doing all my navigation work for some time and in 2004 for the Worlds bought another brand of convertible Tablet PC to use at the Worlds in Mildura.
It has done OK but there were a number of things that could have been better and all the better bits have been found in the the Motion Tablet.
The Motion LE1600 is a slate format Tablet PC which means that has no keyboard and is specifically designed to be incredibly light and mobile. It also has a spectacular battery life. I have used it today for the two flights including briefings, de-briefings, post flight retrieve and measuring of markers as well as downloading photos and doing these blog entries. It is still going on the one charge. They advertise about 8.5 hours life and it has to be getting close to that in actual usage time so far considering it first got turned on at 6am and it is now 9:20pm
Other cool things are the View Anywhere Display (VAD), just the size and weight (or lack of), and a really cool mounting system that makes putting it into the basket amazingly easy.
The display uses a transflective TFT technology that actually uses reflected sun light to brighten the display making it bright and crisp even in full sunlight and reducing power consumption. After using normal laptop displays for years I would never go back after this for any outdoor work.
The unit has a 12.1 inch screen but is so clear and easy to use that for once size does not mater. This is a big call because it has replaced a 14.1 inch screen in the basket which is a large amount of map area in theory. The reality is that it is so clear that by zooming out a little more I can see as much as before and it is actually clearer to look at.
Motion also have some really cool mounting options for their tablets too. I have used the simplest option which is basically a plastic clip that the whole computer just slips into. So easy it is not funny.
Anyhow, the more I use it the more I love it. It is by far my favorite piece of kit ever and for me that is a big call. It is easy to carry around, fast to use and more than powerful enough for the job.
