Datalux Mobile Computing Solutions

Mike Nie _{on Google}

Apr 24th, 2021

As the technical manager for a suburban fire department near Cincinnati, we have used the Datalux Tracer line of computers for many years in our Fire and EMS vehicles and had very good luck with them. We have about a dozen.
However, the last one we purchased (about 3 years ago), has had problems. Hey, I understand that. Things happen and every manufacturer can have a lemon. But, it's their response (or, lack thereof) that is troubling. The first problem was a bad internal video cable. We shipped it back under warranty. They had the computer for months for repair. I called and emailed, trying to check on the status of the repair. Rarely can you reach a human. When you do, it's a receptionist. There is never a response to emails, voicemails or a message left with a receptionist. Eventually, the computer came back repaired.
Then a short time later, it started having blue screen and black screen crashes. I suspect a problem on the motherboard. It was again sent back (still under warranty). That was in September of 2020. It's now April of 2021 and they still have it. There has been no communication or response to inquiries. The warranty is now expired. By my estimation, the computer has been in their tech shop for at least a year of its warranty period. I doubt it will even come back at this point.
I cannot recommend Datalux computers based on their support. They have been fine if they had not problems, but support is all but non-existent. We have since switched to Microsoft Surface Pros at less than a third of the cost of Datalux and keep an extra one on the shelf in case there is a problem. They are cheaper and much more readily available and support is not an issue.
In short, I'd steer clear of Datalux.