Itronix Rugged Laptop Driver Software

Posted on November 22, 2007
Filed Under Products | 95 Comments

General Dynamics Itronix Rugged Computers – eBay – Sofware

Itronix Rugged LaptopSome time ago I purchased a handful of Itronix computers through ebay in hopes that I would have affordable entry level computer durable enough to give to my youngest daughters. Each computer was sure to suffer some battle scars as the machines get hauled around which had me concerned. After a great deal of searching I was glad to discover that eBay had several rugged laptops from Itronix listed and all reviews for the item were quite positive. Retailing originally at or about $3,500 it became clear that I had found the ideal solution. A great buy considering other options, after upgrading memory and hard drives the total investment proved to cost less even combined than a well put together desktop system. My girls are happy with their new found mobility and rugged features of the laptops so I’m happy.

I ended up winning the bids on three IX-250 models and a single IX-260 all in relatively flawless condition as each was a corporate lease return item. The only issue I discovered was the absolute lack of support software and system drivers necessary to load an Operating System on each as these machines are on average, 3 – 5 years old. However, after spending many days of searching downloading and installing software, I decided to package each of the driver packages up in case someone else finds the need for the software. Below is a basic outline and download link should you consider similar options.

Itronix Go Book IX 250 – Software Drivers

The Go Book IX-250 is a great entry level machine for children and of all those I’ve stumbled upon, I’m glad I found several with CD-ROM’s as not all are equally equipped.

Each has a P4 CPU running at 850 MHz and CD-ROM and a touch screen with stylus. Naturally with the plummeting cost of memory and storage devises, I quickly upgraded to 512 meg of RAM and a 60GB shock resistant IBM hard drive. An affordable WiFi card and new stylus for each put three of my girls in command like never before. No fighting over the computer anymore and each machine is capable of running several learning game software programs they love and plenty of MSN and chat features keeps em busy for many hours a day.

IX 250 Software Download  For Additional downloads for the Itronix Computers is available in the Downloads Area

Itronix Go Book IX 260 – Software Drivers

Itronix Rugged LaptopThis single machine I purchased for myself after having my Dell crash on me only to discover that tech support with Dell was vastly lacking. Not only was the Dell computer tech support call forwarded to India, the language barrier proved so difficult I still haven’t been able to resolve the problems related to hardware to this day. So Dell is OUT and an affordable travel worthy bullet proof tough book is in. Costing about $500 and change the IX 260′s feature an 1.7ghz CPU that can be upgraded along with the RAM and HD to compete with similarly older machines but still providing the forgiving design characteristics of a rugged laptop should a coffee cup spill over onto the keyboard.

After my brother examined the machine, he set out to purchase several off of ebay for his construction company for off site estimators and project appraisers. His wife, a professional real estate insurance agent often finds the need to photograph properties and would love to have a solution that could survive traveling woes and the Rugged Itronix seems to be a sure win as computing power is not as essential as durability in both their occupations.

Should you end up with the Itronix IX-260 please find the software drivers here.

IX 260 Software Download
 For Additional downloads for the Itronix Computers is available in the Downloads Area

Military and Law Enforcement Grade Computing

Itronix Rugged Laptop Military UseA few final notes on the computers is that not all of them come equipped for you to install an Operating System via a CD-ROM or DVD. Since many of those on eBay are either Law Enforcement turn-ins, these Military grade computers very rarely have the kinds of common peripherals that normally come in your average laptop. Ideal for contractors, construction related businesses or just a person that wants to toss the computer in the back seat of his H2 before he heads out fishing as I do; then these are ideal computers. I figured if the Military and Police Departments find them rugged enough to use than my three youngest daughters will find them difficult to destroy. Weaning kids on computers is not really avoidable. The idea is to get them started on computers that can survive spilled juice, a drop down the stairs, bumps and bangs getting in and out of a car among all the other potential hazards was my goal. These computers, each less than $300 was WiFi capable, touch screen and multi media capable, have proven to be great first computers for children.

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95 Comments so far
  1. Jeff Mikowitz November 22, 2007 11:58 pm

    Jared, I visit your site almost daily and had no idea I’d find the ideal suggestion for a Christmas present for two people by reading your blog.

    Pure genius in your writing, I have a 5 year old son that my wife and I were planning on buying him a computer he could ONLY use with us watching over him. Laptops are fragile but your idea is just perfect because he can sit on the couch next to us or in the family room while we watch a move or something. Very clever idea you had for your children, one I had not thought of.

