Augmentix Unveils Rugged XTG630 Notebook

Inside, the XTG630 is just another Dell laptop. But on the outside, serious hardware upgrades make it the Hummer of the notebook world.

The laptops down at your local PC retailer may be fine for the boardroom, living room and bedroom, but when you need to plunk down a laptop in the middle of a war zone or at a construction site, something tougher is needed. Augmentix offers military, industrial, government and commercial buyers a new option with their XTG 630 fully-rugged notebook, announced on Monday.

Unlike similar notebooks in the fully-rugged market, the XTG 630 uses a common consumer notebook as a base to make IT integration easier. The computer shares a BIOS, operating system, drivers, and utilities with the Dell D630 and ATG630, making it basically a beefed-up version of the same computer. It packs a dual-core Intel 2.4Ghz processor, Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor, integrated 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi, plus Bluetooth and GPS.

To take it a step above the Dell notebooks it shares software with, the XTG 630 gets a dense magnesium exoskeleton with over-mold protection system, and Augmentix’s QuadCool thermal management system. A 14.1-inch DirectVue LCD supposedly provides excellent viewability, even in direct sunlight. Additional reinforcements range from a shock-mounted hard drive cage to a fully sealed keyboard.

Since the XTG is intended for large-scale purchasers, no pricing information was available at the time of launch.