Industrial PC with 21.5-inch full 1080p touch panel
(by Conrad Blickenstorfer)

noax Technologies is a Germany-based developer and manufacturer of industrial touch panel PCs with offices in Europe and the United States. The company, which makes its own proprietary all-in-one motherboards, has many years of experience in the development and production of completely sealed industrial touch panel PCs without external fans. The panels are designed to be resistant to heat, cold, moisture, dust, vibration, shock, acids and detergents.

The C21 was added to the noax "Compact Series" of industrial PCs in February 2014. Like its smaller siblings, the C21 uses a cast aluminum enclosure, a plastic front, and a structure/nano-structure paint finish. The panel is designed as tough, reliable, and user-friendly space-saving industrial computer for diverse environments. An enhanced 1920 x 1080 pixel Full-HD display makes the C21 especially suitable for any deployment that benefits from a larger display and higher resolution.

The C21 Industrial PC measures a relatively compact, for a panel computer, 21.9 x 14.2 x 4.6 inches and weighs a manageable 25 pounds, just over half of the S19 Steel version. It is a completely sealed, fanless system with an integrated resistive analog touch panel and automatic brightness control. The 21.5-inch 1080p touch screen allows for simple operation via custom software applications and virtual keyboards. There are three user-programmable function keys.

The fanless C21 industrial computer is built to withstand mechanical stresses and environmental factors and it can easily be cleaned and disinfected. Sealing is IP65 for the front panel, and up to IP65 for the entire unit, depending on the type of connection cover used.

The C21 can be ordered with a choice of an Intel Celeron M 723 or a Core 2 Duo SL9400 processor (a duo that noax may consider replacing with more recent Intel fare at some point) with Intel GMA4500MHD graphics, has a wealth of on-board interfaces including two serial RS232, six external and two internal USB 2.0 ports, a legacy LPT port, digital video, optional WiFi, and easy expandability through two mini PCIe card slots as well as two additional card slots that can be either two PCI slot, a PCI slot and a PCI3 x16 slot, or two PCIe slots, one x8 and one x16. This allows for easy, flexible integration of various peripheral devices. The C21 also has a special secured USB port on its front that can be used for transferring data or software updates. A dedicated noax NSetup tool can be used to lock/protect that port so that only authorized users have access through it.

A special Micro-Controller is standard in all noax industrial PCs. It performs a variety of monitoring, controlling, and statistical tasks such as temperature control, backlight control, or counting operating hours, and it can be adapted to customer requirements. noax also uses a proprietary touch controller for automatic panel control and readjustment.