Reviews

Motion Computing J3500 review

The Motion Computing J3500 claims to be rugged, but is it up to the job? We review it to find out.

13 Jul 2010

Using the optional folding keyboard supplied with our review model you can also use the J3500 as a pseudo laptop/desktop replacement. Just unfold the keyboard, drop in the J3500 and off you go; there's even a touchpad built in, and with the keyboard folded away again, it clips magnetically to the base of the J3500 for transport.

Plus, there's a whole host of similarly ingenious accessories you can add, from the FlexDock - a deskbound docking station that makes it look like a standard monitor when connected - to a standalone battery charger and range of sleeves and cases.

Once you move back outside again, you'll find the sunlight-readable screen another useful touch. And instead of just one battery, you get two, offering both redundancy and hot-swap flexibility: in the event of failure you won't be stuck with a dead laptop, and when one battery runs out in the field you can detach it and insert a spare without having to interrupt your work. There's more too: flip over the J3500 and you'll find a three megapixel documentation' camera on the rear with a light for capturing pictures in low light; look to the side and you'll discover a fingerprint reader; peer inside, and you'll find Intel's top-end Ultimate-N 6300 Wi-Fi module, a mobile broadband modem, a TPM 1.2 security chip and even GPS for geotagging duties.