Get Tough & Rugged With the Beefy but Cool Hummer Laptop
Written by Glenn Letham
31 March 2006
One of the coolest things about my job is that I get to mess around with all kinds of cool technology... now, I haven't had one of these badboys sent to me yet, however, if I was looking at upgrading my laptop to something a bit more rugged the Itronix HUMMER Laptop would be at or near the top of my list. Stylish, rugged, powerful, cool, this unit has it all... best of all its an excellent choice for a mobile professional working in geospatial technologies (GIS, CAD, Surveying) looking for integrated wireless and GPS.
OOPs... if you're looking for the article - 3rd Annual Navteq LBS Challenge Validates LBS - The Winners and a look ahead to 2007 - See HERE
The company behind the scenes here is Itronix, well known for making mobile technology (notebooks) that are at military specification or better. It makes sense that the company should capitalize on the popularity of the hummer by offering a laptop computer that is every bit as cool and rugged. So what's cool about it? Some of the features I like are as follows:
magnesium alloy chasis
metal cover with hummer vehicle look
back handle to enable carrying like a suitcase
shockproof (good for a 2 ft+ drop)
spill proof keyboard
built in connectivity (Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS)
12 inch screen optimized for outdoor use
pop-up light for night-time use
I could go on!
Like the vehicle, don't expect to get off easy on the price... the IX600 comes in at more than $3,300... and it weighs in at a whopping 6.7 pounds! Personally I'd shell out the extra for something like this over the "over-hyped" Acer Ferrari ($2k+ for an Acer??? No thanks!)
More features (Basse Model)
1.86GHz Intel® Centrino Pentium M 745 with 533 MHz Front Side Bus
Microsoft Windows® XP SP-2 operating system and Microsoft Works with Office Trial
Memory: 512 MB DDRII DRAM
12.1" XGA TFT Shock-Mounted Color Display (some models shown below have Hi Brite displays for outside viewing) with auto adjusting LCD screen brightness
80 GB Shock-Mounted Removable Hard Disk Drive
Intel® Centrino 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN
Optional integrated GPS & Wireless (3 concurrent radios) with integrated high-gain antennas (some models shown below have these capabilities)
Built-in upgrade flexibility (CRMA® Express)
MIL STD 810F for vibration and temperature. Drop tested to 30"
Optional packages have a much beefier feature list and suggested options for the field worker or mobile tech include GPS, and touchscreen.
you gotta love the hummer hood-like shell
If you need light and slim this likely isn't the best choice for you.. if you want beefy and powerful then you're gonna like it (Image Source: Itronix)
Top iPhone related GIS and Geo Tech news stories from 2009 - At the end of the year its always interesting for us to look at some of the stats and results to identify trends and more important, to see what our readers think is hot! In the "news" category it seems that iPhone related geo tech items were extremely popular.
Geo Social Location Checkin to Twitter from iPhone - With the cool SXSW event taking place Austin, TX, everyone who's anyone in social and social location seems to have rolled out updates this week, making your choice for how to check-in to your social media bookmarks even tougher to decide on!
10 Awesome GIS and Mapping apps for the iPhone - I recall last year at the ESRI UC when an iPhone was on stage showing a prototype app (think ArcPad on iPhone). It was then that I realized the iPhone platform is going to be BIG in mapping and there's a ton of opportunity for developers.
Nokia Booklet 3G, unboxing video and image gallery... Those of you in the USA who pop in to BestBuy occasionally, you may have seen a stand showing off the Nokia Booklet 3G. A sleek, 3G enabled, SIM slot (AT&T) sporting netbook.
Interesting Tweeple - 10 Geo Technology & Geo-Social Women of Twitter - given the growing love for geospatial and location-aware technologies, I’ve decided to hype 10 women that I feel make a significant contribution to the Geo-Twittersphere. If you’d like to add 10 knowledgeable and useful Twitter contacts to your Geo following list I highly suggest the following: (in no particular order)
10 Geo Social Location-Aware Apps Making Waves... With Twitter's opening of their location API to developers there's going to be a ton of third party apps that will enable Twitter users to share location-aware information via their Twitter accounts.
Signs that indicate you may be a GeoGeek (aka. GeoNerd) and some suggested Geo blogs - Chances are good that if you are a Geo Geek then you already know it and likely refer to yourself as one. However, there’s many of you out there that may be on the fence and wondering… “am I a Geo Geek?" Read on for a comprehensive list of signs you might be a GeoGeek followed up by some suggested Geoblog reading.
Real-time GPS Mapping and GIS Solution Aids Efficient Disaster Management - Saturday, February 7, 2009 will forever be known as Black Saturday in the State of Victoria, Australia. In the midst of a 10-year drought, a record breaking heat wave descended upon the state, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees C (110-120 deg F), breaking all-time record highs in some cities - Victoria Police Use Trimble Juno SC Handhelds to Speed Assessment of Damage Caused by Bush Fires.
2010 ESRI Federal User Conference February 17-19, 2010, Washington D.C. Walter E. Washington Convention Center - The FedUC is the largest geospatial conference for federal agencies. Connect with other leaders, decision makers, and GIS professionals.
The International LiDAR Mapping Forum 2010 - Tenth Anniversary Event! ILMF 2010 will be held from March 3 - 5, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in Denver at Colorado Convention Center.
The NAVTEQ 2010 Global LBS Challenge Awards Ceremony will be held during Ignite at O'Reilly Where 2.0. Be among the first to hear as NAVTEQ announces the winners for the North America region. Participants will be competing for a global prize pool of $10 million and growing by showcasing pre-commercial location-enabled apps using NAVTEQ map data & products. March 30, 2010, during Ignite Where, 7:30pm - 9:00pm, at the Marriott San Jose, CA
WHERE2.0 2010 - Now in its sixth year, the Where 2.0 Conference is where the grassroots and leading edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. For 15% use Discount Code: whr10lbs
One of the coolest things about my job is that I get to mess around with all kinds of cool technology... now, I haven't had one of these badboys sent to me yet, however, if I was looking at upgrading my laptop to something a bit more rugged the Itronix HUMMER Laptop would be at or near the top of my list. Stylish, rugged, powerful, cool, this unit has it all... best of all its an excellent choice for a mobile professional working in geospatial technologies (GIS, CAD, Surveying) looking for integrated wireless and GPS.
See more 
