New tablet PC of interest?

Originally Posted by max

Wow, the screen res on this one would probably display a full plate
without the panning I usually need to do on my 800x600 tablet.

I've been going back and forth between a tablet PC (Fujitsu LTC-500)
and a couple of notebooks, and have gone through multiple hard drives
on all systems when using them as EFBs. I've narrowed the problem down
to the fact that I use them all regularly between 17,000 and 18,000
feet. I've learned that most hard drives are prone to failure above
around 12,000 feet- lack of air pressure causing the heads to scratch
against, rather than float just above, the platters.

Has anyone else run into this issue computing at high, unpressurized
altitides?

Anyone know if this is still a problem with newer drives? I can't find
any onfo specific to that on this new one mentioned above.

-max

Max
Yes, most hard drives work up to about 10,000 feet. They rely on a thin layer of air to keep the head flying above the magnetic platter. They are not normally sealed, but have a filtered pressure equalizer in the case. There are drives that work to higher altitudes. A google search using "high altitude hard drives" will give you hits such as:

By Keith Shaw, NetworkWorld.com, 06/08/05

Seagate today announced 10 new hard drives for different OEM and consumer markets, including an 8G-byte 1-inch hard drive, a notebook drive with hardware-based Full Disc Encryption and a drive designed for digital video recorders with 500G-bytes (half a terabyte) of capacity.

Seagate-HD-8GB-CF.jpgThe drives are part of a Seagate marketing push designed to promote the "Terabite Life", the need for storage for end users wherever they are – in the car, at the home or at work.

The new drives include:

1) The EE25 Series, a 2.5-inch hard drive designed for use in automobiles. The drive includes extreme environmental resistance designed to operate in temperatures ranging from –30 to 85 degrees Celsius, as well as high-humidity and high-altitude locations, Seagate says. Drives will be designed in 20G-, 30G- and 40G-byte capacities, and are expected in Q4 2005.