    BTW I too have a family member in construction that lost thousands of dollars worth of records after his laptop fell from his truck crashing the drive. I’m going to point him to your article this evening.

    You saved me a bundle with this post pal, $300 is a lot less than I had planned on and this looks to be a better option. Thanks Jared and keep up the good blogging.

  2. Jared Ritchey December 3, 2007 1:56 am

    Hey, glad it worked out Jeff. I’m actually getting two more since I found ways to upgrade the CPU to a 2.2 range and with a GB of RAM its plenty fast for casual work when I travel.

  3. Tim December 7, 2007 9:04 am

    Jared, I bought an IX250 on ebay for my 2 yr old son for Christmas. I got it today and started loading games and movies but one of the key features I was excited about was not working.

    The touch screen software seemed to be installed but the drivers for one device was not wanting to install. The device having a problem is now considered a ‘unknown usb device’ and when i try to reload the software from itroix.com it still does not work.

    Is there something I’m just not doing right? I’ve looked all over the internet to find these drivers and i stumbled upon your blog. Just wondering if you could help.

    OS: Win2K SP2

  4. Jared Ritchey December 7, 2007 9:14 am

    Tim if you downloaded the drivers from my download area you may have noticed that the IX250 driver is in two places for the touch screen. The reason for this is that both IX models use the same driver but install it in different places for some reason.

    I think what happens is that when you load the OS the drivers can get substituted by the OS and with these machines that wont work. Then when you try to install the device driver, it rarely overwrites or updates as it should.

    I’m guessing you have the CD ROM for the Itronix (they run about $70 on ebay) so loading the OS is easier?

    What I’d suggest is downloading a copy of CCleaner from http://ccleaner.com and using it to first, clean the system up because laptops are usually resource poor and this tool keeps your system nice and clean, and second, uninstall the drivers using CCleaner. If you restart the machine, windows should detect the device again “TWICE” and it may call the same device two things as it happened in my situation. Just be vary careful and look in your device manager to be sure you install the correct driver.

    Simply point WindowsXPSP2 to the driver location when it asks for it. That is what I had to do to get my USB to work (which is a USB and not USB2) and then I followed with the touch pad (different from touch screen) and last the touch screen driver. Yours may or may not have come with a touch screen stylus, but to test it you can just use your finger to test it once you load the drivers and restart the machine.

    Let me know how it goes.

  5. J Jenkins December 9, 2007 10:19 pm

    2007-12-09 THANKS FOR YOUR HELP !!!!

    Jared, I recently purchased an Itronix 250 off E-BAY. Due to the USB-1 ports inability to support a webcam, I installed a COMPUSA PCMCIA USB V2.0 CARDBUS with two USB ports. However, I was having trouble with this device as only one port seemed to be recognized as a USB-2.

    I contacted the manufacturer by e-mail and was told that I had to disable the built-in USB-1 from the BIOS as the USB-2 could not be used with a USB-1 on the same machine.

    I could not find any way to do this by entering the BIOS setup, so I disabled the built-in USB-1 port thru “device manager” – not realizing that the touch screen uses this port for the mouse emulation.

    For several weeks I have not been able to use the touch screen until my brother-in-law found your blog a few hours ago. Although I had gone to the video manufacturers web site and downloaded and installed drivers for this device I was still unable to get the touch screen to work.

    After reading your write-up, downloading the drivers and installing them, I was immediately able to use the touch screen without restarting the computere. This process took only a few minutes !!!!

    Thanks again for your greeat help !!!

    Do you know if the USB-1 port can be ugraded to a USB-2 on this computer? If you have any ideas, please let me know.

  6. Jared Ritchey December 10, 2007 1:53 am

    I use a PCMCIA card for my USB2 but I have the ITRONIX IX260 and had the same issue. I purchased two external laptop hard drives with those little tiny caddy units from Tiger Direct and at first I couldn’t get them to work until I again, visited Tiger Direct and just purchased a USB controller card which seems to work WITHOUT the need to disable the USB1 Driver.

    I tested the card in my daughters computer (IX250) and you are correct, this does look like it needs to be disabled in the BIOS. I’ll work on a solution and post it in the morning.

  7. Joey December 25, 2007 9:32 am

    Oh wow I have been trying to find software for the IX250. I just got 2 for under $250 !

