Replacing the Tablet PCs of our Mobile Mapping Lab with Newer Tablet PCs

We received our HP tablet PC grant in summer of 2004. What we got were the early addition of the ‘convertible’ tablet PC, the TC1100 (shown above). To get an idea of how we use tablet PCs with GIS software and GPS receivers (shown below), please check out our project web page. We also had a paper in Journal of Geoscience Education on our use of tablets in a geomorphology class.

For the past seven months or so, I’ve tested out new tablet PC options for replacement of our original HP/Compaq tablet PCs. The following are my thoughts on the tablet PCs we tested and what we decided to get, so if you don’t care to ever use a tablet PC for GIS mapping, you can skip this entry.

What we were looking for in a replacement tablet PC were these key improvements: 1) a brighter screen, 2) lighter weight, and 3) longer battery life. Ease of use of the pen and screen conversion (when you flip the screen around and write on it) is a plus. If we could also get a rugged option, that would be great, as we use these tablets in the field and, we all know, “stuff happens.” Also, with each choice, we wanted the most RAM available. Our original TC1100 tablets are 1.876 kg or 4.13 lbs. and came with 512 MB RAM that we never upgraded.

On each of the tablets listed below, I loaded ArcGIS 9.2 plus the GPS software that we’ve been using with our little Rayming receivers (these are no longer available under that name). This is what the GPS receiver looks like. All loaner tablets were the standard units and did not have extra RAM installed.

HP TC4400 (daylight viewable model) with Windows XP (I forgot to weigh it but the web page says 4.6 lbs. 0r 2.08 kg, which seems heavier than I remember) I wanted to be loyal to HP, since they so kindly gave us the original grant and I feel forever indebted to those guys, we tried the TC4400 (shown above). This model tablet PC is like a ‘real’ laptop, very business-y. It’s black and sleek, it looks nothing like our funny little TC1100 (overheard by an anonymous Vassar computing support person, “these are just novelty items” when referring to our new tablet PCs. Ha!) The price for the TC4400 I was quoted was around $1300 (including extra RAM). These seemed pretty good to me and to my colleagues in Earth Science and Geography.

Lenovo ThinkPad X41 (and X61) with Windows XP (X41 - weight 1.889 kg or 4.16 lbs.; X61 - weight 1.765 kg or 3.89 lbs.) When Vassar replaces Intel machines, we use Lenovo/IBMs, so I figured that a ThinkPad tablet (shown above) should be tested because our in-house support might be better. In addition there are ten ThinkPad X41 tablet PCs already on campus in Biology (used for field work also). But I was not sold on the ThinkPad. The weight, the laptop-like quality and our past lack of conviction that ArcGIS plays nice with the ThinkPad, turns me away from this option. Plus the price was around $450 more (similar specs to the HP). There seems to be no daylight viewable model available but I could be wrong about that. Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 with Windows XP (weight 2.341 kg or 5.16 lbs.). Sure these are monsters, but wow, they’re beautiful (see above). These are the Hummer of tablet PCs. If you want a piece of field equipment that won’t sneeze at inclement weather, or balk at dust and heat, the Toughbook CF-19 is your soldier. They even have a model with embedded GPS receivers! It was a little awkward to get a loaner, but when you’re a little school with only a little bit of money, and you want to make an educated decision, you need to actually hold the equipment in your hands and give it a thorough test. If you want advice on getting a Toughbook loaner, contact me (mestewart@vassar.edu) and I can let you know what I went through so maybe you can avoid some of the pitfalls. The price, including GPS and extra RAM is a whopping $4,000+ each. We cannot justify buying 10 or more of these rugged tablet PCs for teaching purposes, plus the weight alone could make students a little cranky. But the faculty members who routinely use the tablet PCs for mapping loved the ruggedness and know the hardship of heavy field equipment. They wanted a couple to have around for their summer field projects. Who am I to argue?! HP 2710p with Windows Vista Business and daylight viewable option (weight 1.68 kg or 3.7 lbs.) I was about ready to order fifteen TC4400 tablets, I was on the phone with my sales rep and he said are you sure you don’t want to try out the newer 2710p? (Shown above) I didn’t want to. I was quite tired of trying out tablet PCs and felt like I was annoying everyone around with, ‘here, try this one out!’ exuberance. But when the sales rep said that they’re a good ½ pound lighter, I thought that I better give a test. I am glad that I did. The 2710p is terrific, light-weight, sleek, easy to use, great screen for outside use, it is exactly what we need to replace our older TC1100 tablets. The 2710p tablet has a metallic case, so it doesn’t seem like a standard laptop and it doesn’t seem frail. I doubt that it can stand a drop from a second story window, but at least it looks like it could handle it. The price I got was a little over $1,300 each, but I think we will go for the 2710p. It reminds me of our TC1100 tablets, only more rugged, more serious, less ‘novelty item.’ I might look into getting the embedded camera that takes still and video pictures; might be great for field work. Note that this model comes with Vista Business operating system and ArcGIS 9.2 needs service pack 4 to work with Vista. It seemed to do fine in my test.

