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Though we're looking forward to kicking the tires on a CT60 soon, the addition of another tough tablet to the fray is too tempting to pass up without talking about. - Ern

When tablets first came out I thought, "since tablets can be designed with no moving parts except a hard drive, and not even that in a pinch, their durability and economy make them perfect for harsh environments." (Tablet PC - Beyond business) It seems that the folks at Intermec were thinking along the same lines, because their new CT60 Rugged Tablet PC has a fully vacuum sealed aluminum housing, and comes with either 10.4” transmissive (indoor) or transflective (sunlight readable) displays so you can take it wherever things take you in or out, rain or shine.

It's got dual hot-swappable batteries, vehicle, wall or desk dock capability, and is MIL-STD 810E approved. That means the "CT60 is tough enough to handle freezing temperatures, pouring rain, shock, vibration, dirt, humidity, liquid spills, damaging chemicals and other demanding situations while delivering reliable mobile functionality wherever work gets done – whether it’s behind a desk, on the road or out in the field."

The Tablet XP specification includes "grab and go" functionality, which is exactly what the tough customers likely to want one of these is going to demand, so it's good that you can yank it out of it's docking cradle and be confident that it will switch modes by iteself. I mean, who needs a partner that can't look our for themselves?

Intermec claims a full workday of service for the unit, thanks to the Intel Speed-Step processor it uses and is available with 256 or 512 MB RAM, 20 or 40 GB hard drive, dual hot-swappable batteries and built-in wireless connectivity.

"Ours is the only rugged tablet PC with a milled-aluminum housing," said Dave Grainger, chief executive of Walkabout Computers, which manufactures the CT60. "It won't bend or flex and is so rugged you could drive a truck over it."

They shouldn't tempt me...I know where I can find a Humvee.