  8. Chris December 29, 2007 9:57 pm

    Hello there, I just read that you were able to upgrade your ix250 to a 2.2ghz processor. THAT IS AMAZING! As I am looking at one of these for my truck, I would LOVE to get any information at all that you would have on the upgrades available that you’ve found. At the going price for these things, and the readily available cheap upgrades, I’ll have to pick up three or four!

    Thanks

    Chris

  9. Ronald C Barton December 30, 2007 8:23 am

    I have a IX250 and I need either a DVD or CD writer for this unit. Can you help me.
    Thanks
    Ronald Barton

  10. Jared Ritchey December 30, 2007 11:36 am

    Chris; the laptop was the IX-260 not the IX-250 with the CPU upgrade. The board for the IX-250 isn’t capable of being updated as best I know.

    Joey; Yes I did as well. I managed to find a few internal radio cards too instead of using a PCMCIA for my wireless internet. A guy on ebay has an alternative that works inside the itronix for $60

    Ronald C Barton; The CD/DVD-R I have is from a HP computer that is the same model and make or should I say design that fits the Itronix CD bay. Since the CD/DVD-R is made by the same company for both Itronix and HP in Spokane Washington (both companies were based there) I believe that software is also compatible. Ebay is where I’d look.

  11. Joe January 8, 2008 8:35 pm

    Do you know what to do with the yellow radio wires, one goes up to the screen, and the other is sitting next to O2 card, I am waiting for a RIM card to see what it can do as well. I’m not really interested in the wirless cause my card doesn’t stick out anyways. thx

  12. Jared Ritchey January 18, 2008 10:13 am

    Joe you want this;

    Itronix Internal WI-FI Kit

    The yellow wire isn’t used for anything outside of a docking station if its the one I’m thinking of.

  13. David January 25, 2008 11:56 am

    I am considering upgrading from an ix250 which I presently have to an ix260 that comes without a hard drive or cady. Do you have any suggestions for either adapting the ix250s HD/cady to the 260 or another alternative? Have you tried using an external HD with any of yours? If so, what is needed?

  14. Jason Riley January 29, 2008 5:48 pm

    Joe, the Yellow wire goes from the RIM card to the external antenna on the top/right of the screen(if equipped).

    Also, Jared, a note on the IX250′s upgrade ability. Max Ram is 512MB consisting of (2) Low Density 256MB PC100 SODIMs.

    Processor can be upgraded to a Pentium 3 Mobile 1GHZ (SL53S). That is the limit due to 100MHZ Front Side Bus and Socket type.

    When upgrading the processor, to achieve full speed, you must go into the BIOS. And under the Power Management Section and set it to PERFORMANCE under “Greyscale (SP?)”.

    CD or DVD drives. In order to boot from the CD drive it must be a Teac 24X, or the DVD offered by Itronix. Once Windows is installed, however, you can change out the Teac 24X in favor of a DVD burner.

    Hope this helps somebody.

  15. Jamey February 29, 2008 10:50 am

    I have an Itronix IX260 with a hard drive that is going bad, can anyone help me find a compatible replacement? I can’t really take it apart right now to get a model number for the current one, as it is in use as a POS machine.

  16. Jared Ritchey February 29, 2008 11:14 am

    You can replace the HD with an IBM shock proof drive. Its the one I updated to and it works fine.

  17. Jamey March 14, 2008 9:24 am

    Thanks Jared this is exactly what I was searching for.

  18. Chris March 16, 2008 3:16 am

    Hello again,

    I just picked up eight of these (IX250) for use in several service vehicles. All is going very well thanks to you and these drivers you’ve congregated in one place, but I do have one question (for now ;) ). I just installed a DVD drive in one of these for DVD playback ( lunch breaks of course), and the playback is horribly choppy. Also like to be able to get a little better screen size than 600×800. Please help. PS…other than several having different sized hd’s, these are all 850mhz, 128mb systems with the 12″ touchscreen. Thanks

  19. Jared Ritchey March 16, 2008 8:28 am

    Chris, thanks for your response.

    I have two of the IX250 models I got for two of my daughters because they are pretty tough and reliable. What I did with each of those is update the RAM to 512 and install OEM versions Windows XP Pro on each I got from TigerDirect.com

    The memory will make a difference with these computers that I can certainly attest to. Next, as far as screen resolution goes, I one of my girls machines and visited TV Okay and loaded an episode of The Family Guy and sure enough once it buffers it plays the video just fine.

    TV Okay

    I have the DVD in my IX-260+ and I tested some of our video tutorials that are on DVD for the Rapid Template Design Series and it loads clean with no choppy performance. My guess for your situation could be the driver and memory with worse case being a bad drive.

