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Rugged laptops with expansion slots - X500 and NotePAC

Myles KelvinBlog
Laptop computers with expansion slots Portexa NotePAC-III-PRO-V Triple screen portable server with expansion Getac X500 Single screen portable server with expansion "If you need a portable laptop-style computer with an expansion slot or two, there are not many options…. Common Features Large laptop portables Two PCIe expansion slots Fast processing Lots of connectivity Two alternatives - X500 and NotePAC-III If you need a portable laptop-style computer with an expansion slot or two, there are no
Rugged laptops with expansion slots - X500 and NotePAC

Laptop computers with expansion slots

NotePAC-III-PRO-V triple screen - 2 slot - Xeon powered portable. Now with battery option.

Portexa NotePAC-III-PRO-V

Triple screen portable server with expansion

2 slot portable rugged getac

Getac X500

Single screen portable server with expansion

"If you need a portable laptop-style computer with an expansion slot or two, there are not many options….

Portable video system for rugged deployment

Triple screen rugged laptop with video capture hardware

Common Features

  • Large laptop portables
  • Two PCIe expansion slots
  • Fast processing
  • Lots of connectivity

Two alternatives - X500 and NotePAC-III

If you need a portable laptop-style computer with an expansion slot or two, there are not many options…. There’s the Portexa NotePAC-PRO and the Getac X500 Server. In this article, we will look at the similarities, differences, and suggested applications. Disclaimer - we cannot sell Getac X500’s - but this will attempt to be fair and unbiased. Members of our staff have extensive experience using and modifying the Getac X500 and have a healthy respect for it.

Physical

Both systems are large portable laptops.

The X500 (Launched June 2011) is 16.1" x 12.6" x 4.6" (933.2 cubic inches) and the NotePAC-III-PRO-V (Launched February 2019) is 16.75″ x 12″ x 4.5″ (904.5 cubic inches).

The NotePAC of course does feature a triple display monitor, so it’s not quite apples to apples.

The NotePAC-PRO has two PCIe expansion slots as standard, whereas the X500 is expandable using a ‘slice’ that replaces the bottom cover (the dimensions listed include the slice). The X500 slice can be PCI or PCIe, so if you need to support a legacy PCI card then the X500 is the one to choose.

Typical configurations of the NotePAC are considerably more powerful than the X500 and include an Nvidia Quadro RTX4000 graphics card in one of the PCIe slots.

 

Size

X500 - 16.1" x 12.6" x 4.6" (933.2 cubic inches)

NotePAC-III - 16.75″ x 12″ x 4.5″ (904.5 cubic inches)

CPU

X500 - Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1505M v6 3.0GHz - Max. 4.0GHz - 8MB Intel® Smart Cache

NotePAC - Intel® Xeon® Processor D-2183IT, 16 Cores, 32 Threads, 22MB Cache, 3GHz max, 2.2GHz base.

Ethernet

X500 - Dual Gigabit

NotePAC -

Dual LAN with 10G SFP+ LAN (Fiber)

Dual LAN with 10Gbase-T (RJ45)

Quad LAN with Intel® Ethernet Controller I350-AM4 (RJ45)

Removable drives

X500 - 2 Drives (six if no PCIe expansion needed)

NotePAC - 4 Drives

Displays

X500 - 15.6” (1920 x 1080) 

  NotePAC - 3 x 17.1” for (5760 x 1080)

Graphics

X500 - Intel HD 630 or NVIDIA Quadro P2000
  NotePAC -  Aspeed AST2500 or NVIDIA Quadro RTX4000
"A major advantage of the NotePAC is the 144Hz refresh rate on all displays as standard which allows the use of 3D imaging for various uses including targeting"

Three screen laptop with PCIe expansion slots

NotePAC-III-PRO-V triple screen - 2 slot - Xeon powered portable. Now with battery option.

 

Displays

The Getac X500 has a 15.6” FHD (1920 x 1080) display with “Quadraclear” filters to give it some usability in sunlight. The NotePAC-III-PRO-V has more than three times the screen real-estate, with 3 x 17.1” FHD displays for a total screen area of 5760 x 1080.

About the COTS Computers Blog

Find technical explanations, historical context, and practical examples related to rugged and portable computing.

The blog covers portable computers, rugged workstations, deployable servers, storage, expansion hardware, displays, networking, USB, PCIe, and the history of personal computing.

It is intended for engineers, technical buyers, procurement professionals, field teams, and anyone researching how portable and rugged computer systems work. 

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