Here's a few pics of it out in the sun. The screen protector is a year and a half old and getting a bit scratched up, I believe it was on auto brightness in power saving mode. The first pic is very bright sun. I think the picture of the Allegro 2 in the same spot is on a better angle so it looks better in the picture. My modern phone has better sunlight readability but I'd call the Panasonic screen decent for readability outside. Viewing angles are definitely better than the older data collectors. I don't know how it compares to any other tablets like the Mesa 2/3 or the tsc7 though. I know it's hard to see when I have sunglasses on but without them it's easily readable.?ÿ
Thanks for that. We're up for a new DC and a are looking at better readability. It seems that reflection off the screen is a significant issue - you can focus your eyes to admire your handsome self, or focus on the software - and it looks like there are some anti-reflective screen protectors around.
What data collector is it replacing? I've found the lack of a keyboard is more of an issue in Fieldgenius (as it was never designed to be used without a physical keyboard) vs Magnet field which felt like it was meant for a tablet. With the extended battery it was at 40-50% battery at the end of the day. With the Parani's connected and running Fieldgenius it gets about 6 hours before I have to switch to one of the original batteries to finish the day out. Usually I plug it in while in the truck travelling or doing notes.?ÿ
Hopefully I can sort out the battery drain issue but it's definitely only when the Parani's are connected in Fieldgenius.?ÿ
The extra button's for hot keys would be an advantage on the Mesa 2 but I think the processor is actually better on the fz-m1 (at least the version I have). It has 8gb of ram so nothing seems to slow it down.?ÿ
Moving to Android, replacing a Nomad and a South S10 - both of which run SurvCE on Win Mobile.
And both of which, one needs to use The Force in bright sunlight.
I would think the android version of the FZ-M1 would be a huge upgrade over both of those DC. I've only used the Windows version though and they do have a better processor and ram than the android version.?ÿ
Rather use a powerpack if I run out and get the better Bluetooth range.
Yeah I typically couldn't get more than 140m with just the internal long range Bluetooth but the range can be affected by drivers with the windows version. Leegreen was going to help me look into that but I ended up getting the second Parani and then the longer antenna (on both ends now) and I've gotten over 300m a couple times (for a backsight) and we'll over 200m several others. If range randomly gives me trouble at less than that I shut everything down and restart it and it seems to fix it.?ÿ
With the android version the drivers are probably what they are. How do you like it besides the BT range? I don't think the Parani is an option with Android.?ÿ
Update: I got the RH17 radio handle today and used it all day. I couldn't get far enough from it on the jobsites to disconnect, so end of day at the office I set it up in our huge parking lot and went over 250 meters before I ran out of space and a truck got on my line. I was able to get line of sight and search again but the connection was definitely slowed down once he got in the way. Walking a few meters towards the robot and it was working perfectly again. This was with just the internal long range Bluetooth in the Panasonic fz-m1. So the Parani had much weaker Bluetooth. Now I don't need either Parani..
I'm a happy camper so far. Hopefully it stays that way. It's still an 11 year old robot being used all day long so who knows what could happen.?ÿ