    I’ve just now uploaded the other drivers I had in archive I forgot about and you can get those once I activate the links in the download area.

    ~ Jared

  20. [...] get a lot of emails and traffic to the original post regarding the laptop drivers I had assembled.  After spending a great deal of time locating [...]

  21. Lauren Hoen March 16, 2008 11:03 pm

    Thank you for this info. I’m researching different brands of rugged laptops and it is comforting to see you have the drivers necessary. Thank you.

  22. Joe April 20, 2008 9:21 am

    Hello, Great information. However, the link to the IX250 Software Download doesn’t seem to work. Is it still available? Thanks in advance, Joe

  23. Jeremiah June 10, 2008 2:31 pm

    Jared, I have had some similar issues on my 250 as Chris (march posting) with playing media (DivX, DVD, etc.). Everything runs fine, however, for the first few seconds, but when the CPU fan ramps up, it suddenly becomes choppy. Many games do this as well. It seems processor load and the subsequent heat may force the CPU to downclock or something. I thought it may just be an anomaly, but my friend bought the same machine, and upgraded it to a P3 1GHz in hopes of avoiding my problem, but he has the exact same issue. I am wondering if there isn’t a power management driver or software package that may fix this issue. It shouldn’t be terribly necessary to downclock a Celeron 850 for heat issues in a machine like this, I’d imagine, because it all seems well vented. If you have any info regarding this issue, I am sure many of us would be extremely grateful. Thanks for the great resource here as well!!! Your site has already been a lifesaver!

  24. Eva August 13, 2008 9:43 am

    Jared,
    I have an ix250 also. It has 256mb RAM. Do you know if they came already loaded with 2 128mb or 1 single 256mb? Also – is the RAM conpatible with the ix260? I need 512mb RAM and am having a hard time finding it at a reasonable price. I’d like to use my GoBook outside for listing on eBay while my children play, but I can’t use it until I upgrade the RAM and load Windows XP. Please HELP!!!! Thanks. ~

  25. Jared Ritchey August 14, 2008 9:45 am

    Eva the 250 I purchased had two 128MB sticks in it and when I got the IX260 it had 2 256MB RAM in it. I took those out and put them in the IX250 after buying to 512MB sticks on ebay for about $35 a piece. I’ve since added an internal WiFi radio and a docking station for my truck so I can mount it to the floor.

    The memory for these can be quirky so its important to note that you should not use error checking types of SDRAM as I’ve been told. I stick with the standard PC166 or PC133 SDRAM

  26. Eva August 14, 2008 12:58 pm

    Jared,
    I’m a little confused. You suggested I go with the PC133 or PC166 SDRAM which is 168 pins. On 1/29/08 Jason commented to go with PC100 SODIMs SDRAM which is 144 pins. I’m not exactly sure what I am doing and don’t want to buy the wrong memory only to have to return it. I’m so glad to find your site. It is difficult finding information on the older Itronix models. Thanks!!!!!!!

  27. Jared Ritchey August 14, 2008 1:47 pm

    I pulled out my memory modules and that is correct, they are 144pin mem modules.

    In your IX250; You may have MM-KINGMAX, SODIMM, 256MB, 266MHz, CL2.5 which is compatible with SDR 256MB PC100, PC133 and PC150 which is what I have. I upgraded my IX260 to 1GB which is the most it will take.

  28. glynn August 21, 2008 10:01 pm

    Hi Jared ,excellent information you have put together here.I have an ix250 with an internal CDPD modem ,do you know where I can get info or parts to upgrade to something more usefull and where is a good source for a compatible AC charger .
    Thanks in advance

  29. Jared Ritchey August 22, 2008 12:24 pm

    As I understand it the charger for the dell dimension or the HP prodigy series work well.

    I have an extra one here if you need one. I’m sure it works.

    I know for sure that the batteries in this are identical to some that are used in DELL computers but they have no shelf life. So, finding a replacement is not easy.

  30. Jay August 24, 2008 8:42 pm

    Jared, I just purchased 2 IX260 and both have the GPS loaded on them. My question is do you know of any mapping software that I can download that will work with the built in GPS? Also do you know where I can get the two locks that are on the top of the screen that lock it down to the pins when you close the lid?

