Hand Held Products reveals first annual 'device life' survey

handheld scanners found crushed, drowned and cooked

Hand Held Products, the global leader in image-based linear and 2D data collection solutions, has revealed results from its first annual survey exploring the life of data collection devices. The results include the top three types of damage that happen to handheld scanners and mobile devices, as well as some surprising and inexplicable stories of device trauma.

The list resulted from a survey among Hand Held Products' technical consultants about the devices that were sent back for repair.

The Hand Held Products 2005 damage top three:

1. Crushed devices (eg. by being run over by (forklift) trucks)
2. Damaged displays (eg. from using unsuitable pens)
3. Damaged keyboards

From the more rare types of damage, one mobile computer sent back for repair in 2005 was completely waterlogged. Another device had been heated in a microwave - perhaps to dry it out after a similar mishap. The display had, unfortunately, melted.

"As our devices are often used outdoors, they need to be very durable. That is why all industry-grade Hand Held Products devices go through a strict testing procedure in the corporate labs in Skaneateles Falls, US. There they undergo, for example, endurance tests for extreme temperatures, permeability tests, and various drop tests," said Roel Vreeburg, Hand Held Products' senior VP international sales, marketing and services.

"The devices are primarily used outdoors, and it is hard to believe that they continue to work perfectly well despite rain, wind, dust and drops - but they do," said Alan Carroll, managing director at Waveform Solutions Ltd. "However, there will always be mishaps, such as if a two-ton pallet of material flattens a scanner, or if a device is left in the driving route of a fork lift. It is good to know that in these instances you can rely on the safety net that the Hand Held Products Service & Repair team provides."