Added 2/12/2008: We bought 2 CF-19 Toughbooks, and they're working great, and have on order 15 HP 2710P tablets. By the way, in addition to a daylight viewable screen, we are getting the 2710Ps with an embedded camera, all for a fabulous price. Would really like to have an embedded GPS receiver (I know I'm not the only one) but will have to wait until more people shout about this to the vendors.

Web Mapping for Educators

I missed the live version of a really terrific webinar put on by Wiley publishing. I know it was good because, fortunately, Wiley sent to link to me since I was signed up to listen to the presentation. Joseph Kerski, of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Education Team, gave a great overview of useful mapping web sites on a variety of educational topics and the importance of bringing geospatial technologies into the classroom. He also gave ways to use these web sites for class exercises, examples are shown below. The slide show is called “Geo Tools: Spatial Inquiry Using Web Mapping Tools.” It’s really worth checking out in 2008.

Using the MLA site to map German speakers in the U.S.

Using the National Atlas to map multiple births.

If you’re interested in finding out about and signing up for more of these webinars, visit Wiley Faculty Network where they “provide technology training, live workshops, a one-on-one mentor program, and other valuable resources designed to help you collaborate and communicate with your colleagues to create a more proactive, enjoyable classroom experience for all.”

(Google) Earth at Depth

Using Google Earth and SketchUp, professor Declan De Paor has found a way for geologist, geophysicists, archaeologists and others to display what they interpret to be happening below the surface of the earth. De Paor gave a presentation at the recent American Geophysical Union meeting on his use of Google Earth for subsurface investigations. I wasn't there. It was reported in Google Earth Design, Google Earth Blog and Ogle Earth. Sounds like AGU 2007 had many good virtual globe presentations plus the presence of a Google Earth booth.

Because it's still holiday break, I haven't tried this yet, but it should be rather simple to do, and if I'm successful, I'll report back.

An added note about De Paor, he is a structural geologist, just like the developers of the other cool geology application of Google Earth that I talked about before.

Wildfires and Computer Modeling

An interesting story appeared in the New York Times today about how the US Forest Service and others are enlisting a "one-of-a-kind" computer model to help with fire prediction. They're using slope, prevailing wind, soil moisture, locations of trees killed by a bug, and other geographically identifiable attributes, so why didn't the Times call this high-end computer model a GIS? This is a long-standing frustration I've had with Times reporting; they don't usually call something that is GIS...GIS.

There's even a slick figure showing a time series of relative numbers of lodgepole pines trees killed by beetles. It's all GIS! (In the Times article, click on the map like the one shown below.)

Nor did they fully report the story. The project is the result of an inter-agency collaboration. In the paper version of the Times, no mention was made of this really great web site, that anyone with a browser can use.

From the GeoMAC (Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination) web site:

The Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group or GeoMAC, is an internet-based mapping application originally designed for fire managers to access online maps of current fire locations and perimeters in the conterminous 48 States and Alaska. Using a standard web browser, fire personnel can view this information to pinpoint the affected areas.

They've got Google Earth layers and a web mapping application with current fire status data. This is terrific, useful and powerful information made available for everyone and it's not some kind of inaccessible data or something only scientists can view.