  31. L.Troutman September 3, 2008 11:03 am

    Thanks for your site and your willingness to share info and help others!I recently purchased an IX-260 off of Ebay as a project without a hard drive or caddy&connector (which I haven’t received yet and am assuming the worst regarding the HDD connector/cable).I read your comments on the IBM hard drive above but wondered if you had a work around for a connector or can share/suggest (a compatible cable,connector,etc)- the means you used to connect your HDD.I’m not too concerned about the caddy as I feel I can work something out to cushion the HDD. Any information or interchanges that would work will be greatly appreciated!!

  32. Larry Urban September 4, 2008 6:08 am

    Jared just got into reading your blogs. Just bought 2 ix260 without the HD, caddy, or connectors. Would like to know where I might find them? From what I can tell they are pretty hard to find. Any information would be helpful. Thanks,

    Larry

  33. Eric Ellermann September 11, 2008 9:23 pm

    Jared,
    Great write up! I just purchaced a 260 off of ebay. It said it had not HD when I bought it, little did I know the seller ment the caddy and all! I can not find caddys for sale anywhere. Do you know off hand if the 260′s? If they are, I can just get a wrecked 250 off of ebay to solve my problem.

    Thank you!
    Eric

  34. Eric September 15, 2008 9:34 am

    Great write up! I just purchased a ix260 off of Ebay. I found all of your drivers you pieced together extremely useful, Thank you! I have a question on the CPU upgrade you did on yours. Is there anything in particular I should look for when I go to purchase a faster P4? There are a TON of them on Ebay, but I am unsure what route to go. Is there a particular number or pin arrangement I should look for?

    Thank you for your time and info,
    Eric

  35. Jared Ritchey September 16, 2008 4:43 pm

    Okay some very important information about these okay.

    For those of you who ask about the following; GPS with Itronix, Battery, Caddy, and Update to features.

    1) The Itronix IX250 and IX260 have nearly the same main board with only a few important differences beginning with the bus support and ending with the Wi-Fi capabilities. I purchased every one of my IX250 laptops for about $100 each and I gave them to my kids because they are great for surfing the web, have 800×600 resolution, have touch screen monitors, can take a beating just shy of sinking them in the bathtub and they are easy to repair.

    2) Everyone seems to be seeking Hard Drives for more room. The simple fact is that these laptops will take a standard HD if you dont intend on beating it up. If you want to spend the extra 70% then get an IBM Rugged 2.5 HD which will set you back about $200 for the 80GB model. I purchased mine via TigerDirect and it cost me just shy of $200 and according to the system settings it registers at 77GB.

    3) WIFI for IX260 not IX250. I purchased an internal kit for a G band wifi on ebay for about $60 and its so easy to put in a one armed monkey could do it. I built mine so when I’m at the school picking up my girls I can sit in the parking lot and check my email with the campus WiFi. I’ve actually driven down the road and used skype for long distance calls in areas that have good coverage for wifi like the street market or even the university.

    4) Lots and lots of people email me about drivers, my apologies but I forgot to upload them, please let me know if I forgot any!

    5) Good old Itronix GPS and Mapping. Here is the skinny about this. It works and it doesn’t work! The way to make it work is simple. Get glue on GPS receiver and glue it to the back of your flat screen just opposite of the wife antenna. I use the Garmin sensor and my oldest daughter uses the Pharos sensor. I went with Pharos only because she just turned 16 and has a car which sits in the sun most the day. Since she leaves the receiver permanently affixed to the dash board it was a concern so price was a motive.

    6) GPS software? Well it will work with any compliant device driver GPS system that supports Garmin including Microsoft Streets and Maps (old version I have) or the turnkey solution that uses the Garmin software (Its not for me.)

    Please use the contact form if I missed anyone regarding the software and I’ll hook you up with the drivers I’ve got.

  36. [...] my post located here Itronix Laptop I outline some important “basic” stuff regarding the GPS configuration and Hard Drive [...]

