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MP3 Playback and Sound hardware

January 12^th, 2004  at 7:00 p.m.

Presenter 1 - Howard Mandel, of  MobileTek Consulting will present ruggedized laptop hardware form several different brands.

An Introduction to Ruggedized Computing - At the January meeting, Howard Mandel of MobileTek Consulting will present "An Introduction to Ruggedized Computing". Specifically, Howard will talk about the increasing deployment and importance of laptop computers, their increasing failure rates and why ruggedized computing products are an excellent solution. He will also talk about what makes a ruggedized computer rugged and finally, Howard will demonstrate various ruggedized computing products including Panasonic Toughbook laptops, Data 911 Mobile Computing Systems, mounting equipment, ruggedized/portable printers and handheld devices.

MobileTek Consulting, formed in October 2002 services commercial and public safety clients in the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Typical clients of MobileTek include commercial organizations that have non-traditional office environments such as manufacturing plants, warehouses and field sales and service operations; and government organizations such as Police, Fire and EMS departments. 

Today, more and more laptop computers and other portable computing devices are being deployed. In 1999 15.3 million laptop computers were deployed in the workforce. That number increased by more than 70% in 2001 as 26.2 million laptops computers were deployed. Organizations are now using laptops for vital, mission critical functions many of which are performed in adverse environments such as in the field, in vehicles, in manufacturing plants, in warehouses and at construction sites. Unfortunately increased deployment of laptops also means increased failures, down time and repair costs. A loss of productivity that organizations can no longer afford occurs as well. When computing must be performed under adverse conditions, ruggedized computing products are the answer. 

Field based computing and reporting, dispatch, wirelessly accessing data from centralized sources and the utilization of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are all crucial functions of public safety organizations. Computers that perform these functions must be "policeman and fireman friendly", be able to withstand adverse conditions, be airbag compliant and be securely mounted in their vehicles. Today policeman, fireman, paramedics and the people they serve depend on ruggedized computing products. For many, ruggedized computing is an investment that simply makes good sense. Come see why at the January meeting.

Presenter 2 - Steve Upton, Creative Labs will cover the latest in MP3 playback and Sound hardware (specific hardware to be determined).