Monday, March 15, 2004
TDS Recon Rugged Pocket PC Reviewed - Again
Posted by Jonathon Watkins in "HARDWARE" @ 12:00 AM
"I don't know about you - but there are days that I live in fear that I'm going to drop and destroy my Pocket PC. Too often, it seems, your device will scream "Viva la France!" and jump, like a lemming, to it's potential doom. While a good case may protect you in day-to-day use, nothing works quite as well as a ruggedized unit. But is the cost worth the benefit ($1499 for the 200 mhz model)? Were Pocket PCs meant to be outside pets too? Tripod Data Systems (noted as TDS from here on out) sent us their Recon ruggedized unit recently." Thus begins the Pocketnow review of the TDS Recon PPC, the second such review we've seen recently. (The first review by PDA Buyer's Guide can be seen here) As usual, Pocketnow have done a great in-depth review of features etc.
"The TDS Recon is no wilting violet. Weighing in at 17 ouces (including the rechargable power boot), and at a size almost unheard of for a PPC, the Recon is a force to be reckoned with. There are 2 types of Recons available, a 200Mhz 64Mb RAM + 64Mb built-in Flash storage, and the unit we received, a 400Mhz 64Mb RAM + 128Mb built-in Flash storage. The extra Flash storage is best used as a backup location - for those times that you run out of power in the field, or have to hard reset and restore - TDS included a very quick and easy to use Backup/Restore application for this process." Good idea, and when you see what they did to the unit, you can understand why you'd want Flash storage and your data backed up before handing a unit to Pocketnow to review. 8O
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There's a couple of hilarious video in the review of the "damn good thrashing" they dished out to that poor unit. :bangin: (Well, you can't say they haven't warned it!) I'm telling you – they were having *way* too much fun reviewing it. :lol: However, video's should not have to be viewed sideways guys! (DMT would be a good place to ask about video rotation tools.) :wink:
To sum up, "the TDS Recon really took a beating from us and kept right on ticking". Which is impressive considering it passed the stair and spade test. (You'll see). What is it about these units that encouraged people to go the extra mile reviewing them? 8) Good job.
"The TDS Recon is no wilting violet. Weighing in at 17 ouces (including the rechargable power boot), and at a size almost unheard of for a PPC, the Recon is a force to be reckoned with. There are 2 types of Recons available, a 200Mhz 64Mb RAM + 64Mb built-in Flash storage, and the unit we received, a 400Mhz 64Mb RAM + 128Mb built-in Flash storage. The extra Flash storage is best used as a backup location - for those times that you run out of power in the field, or have to hard reset and restore - TDS included a very quick and easy to use Backup/Restore application for this process." Good idea, and when you see what they did to the unit, you can understand why you'd want Flash storage and your data backed up before handing a unit to Pocketnow to review. 8O
There's a couple of hilarious video in the review of the "damn good thrashing" they dished out to that poor unit. :bangin: (Well, you can't say they haven't warned it!) I'm telling you – they were having *way* too much fun reviewing it. :lol: However, video's should not have to be viewed sideways guys! (DMT would be a good place to ask about video rotation tools.) :wink:
To sum up, "the TDS Recon really took a beating from us and kept right on ticking". Which is impressive considering it passed the stair and spade test. (You'll see). What is it about these units that encouraged people to go the extra mile reviewing them? 8) Good job.