  37. Fred Kern September 17, 2008 3:43 pm

    Jared-
    I have been reading here and still have not found the one answer I have been looking for…what is the workaround for the HD caddy on the IX260? I have like many others a IX260 with no HD and no caddy…I understand that the HD is a normal laptop HD…is there a workaround? Thanks for all the great info!
    -=F

  38. Guy Tenet September 23, 2008 1:46 pm

    Hi Jared,
    WOW ! Great work putting everything together, Thanks again, It was a BIG help. I used your collected drivers, works excellent, I was missing the touch screen driver – well I had installed from some other site but never work.
    Now I have situation where I bought the IX260 without a hard drive or caddy and also bought a Hitachi 80GB but when I looked at the MB interface its entirely different than anything I know, kind a centronics.
    My question is How do we attach a regular IDE44 drive into the IX260? Do we need any cable adapters or any special connectors which we can buy? Any HELP is deeply appreciated. I have been stuck on this for about 2 weeks now and cant afford $400 drive from Itronix.
    Many Thanks
    Guy Tenet

  39. L.Troutman September 23, 2008 3:43 pm

    Jared, regarding the hdd issue for IX260s, if you don’t have a hard drive caddy and connector (if the computer didn’t come with them i.e. the hdd and caddy were pulled)- that is the problem everyone is dealing with. Did you have a caddy and cable/connector? If not how did you connect the hdd you purchased to the mother board? It looks as if some type of oem hdd cable would possibly work (plug into main board connector) but no seems to know which one or they are not willing to share that information(manufacturer #,model taken from,etc.).Information from GD-Itronix (that’s General Dynamics-Itronix and not what some people may think) and HP (for the NR3610 which is a relabeled IX260) is virtually non existant – no manuals,parts lists ,etc. Once more, did the IBM hdd you purchased come with any cables,carriers etc that allowed it to be connected to the main board connector in the IX260? Sorry to beat this issue to death but I’m just trying to clarify how you used/connected the hdd you purchased to your IX260. Thanks for your time and patience!!
    Best Regards :) Lee

  40. Richard Pressl October 4, 2008 11:11 am

    Does anyone here have a spare HD caddy for the NR3610/GoBook III/NR3600/IX260+’s? We need it, and a CD/RW/DVD drive as well for a customer repair. Can you provide? Please advise. Thanks. BIZmarts: Business Equipment Resellers
    Att: Richard Pressl
    222 White Eagle Dr. POB 344, Waleska, GA, 30183

    (770)345-4663 – Voice -|- (678)522-3012 – Cell -|- (678)374-4653 – Fax
    rpressl@bizmarts.com -|- http://www.bizmarts.com

  41. bizmarts November 1, 2008 11:55 pm

    How do you go about activating the “lights” in the keyboard on an IX260+

    I read that they have a NuGlow keyboard. Mine is white; but I don’t see any key marked for turning on the night light. Please advise.
    Thanks,
    -=rwp=- … Richard @ Bizmarts 11/2/08 – 12:55:46 am

  42. Mark January 15, 2009 6:28 pm

    Hi Jared, thanks very much for your Itronix postings and I have just installed the drivers for the touchscreen (which is too cool). Thanks again.

  43. Sallie D. Tablett March 2, 2009 5:40 pm

    I have just purchased a IX250 Itronix lap top computer with touch screen. I would like to have the owners manual for it. Can you help us?

    Model IX 250
    Serial #ZZGEG1045ZZ3429

    Thanks,
    Sallie D. tablett

  44. mikemolzahn March 7, 2009 12:28 pm

    What is the largest hard drive that can be put into an IX 260+ without partitioning? 30gb is just not going to get it anymore, but I want more than 60 or 80 gb is that possible?

    Mike
    Aircraft Mechanic.

  45. tony pfab March 8, 2009 7:56 pm

    Yep, it does seem that Jared maybe inadvertently, dodges the question of the caddy/workaround for the ix260 caddy. Even in his comment from September 16, 2008, he says “For those of you who ask about the following; GPS with Itronix, Battery, CADDY, and Update to features.”, he comments on everything BUT the caddy question. Oh well…

  46. Jared Ritchey March 9, 2009 9:28 am

    I have a 500GB and 1GB Ram in mine. The drive is not a rugged drive however. You can get one from IBM but they are damn expensive.

  47. Jared Ritchey March 9, 2009 9:30 am

    Tony I have a caddy in my truck but it was purchased from a company in California that handles lease returns. The place to get leased or used equipment is at Itronix in Spokane Washington directly.

  48. Jared Ritchey March 9, 2009 9:31 am

    Send me a contact form request and I’ll send you a PDF version of the manual.