Digital Tours in 3-D by EveryScape

This could be an interesting way of looking at a place. A company called EveryScape has started creating (for $$) 'tours' of cities and businesses within the city. As mentioned in a recent New York Times article, EveryScape uses a car mounted with four cameras and takes pictures every 50 feet or so to create a somewhat seamless tour of Boston, Miami, Laguna Beach, Aspen and NYC. Shown above is Harvard Square, where you will find a driving tour on the left and a Google Maps view of where you are in the world on the right. If you click on the street scene, you can look up at the sky and down at the gray car they used to shoot the film. It's a little slow and a little clunky. Eventually, you will be able to 'walk' into businesses and take a look around like the lower picture.

Thanks Andy Anderson for mentioning this.

MapInfo Files Into ArcGIS 9

We have some old MapInfo files floating around from the days when we ran MapInfo on Macintosh computers. Whew! That was a long time ago, but here's how you get to view and use those old files. In ArcCatalogue, use the ArcView 8x Tools toolbar (View -> Toolbars -> ArcView 8x Tools). Then use the MIF to Shapefile function shown circled in red above and navigate to the MapInfo MIF file(s) and save them under a new name. This can also be done as a batch process, as well.

This might require a projection transformation of some sort. Keri, let me know how this works.

TouchTable and Geography

There was an interesting piece on PBS's Wired Science on the TouchTable...a cross between a SmartBoard, a Tablet PC and a coffee table. Thank you, Matthew, for clueing me into this. Claimed to be designed to teach kids about geography, the demonstration of the TouchTable was using Google Earth (love that) and then they switced to the "really cutting edge virtual globe," ArcGIS Explorer. Hum. Sounds like a suspicious link to ESRI. It is a pretty good bit of neo-geography, though, but at $59,000 per TouchTable, seems a far stretch for most regular people to ever afford one.



Then there was an additional link on the PBS site to a TouchTable demo video clip from the ESRI 2005 Users Conference, where the demo guy takes us to Las Vegas using ArcGIS Explorer, which must have been in development back then. This video is a really cool sandwiching of two geo-geeks and lets you know what you're missing when you DON'T make it to the conference. But then there's Derek, who comes on at about 3 1/2 minutes into the demo and you get to see something you might actually be able to do in your own lifetime...Derek demos using a tablet PC and "ArcGIS Server Smart Client Framework" to do GIS. Nice.

Mapping and Carbon Emissions

As heard on NPR this morning, there's an informative and interactive web site available showing global power plants. A description from the Carbon Monitoring for Action web site: "CARMA provides the world's most detailed and comprehensive information on carbon emissions resulting from the production of electricity. Power sector emissions make up 25% of the global total, 40% of carbon emissions in the United States CARMA provides the world's most detailed and comprehensive information on carbon emissions resulting from the production of electricity. Power sector emissions make up 25% of the global total, 40% of carbon emissions in the United States"

Look for the Dig Deeper blue button and download data, if you like.

ArcInfo Installation, Continued

Back in June, I thought I had ArcInfo loaded and ready to go, but there were issues. I created my blog entry and walked away for the summer.

Number one...don't remove the ESRI sentinel key from the USB drive. And number two, set-up the license manager as follows.

Click on the Configuration using Services button and then go to the Start/Stop/Reread tab and Start the server. Very simple, of course, but if you don't do this (and it's not clearly stated in the software installation instructions), then when your colleagues come back to use ArcInfo you get this unfriendly error message: FLEXlm Error: Cannot connect to license server. The server (lmgrd) has not been started yet, or the wrong port@host or license file is being used, or the port or hostname in the license file has been changed. Feature: ARC/INFO

GIS and Tablet PCs - from GottaBeMobile

I stumbled across this link on GottaBeMobile.com today with a short video clip of someone using a tablet PC and ArcMap to digitize a stream...inking in a GIS application. Says Matt Faulkner, "This is an application that many of you have probably never seen and what you see in this video isn't even scratching the surface on what it can do."

"Teaching Geology, Google Style"

Linking two of my joys--geology and Google Earth--The Wired Campus announced that a new textbook will be coming out knitting structural geology (!) and flying to locations in Google Earth. Written by structural geologists Stephen Marshak and M. Scott Wilkerson, Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 3rd ed., is due this month from W.W. Norton & Company.