So if you're so inclined, you can be sure that a Recon will survive temperatures that range from -22 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit or -30 to 60 degrees Celsius. In terms of drops, the unit can survive 38 drops from 4 feet above a plywood over concrete floor. As for water, it'll work after being immersed for 30 minutes. It'll also work in low-pressure environments, such as altitudes as high as 15,000 feet. And, importantly, it is impenetrable to dust.


Recon in Fish Tank

While we didn't test the rugged features of the device, reading over a list of the fields in which the Recon has been deployed gives you a good idea of just how tough it really is. These fields include land surveying, mapping, forestry, utilities, public safety,law enforcement and the military.

With the two CompactFlash slots users can add 802.11b Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networking, as well as GPS cards, extra memory and more. TDS offers specialized caps called the Extended CF-Cap for larger cards that stick out of the slot. These caps maintain the environmental specs of the Recon and allow the use of larger CompactFlash devices. TDS said the caps are composed of radio-wave transparent materials to improve the performance of enclosed GPS and wireless devices.


Extended CF Cap

If you're going to be out in the field, especially in a harsh environment, you're going to want a device that'll last. With that in mind, the Recons are supposed to get 15 hours of continuous operation out of a single charge to its 3800 mAh NiMH battery. In addition, TDS also offers an optional AA PowerBoot Module that allows you to run the Recon on two AA alkaline or lithium batteries. We found the battery to be easy to swap out. It is also designed so you won't lose your data when switching batteries.


AA PowerBoot Module

Since the Recon is used in forestry, surveying and other outdoor activities, TDS also offers a range of GPS/ GIS and data collection applications for it and companion PCs. These applications include Survey Pro for data collection and field computation; SOLO Field for GIS mapping; SOLO Office for Windows, which allow users to extract SHP files, prepare images, create custom coordinate systems and print, plot and customize data; ForeSight, a CAD tool; and ForeSight DXM (Data eXchange Manager) for transferring files between data collectors and PCs.

The Recon is tough. And it offers a handheld solution in the Pocket PC that is well known to users and is compatible with desktops and numerous applications and solutions written for and available to that platform. While there are other rugged handhelds out there, no other offers the specs the Recon does. However, you'll spend a lot for this toughness, $1499 for the 200MHz model and $1799 for the 400MHz model.

TDS pointed out to PDAStreet that its biggest competitor is not another rugged handheld but the iPAQ. The iPAQ, which is by far the best-selling Pocket PC series, is also a lot cheaper than the Recon, as you can buy three mid to high-end iPAQs for the price of one Recon. If you use an iPAQ in many of the harsh environments that the Recon has been designed for, however, you'll go through those three handhelds pretty quickly.