ACP is very proud to announce an all-new Thin Client operator interface terminal for the New Year. We have teamed up with Advantech to bring you the first in our new series of true CE based touch screen products that run under our award winning Thin Client management and enabling software, ThinManager. Even though this unit has an LCD touch screen, the list price is just $895, meaning that ACP now can provide you with a Thin Client product that is a true price competitor to any Op Panel on the market today, but with all the features of a full Windows 2000 interface.
The TPC-642-ACP has a 5.7" Quarter VGA LCD Resistive touchscreen surrounded by a NEMA4/IP65 compliant plastic bezel. Because of the light materials used in its construction, the entire unit weighs around 1.5 lbs. This unit will display 256 colors at a resolution of 320 x 240. This is a true industrial device, with an operating temperature that ranges from 32 degrees to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (0~50°C). The TPC-642 is able to operate in those temperatures without the added cooling fan that many units have, making it more reliable and suitable even for dirty environments.
The TPC-642 is the first of several ACP Enabled Microsoft CE based Thin Clients to be released this year, and uses the CE operating system to provide the platform where screens from the Windows server are displayed. The main purpose for the local OS in the client is to handle communication to the server, local screen updates and local I/O. And just like all other ACP Enabled Thin Clients, the TPC-642 provides the operator with an interface that is virtually indistinguishable from an operator interface screen that would be running on the server directly. Or on a local PC.
What programming language? Even though the unit is CE based, it is a true Thin Client, which means that there is nothing new to learn to get your displays running. You program with any language or application that you want and display the Windows screens on the TPC-642. And with ACP ThinManager and tech support, getting the unit up and going is easy. Combine several of these units with a pre-configured server from ACP and all you have to do to install Windows 2000 interfaces around your factory is to run cables, and power everything on. Any screens or programs that you have already written will come up and look just like they do when run on a full computer.
It runs on 24 Volts DC, and has a low power RISC kernel running on the Intel StrongARM 1110 CPU with a fan-less cooling system. In addition to the standard Ethernet port for connection back to the server, the TPC-642 has 2 serial ports (one RS-232 and one RS-485 with auto-flow control) and 32MB of RAM. The entire unit is less than 1/2 the size of a sheet of paper, and only 1 1/2" deep, so it can be mounted almost anywhere. Because it can run almost all Windows applications, it is a perfect choice for any type of HMI package, where you need a small operator interface terminal, or as a replacement for expensive strip chart recorders, drawing graphs from data collected anywhere on the network.
Look for details on a mobile version in an upcoming newsletter!
For more information on ACP Industrial Thin Client computers, please visit our web site at http://www.thinmanager.com
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