Why you need to upgrade your Industrial Computer in 2019 - Part 1

The start of a new year is always a good time to plan ahead and implement new business decisions. One example of this may be an investment in new machinery or computer hardware. The industrial world is constantly changing with new products, technologies and features being introduced. Staying on top of these changes ensures your business utilises up-to-date options and performance for your computer hardware, helping your business to perform faster and more efficiently.

Performance Improvements 

Each year brings a raft of changes in the computer and technology area. STX Technology is continuously updating their products to improve device speed, reliability and power efficiency. Purchasing a new industrial PC in 2019 allows companies to enjoy all of the benefits of these technology and design innovations. 

Modern SSD’s are becoming increasingly more efficient helping to complete tasks more effectively and improving file access and file transfer time frames. STX Technology offers a 120GB SSD as standard for all of their industrial computers. If your current business PC carries less storage or has an old hard disk drive, this may be a good reason to upgrade to a new industrial computer in 2019.

Another extremely important component to look at this year is RAM. A standard 4GB RAM ensures smooth running of an operating system (which itself may take up to 2GB of RAM) and most of the software. If your project requires interaction with several applications at the same time or has specific software requirements, you might want to install larger RAM. STX Technology has industrial computers with both DDR3 and faster DDR4 RAM. With a standard of 4GB, all PCs can be configured to carry up to 32GB for high performance requirements. 

Sometimes upgrading an SSD or RAM can be done without purchasing a new computer but replacing a CPU is a more complicated process and most of the time it is more cost effective to replace the entire unit. This is one of the main reasons why you should consider purchasing an up-to-date industrial PC in 2019. More powerful and energy-efficient processors are being manufactured constantly which is why it makes good business sense to keep your computer hardware up-to-date. STX Technology offers a range of CPU options including 2.0GHz Intel® Quad Core CPU, 2.8GHz Intel® Core™ i5 CPU and 3.5GHz Intel® Core™ i7 CPU for all industrial touch computers.

New touch displays

Your computer display is clearly a very important part of your computer and it is certainly worth investing in a PC with a good quality industrial monitor. Modern displays provide higher picture quality and touch accuracy combined with greater reliability and power-efficiency. The 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution is standard for many devices in 2019 and many applications run with it as a native resolution.

Industrial computers by STX Technology are available with displays in sizes from 8 to 100 inches and in two touch screen types: Resistive Touch (single touch allowing for the use of gloved hands or stylus) and Projective Capacitive (multi-touch functionality). In 2019, STX Technology offers industrial PCs with a range of screen ratios including traditional 4:3, 5:4, 16:9 and also 16:10.

Another evolutional change for touch screens is their level of brightness. Standard brightness for most industrial displays is around 350 nits which ensures clear visibility in standard indoor locations. For extremely bright environments or outdoor use, computers by STX Technology can be optionally built with high-bright 600 nit or 1000 nit screens. Another available feature is a light sensor that adjusts the brightness of the display based on ambient lighting making the operating of the device more comfortable and efficient removing the need to make manual adjustments. 

Windows 10 migration

Operating systems, as any other software, are regularly updated to improve performance and safety. You can always upgrade or reinstall an operating system on your current PC, however there are situations when buying a new industrial computer may prove more beneficial.

Windows 10 is recommended for all new computer models to ensure software compatibility and to take advantage of new performance and safety standards. Since its debut in 2015, Windows 10 has become a standard for many business applications and has almost completely replaced other operating systems on the market.

There are several reasons for that:

• Most new peripherals come with Windows 10 support which means that it can be difficult or impossible to find the drivers to install on devices running older operating systems.
• Windows 10 has a more efficient update tool which helps to save space and time when installing updates.
• Safety features for Windows 10 exceed older operating systems and include Defender Exploit Guard which scans for, quarantines and removes malware.
• Microsoft is no longer offering mainstream support for Windows 7 and provides only important security updates for this version (extended support will end in January 2020).

 To seamlessly run Windows 10, your business needs an industrial computer meeting performance criteria for 2019. STX Technology offers a range of PCs optimised to work with Windows 10. Other operating system options however are still available including Windows 7, 8, Linux and Android if required.

New software requirements

New applications and software updates usually require a higher level of performance from a PC. If your current computer hardware is not powerful enough, you will end up with slow workflow or maybe even with data corruption or loss. Downtime costs and potential data loss can lead to much bigger problems, so having a reliable and up-to-date industrial PC is definitely worth consideration.

Most new software is designed to run in Full HD and utilises more hardware resources. Another important trend is the use of graphics and video content in many software applications. For companies working in retail, hospitality, transportation and similar industries, and showing digital information or interactive content to customers, this might be one of the biggest reasons for updating their equipment.

In part 2 of this blog article we are going to discuss other reasons why you need to upgrade your Industrial Computer in 2019. We will cover topics inluding cooling improvements, new features and technologies, benefits of industrial-grade PCs and why STX Technology manufactures them to order.