As tablets proliferate throughout both the consumer and corporate workspace, one thing they have been targeted for is field working. This is not new, take a look at any parcels you have delivered, or the AA van when he comes to fix your car. And the one thing you won’t find is an Ipad.

However the pure domination of Apples cash cow means that the rest of the world are finally getting the tablet as a tool idea , and are starting to deploy in great numbers.

Normally these devices are either attached to the user (PDA) or in a comfy environment (Car / Van). Now people have noticed the advantages, they are making their way out into more rougher areas, and undertaking more demanding roles.

The company I work for has a demand to use these types of devices in the field in quite demanding locations. Due to the software needed, it appears Windows is the preferred option, which lessens the market of available products. The Acer i used for Windows 8, although capable would not last 10 mins in a rough place, which led me down the toughened route. This is full of “Hummer” style devices which in truth are not that portable. This led me to discover Motion. They have produced tablets for hospitals and the like for a while and are now branching out using this experience to cover more demanding environments.

This review covers the CL900, and i hope to review the F5v another time.

Basically the CL900 is an Atom based touch screen tablet in a semi tough case. This means you get a rubber edging with covers for all sockets (USB, power, mem stick, sim card) It runs Windows 7 Pro (great start over home), and comes as standard with 1Gb RAM. First tip, get the 2GB option if you really want to use this. The best bit for me is the “Gorilla Glass” screen. This is a super tough glass screen, which in normal use is also scratch resistant. But being tougher does not compromise functionality, as the screen, both with a stylus or finger works exactly as expected with no delay.

The screen quality is good, but has a smaller than usual viewing angle (there is an upgraded screen available to deal with this. But in normal use this has no effect.

Performance is 2.0 on the windows scale (out of the box – no tweaking). Our box came with 32GB SSD on board, so plenty of storage.

Applications run as expected on a machine of this size. Office 2007 ran as good as my PC. The only snag was cold booting took 1min to login screen. This is not good for a machine with an SSD. My experiences with windows 8 suggest this will dramatically reduce when the full release becomes available.

One great feature is the one button CTRL-ALT-DEL. Acer take note, no super dexterity required !

In short, a perfect tool for users to take outside, and windows 7 means no retraining. For full portability get the 3G option (standard comes with Wi-fi and BT).

Good product, needs small tweaks. 3.5 mrbens (out of 5).