Field Testing the Getac Semi Rugged S410 Laptop

I recently had opportunity to test two Getac computers: the F110 Rugged Tablet and the topic of this review, the Getac Semi-Rugged S410 Laptop. Obviously there is a significant difference between a tablet and a laptop, but where law enforcement work is concerned the need for them to be equally durable still stands. Just because the S410 is a laptop instead of a tablet was no excuse for it not to take an equal amount of abuse and still function. Indeed, there may be a GREATER need for it to take higher levels of abuse and still function. Why?

Well, at the risk of insulting/angering command staff members who may read this field test report, people who work at desks are often more abusive of their laptops than those who work in the field.  I have never understood why this outlook seems to prevail, but – in my experience and direct observation – it does. The patrolman in his cruiser makes an effort to be careful about how he treats his laptop. He knows he’s going to have to answer to a supervisor and on up the chain of command if he does something silly (like putting a cup of coffee on the laptop, using it as a shelf) that causes damage to the computer. In the meantime, the laptop set on a desk is viewed as reasonably safe and people tend to get careless around them.  I’d wager that more desk riding laptops get coffee poured in them than laptops in cruisers do. Still, laptops going in and out of cruisers, on and off of crime scenes, in and out of offices, in and out of trunks… let’s be honest: there is a LOT of opportunity for the laptop to be banged into things, dropped, hit, spilled on and in general neglected or abused.

The first test I gave the S410 I received was animal exposure.  Canine handlers have laptops in their cruisers too, right? How well do those laptops stand up to slobber? Pawing? Being laid on? I intentionally left the S410 on my dog’s favorite “bed” spot. To put this in perspective, my dog is a 95 pound Tamaskan Husky who sheds twice a year – for about six months each time. Across the span of the first ten days I had this laptop for testing, my dog (Jackson) laid on it, walked across it, drooled on it (closed), etc. When I finally took it off his bed for use, I had to vacuum the dog hair off it before I dared turn it on.  In hindsight, I probably should have left the dog hair there to see how it would function.

The second test I gave the S410 was leaving it on the family kitchen table. This is much like leaving it on the common table in a squad room.  Everyone who needs table space moves it. If they’re too lazy to move it, things get dropped on it, stacked on it, shoved against it, etc. In this case, nothing was spilled on it although, at one point, I found my wife had set a burning candle on top of it, “because there was no paper around it so it was safer.”

The third test (and I wish I had thought to video this ahead of time) was the sweeping of it off a trunk lid and out of a van. Given that evidence technicians tend to carry laptops around with them, but also often have their hands full and drop some of the items they’re juggling, I pushed it out of the back of a van twice… onto the pavement. It bounced and settled. I also pushed it off the back of a Dodge Charger trunk twice – and the same vehicles hood twice.  That’s a total of six drops from varying heights with no adverse repercussions I could see.  The laptop still fired up and functioned fine after all that.  In fact, it barely showed any wear and tear.

I was TEMPTED to pour a cup of orange juice or coffee into the keyboard, but nothing I could find from Getac said that the laptop would stand up to that so I didn’t push my luck. Will it happen? You can bet on it. Somewhere, somehow, some officer will pour (spill) something into the laptop. It’s great if the laptop doesn’t spark and spit and then die when that happens, but I wasn’t going to be the guy to fry a test laptop just for the sake of curiosity.

In the office, I was impressed with the S410’s seemingly quick start up and bright, clear graphics. As a guy who only plays one video game (Star Trek Online), I have an appreciation for how demanding many programs can be on a graphics card. The S410’s 14” touch screen displayed with high clarity and responded to touch commands quickly. On line information states that the laptop can be upgraded to have a GeForce GTX 950M graphics processing unit for 3D graphics and CAD software use. Just like the F110 Rugged Tablet mentioned at the beginning, the touch screen can be activated/used with a finger, the provided pen or while wearing a glove. I tested it with all three input tools and it functioned flawlessly.

While testing the S410 at home, I used the built-in WiFi (dual-band 802.11ac) for connectivity. It also has Dual Mode Bluetooth 4.2 built in and 4G Sierra Wireless WWAN available. Staying connected isn’t a challenge.

Being aware of the long shifts that officers sometimes get stuck working, Getac put a hot-swappable battery system in the S410 with two further battery upgrades available:

• A secondary battery in the media bay for marathon power (their wording), or
• A built-in bridge battery to quickly replace the main battery.

The one thing I wanted to test – just because I never have – but didn’t have the time or finances to do so (because it would have required some serious shipping costs) – was the temperature range Getac says the laptop will function within.  From a low of -5°F to a high of 140°F the S410 OUGHT to work pretty much wherever you can stand to be outside with it. I know there might be a few officers working parts of Alaska or Canada in colder temperatures than that bottom threshold, but is ANYONE working anywhere hotter than the high threshold? (I seriously hope not.)

There are more technical specifications available for the Getac S410 available on this webpage. The unit stood up well to my testing and performed as expected (or better). If you’re looking for new laptops for your agency, or for your personal use (for those of us who travel around teaching, presenting, etc.), check it out.