  49. eddie butcher March 17, 2009 1:48 pm

    hi, Do you know if there is a fuse on the mother board? recently bought a 260+, had it only bout a month and decided to put in a bigger drive and 1g of ram, had only used it about 6 hours before then, when we powered it up after upgrades it got about have way thru boot process and died, no lights, no sounds, no nothing, on battery or aux power, thanks
    ps tried drive&mem in like unit and worked ok

  50. Richard Wallerich March 26, 2009 5:57 pm

    Would anyone please, please, please, know where I can pick up the owners manual for the
    Itronix IX260 GoBook III , I don’t care if I even have to buy one…just need to know where to find one…thanks

  51. tony pfab April 4, 2009 11:16 am

    Jared,
    Do you have the name of the company that sells the caddy and/or parts for the ix260 in Spokane? I can only find them on Ebay and I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay what those vultures want there.

  52. wrench June 14, 2009 7:49 pm

    Nice work, will download some driver for backup& thanks you to put it there.
    I got a IX 260 III with 260 GB in it, would like to go 500, so what brand did you get the 500 GB from?
    Thanks for that help.
    wrench

  53. Ray in UK June 15, 2009 5:32 pm

    Last year I bought an Itronix IX250 for our son (with special needs) as it needs to be tough. I’d seen some on ebay and then found this site which convinced me to buy one. He’s already managed to ‘undo’ the CPU lock and put a dent in the casing but it’s still going strong. I’m about to upgrade to a CD writer / DVD player as he wants to watch DVDs on it and to make his own music CD’s. The drivers section is giving 404 error message – if I need drivers for a DVD player where can I get them? Ray.

  54. Mark Rathbun June 20, 2009 11:24 am

    I rolled the dice about a year ago and purchased an ix260 on eBay. Initially frustratd in trying to get the thing setup, I finally sourced the drivers hodge podge and now LOVE this machine. Could you please email me the owner’s manual as I haven’t been able to find this anywhere. Thanks in advance.

  55. Ray in UK June 21, 2009 6:33 pm

    Thanks for your assistance Jared – It’s appreciated. However now I can’t get the zip file to load more than ~4.5Mb of the 65Mb :(
    I’ve tried it a few ways and even disabled my firewall but no difference.
    Does it work for other people? If so I’ll try downoading on someone else’s PC.

    DVD/CD writer update:
    Our IX250 with DVD player showed the same poor performance as one other guy above – It stuttered badly. After just 10 seconds the playback stuttered and would not play properly again until started from cold, where it made 10s again. The fan was coming on and staying on for over a minute after stopping playback which seemed wrong to me. I removed the heat sink and added heat sink paste to the CPU and to the copper tube. This made a major improvement and the DVD would play for 10 minutes but then the same problem occurred. With the processor heating up, the CPU is throttled down so it’s working far too slow. Our child was just not happy with that (Aspergers are fussy about sound so I really can’t blame him)

    I removed the 850 Celeron and bought a cheap P3 600 just to see what happens – the fan is hardly ever on and the stutter problem is gone!

    As that worked I’ve now bought an SL53S P3-1Ghz. I had avoided that before, as the wattage is so much higher, however this previous issue makes me think that the CPU heat doesn’t just depend on its maximum wattage (The P3-600 has a higher wattage than the 850-Celeron…) and if it does get hot, running the 1Ghz at half throttle won’t be too different to the current P3-600 which works well.

    Looking forward to getting the drivers – I’ll also try the BIOS update as the fan settings are included. I don’t know if it’s needed as I don’t know the build date but current BIOS is dated 2003.

  56. James Radtke June 27, 2009 8:17 am

    Hi, I have the same problem downloading the IX260
    file.No more than 4.5 mb will download and it says it is corrupteed
    thanks

  57. Jared Ritchey June 28, 2009 11:20 am

    Sorry please try again, I had not changed the URL path when I moved to this new server.

    Jared

  58. Dmitry July 9, 2009 3:52 am

    Hello. I have bought Itronix IX-250 with Windows 2000 on Ebay, but in him were not installed driver for toch screen and sound card. I have loaded the necessary drivers with site http://www.itronix.com/CCC/Downloads/Drivers/GoBook-IX250/ , but after installing driver in my IX-250 do not work the built-in speakers, sound available only through connector for earphone. Than can be a problem. Thank you.

  59. Jared Ritchey July 9, 2009 8:14 am

    Yeah I have to reduce the file size, please check back later today for the downloads.

  60. Jared Ritchey July 9, 2009 8:47 am

    Yeah man I have to update the files apparently when we moved to the bigger server some files got a bit wacked. I’ll break it down into smaller download-able files and please check back later today.

    Thx.
    Jared

  61. [...] more reading about the Itronix Laptops I have these previous articles; Itronix Software Drivers Itronix Laptop Update and the Itronix IX-250 and IX-260 [...]

