Advantech offers two different series of box PCs for embedded applications, both of which you'll find cropping up regularly in our coverage and on our Windows-powered smart devices showcase. But frankly, we're a little hazy on the company's product positioning: The UNO series is described as offering "rugged, cableless fanless designs for harsh industrial environments," while the similar ARK series, some fanless and some not, is touted for "harsh, diverse embedded applications."

Both UNO and ARK offer cases with integral heatsinks as well as various ruggedization features. Recent examples of the former include the UNO-3072LA, a device that includes an Intel Atom N270 processor and two PCI expansion slots, while recent ARK systems include the ARK-6320-6M01LE, a system released in June with a dual-core Atom D510 CPU and Mini PCI Express expansion.

Advantech's ARK-5260

Advantech's new ARK-5260 (above) uses a D510 processor and ICH8M I/O controller, just like the ARK-8320-6M01LE did. And, like the UNO-5072LA, it's notable for an aluminum case that includes two PCI Expansion slots and a variety of ports.

According to Advantech, the ARK-5260 also offers a PCI Express x1 expansion slot and has more room for storage: two 2.5-inch bays for SATA hard disk drives, plus an internal CompactFlash slot. The device's single SODIMM socket accepts up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, the company adds.

Externally, the ARK-5260 sports four RS232/422/485 serial ports, two gigabit Ethernet ports, and a VGA port, says Advantech. Also found are five USB 2.0 ports, a PS/2 port, 6-bit digital I/O, audio jacks, and -- not so common these days -- a 25-pin parallel port.

According to Advantech, the ARK-5260 accepts input power ranging from 12VDC to 24VDC, drawing a maximum of 23 Watts. Without any expansion boards, it works from -4 to 131 deg. F (-20 to 55 deg. C) with only CompactFlash storage, or 32 to 113 deg. F (0 to 45 deg. C) with hard disk storage, the company adds.

Regarding vibration, Advantech says a hard disk-equipped ARK-5260 can withstand 1Grms, while a CompactFlash-equipped version can withstand up to 5grms. Resistance to shocks (11ms duration) is rated at 20GB or 50G, respectively.

Features and specifications listed by Advantech for the ARK-5260 include:

• Processor -- Intel Atom D510 clocked at 1.66GHz
• Chipset -- ICH8M
• Memory -- single SODIMM slot supports up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM
• Storage -- 2 2.5-inch bays for SATA hard disk drives; internal CompactFlash Type I/II slot
• Expansion:
  • 2 x PCI slots
  • 1 x PCI Express x 1 slot
• Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet ports with wake-on LAN
• Other I/O:
  • 1 x VGA
  • 5 x USB 2.0 ports
  • 4 x RS232/422/485
  • 1 x PS/2
  • 8-bit digital IO
  • audio -- mic in, line in, line out
• Power requirements -- 12~24VDC; 23 Watts maximum
• Operating range -- -4 to 131 deg. F (-20 to 55 deg. C) with CompactFlash storage; 32 to 113 deg. F (0 to 45 deg. C) with hard disk storage
• Dimensions -- 8.7 x 7.44 x 5.39 inches
• Weight -- 9.24 pounds

Further information

According to Advantech, the ARK-5260 will be available at the end of November. The system is said to be compatible with Windows 7, Windows XP Embedded, Windows CE 6.0 and Linux.

More information may be found on Advantech's website, here.

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