It's been a little while since I've posted... so this should make up for it!

I've always relied on my Garmin Nuvi 250w to get me around in my own personal vehicle locally... and my Garmin Nuvi 250 along with my Panasonic CF-73 Toughbook to navigate Ontario and the eastern USA in my Flatbed Tow Truck.

I just recently picked up a retired Police Computer which was made by OEM Micro Solutions in Novi, MI (no relation to the Nuvi... hehe)... It's their "version 2" which is about 5 years old, but is still in service with many US Police Services, "version 3" just recently came out and it has an optional video recording system... I found it on Ebay selling for a fraction of the cost (new they are $6000.00)!

The specs on this Computer are pretty impressive (except the RAM could be a tad bigger, but that can be upgraded... it takes half height by the way)... Oh, and this is all self contained within the screen!!!

I've got Streets & Trips 2009 loaded in it, along with iGuidance 2006 (just to give it a try)... but I do like it... so much that I took my Garmin Nuvi 250w off the windshield that day! It also has built in wifi, you can roll up to a hotspot and start surfing the Internet, the built in Cisco card does require the software update in order to connect to WPA secured wifi.
They are so affordable, that I'd consider getting another one for the Flatbed Tow Truck, but I do need the laptop to bring into Hotels with me when I travel out of town (which is quite often)... So, here's the photos of the unit mounted in my vehicle (a 2007 Chevy Impala)... Oh, the program that you see on the screen is Canutec's ERGO 2008 (it's a free download and does not require you to be connected to the Internet once it's downloaded)...


The keyboard swings out towards you, and the screen does fold down... I have my Microsoft GPS antenna attached to the top of the screen, and it works just fine there... I picked the Computer up directly from the seller located in Frankenmuth, MI (so I made a weekend of it and did the tourist thing)... He currently has a few of them up on Ebay if anyone is interested, just be sure to test everything out and make sure it's working fine.

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Hi Wayne,

Thanks for posting it.

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but I do like it... so much that I took my Garmin Nuvi 250w off the windshield that day!

Cool! I hope we will see you more often here now!

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They are so affordable, that I'd consider getting another one

How much?

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but I do need the laptop to bring into Hotels with me

So this is meant for a permanent installation only? There is no easy way to remove it from the vehicle?

Hey Marvin,

Long time no see!

I've loaded the photos into the gallery.

The gentleman in Frankenmuth is willing to sell them for $250.00 US (which is about $325.00 CDN)... it's a steal considering it comes complete with the stand... all you would need to do is create a bracket to mount it to your vehicle's passenger seat or ??? There are brackets for some vehicles on the Gamber Johnson Web Site, the one for my Impala was $150.00 US (a little expensive, but real heavy duty).

It can be removed pretty easy, the power (12 volts DC) is on a twist connector, and a flick of the lever under the screen releases the Computer from the mounting shaft... I suppose if you were to have a 120 AC to 12 DC adapter, and somewhere to place the shaft of the mounting bracket to keep the Computer stable, you could bring it indoors.

Wayne, I think that is a very good deal. 1.6 GHz CPU would be sufficient for my needs, and I think I'm impressed with the 700 nits screen. I think my HP tx2000 screen's brightness is somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 nits , but 700 nits I believe is considered daylight readable. How does the screen brightness of your police laptop compare to your regular laptop, or to your Nuvi?

That should provide pretty good visibilty outdoors. Even the Dell Latitude tablet with the outdoor viewable screen is less than that (listed at 400 nits). I wonder how well the screen backlight ages though. I assume it is cold cathode fluorescent.

Terry

It was a really good deal! The screen is plenty bright, even during the day... maybe we can hook up on a weekend Marvin, and I can show it to you... On a totally unrelated note, I sure need to get ahold of the most recent version of iGuidance... I haven't even done any research on it yet... All I know, is it works extremely well with this Computer!

I'd love to see it. My only fear is that I would be unable to resist making another impulsive purchase. I really don't need (and can't afford) another PC right now, but who can resist a $6,000 laptop priced at $300.

Read this, Wayne: http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/1646-canadian-looking-canadian-source-iguidance
(Do some of your friends run iGuidance in their police cars?

Oh, it's not a "laptop" though... it's a heavy duty "Police Computer"! There are a few who missed out on our initial trip down, so we'll be making another trip within about a month to fetch some more... It's cheaper picking them up in person, it saves the expensive shipping (since they are somewhat heavy with the stands), plus we can test them to insure they are all working fine.

I actually did a ride along with York Regional Police last year, and their mapping program in the Cruisers seems to be quite similar to iGuidance.

Sorry, my mistake.


There must be some similarity between the two. A couple of years ago someone mentioned to me YRP used iGuidance in their cars, after he saw iGuidance running on my laptop.

I'll let it slide this time...

It could be a custom version of iGuidance?

Wayne, I have no idea what program it really was he was taking about. If I recall correctly he worked for MTP, and when he saw iGuidance running on my PC he said it was the same program YRP used. My guess is that it wasn't the same software, but it just might have looked similar to him. Nevertheless, I'm sure you will enjoy iGuidance (or any other PC GPS software), on your new computer.

Greeting's
My name is Gary and I am in charge of GIS/GPS Mobile Tactical computers for our fleet of 9 ambulances at MTEMS in Warsaw, Indiana.

I am new to this site. I was trying to find replacement OEM Mobile Tactical Computers for the Ambulances we have. I have 2 in the shop in need of repair and 3 ambulances without any computers. I am trying to find used "operational" units to replace the ones we are missing and maybe a couple spares.

Thanx

Hi Gary,

Did you look at the first message in this discussion and check eBay to see if there are still any available?

...ken...

Good Morning Ken, No I did not see that. I will check it out ASAP. Thanx

So far NO LUCK. E-Bay acts as if they never heard of them. Thanx Anyway

Have you used a Google search? Perhaps you could check with these folks to see if they can source some used ones.

Rugged Laptop & Rugged Tablet PC Computers Online - GroupMobile.com

...ken...

What size are you looking for?, I have some MTC-212s and some MTC-215s in my inventory with the stands. Also, what software are you guys using in the ambulances?, just curios as I develop software for the public safety and security industry.

Thanks

I know this is an old thread... anyone that bought one of these police computers know where to get motherboards? I believe mine is toast... any info on mb would be appreciated. Under the sticker it says ecm5716 as the model number.

Lots of info on that number in Google including some pdfs of spec's. I didn't see any current sales items but it is pretty old.

Terry