Robust Windows XP-based vehicle mount computer
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

The Triton Tx800 vehicle mount computer is made by Swedish Akerstroms Trux, a company that was acquired by EMS Technologies, Inc. in February of 2008 and made part of EMX subsidiary LXE. In October 2007, LXE announced that manufacturing was now in Norcross, GA.

The Tx800 is a compact, rugged vehicle-mount computer with a tough, shock-resistant magnesium housing and impressive IP65 sealing. The computer measures 11 x 9 inches and is three inches thick. It weighs under eight pounds and can be installed in vehicles with a shock-absorbing mounting bracket system. The Tx800 has a 10.4-inch SVGA (800 x 600 pixel) display with a powerful 400 nit backlight (standard notebooks usually have around 200 nits). A hardened touch panel is optionally available, as is a panel defroster.

The Tx800 is powered either by a Celeron M or a Pentium M processor. It is a full Windows machine that can either be run with Windows XP Professional or XP Embedded. 512MB to 1GB of RAM are complemented by either two or four GB of Flash, depending on the OS used. There is also a 40GB hard disk. No cooling fan is required. The Tx800 rns on 12V DC vehicle power, but also has an internal Li-Polymer battery.

As shown below, the Tx800 excels in connectivity and configurability.

There are two PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse, two serial ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a multipurpose connector, video out, RJ45 10/100 Ethernet, as well as audio in/out and an external antenna socket. Inside the computer are two mini-PCI slots, another USB 2.0 port and an optional PC Card slot.

For connectivity, the Tx800 offers internal 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth as well as GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA cell options.