  62. J. Jenkins August 17, 2009 5:26 pm

    Thanks for your help in the past. I recently purchased an I-260 to replace my I-250. My navigation software, MaxSea, uses a “parallel-port dungle” of the standard 25 pin variety that the I-250 has installed. Unfortunatley, and unknown to me at the time of purchase, my I-260 has a different kind of parallel port which I’ve never seen before. Its sort of a skinny little guy. Do you know of an adapter for these ports so that I can plug in the 25-pin dongle. Or can these I-260 parallel ports be replaced with the old 25-pin port ?? Right now the I-260 is useless for me. Thanks for any help. I also need a manual for the I260. J. Jenkins

  63. Teddy Murphy August 18, 2009 5:09 am

    Jared,

    What dvdr will fit in the ix260 gobook II. I want a dvd burner and i have been trying to find a compatible one. Please help if you can. I know some hp burners will work, i just dont know which ones though.

  64. Jared Ritchey August 18, 2009 4:29 pm

    Teddy Murphy, I had at one time used Roxio but the one I use now is the non-commercial version of NERO. You can get it by going to downloads.com

    As for burner, Dell and HP were the manufacturer of the original drives and the DVD burner as I understand it. They are hard to come by but they do exist. Mine cost me about $140 with shipping and it says Dell right on the bottom. I would almost bet that these are compatible with a Dell Laptop I’m just now sure which model to reference.

  65. Dan Certo August 19, 2009 5:08 pm

    “Send me a contact form request and I’ll send you a PDF version of the manual.”
    Thanks for this site, and info.
    If you have a manual for th Go Book lll 260+ it would be greatly appreciated.

    Mine came from Ebay with a 320 Gig hard drive, no caddy and heater.
    I’m not exactly sure iff this takes away the rugged feature or not….?

  66. Amanda Duncil September 1, 2009 2:40 pm

    I need to know what kind of wireless router I would need to use on my Itronix Model number is
    IX250 I need this for school use and I have a Belkin G wireless router it wont work so canyou tell me what I need?

    I would appreciate the help

    Thank You
    Amanda Duncil

  67. Jared Ritchey September 5, 2009 11:59 am

    On mine I just have the upgrade kit which is a full 3G upgrade kit. You can buy one on Ebay usually for about $50 I’ll look and see if I can find you one.

  68. Richard Blackmore October 14, 2009 3:54 pm

    Your a star been searching for these drivers for ages, i hope they work on XP esp the touchscreen drivers

    Many Thanks

  69. Richard Blackmore October 14, 2009 4:17 pm

    Installed the XP drivers no problems but touchscreen isn’t working :o ( worked fine in windows 2000.

    Anyone got any ideas its looking like it should work but its not for some reason am i missing something

  70. Lance Hilt October 17, 2009 11:59 am

    Can anyone tell me what parts the 250 and 260 share? I know the batteries are the same, what about hard drive caddy, AC adapter, etc?

  71. Rebel October 28, 2009 4:10 pm

    Posiadam Itronix IX 250 sprzet jest swietny do pracy w terenie i malo ktory laptop nowej generacji mu dorowna.
    pozdr

  72. chris December 10, 2009 9:26 pm

    Hey all, so I just updated my IX250 with the 1ghz processor, tuned the bios as described above, and it work great. Now I’m looking to max the RAM. A friend told me that once the 250′s processor was upgraded, I could drop 1GB of PC133 in there. I haven’t ordered any yet, and wanted yo see if anyone has tried this. I HAVE however attempted to put a 256mb chip of 133 in the 250 after the upgrade, an it read only as a 128, but I can’t see if it’s using the full 133mhz….. Input anyone?

  73. Corey December 16, 2009 2:56 pm

    I’m not even sure if this website is even used anymore but I was wondering about an Itronix IX250 that I purchased. I dont know much about computers but am trying to learn. I bought it and it does not include a harddrive but has the caddy. It was said to have passed post. I am turning it into a picture frame so that basically i will set my screen saver to have all pictures on it and you get the picture. I basically just need to know what it needs to run for a screensaver to work and that am able to have pictures on it. Really that is all I want to do. I would have liked to make it a touch screen so that when its on the wall you can touch it and see the wether or browse the web to your convenience walking by if needed. Here is what all is came with when purchase although it has not come in the mail yet.The laptop has 12.1 inch screen, Intel Celeron 850MHZ processor, 256 MB Ram, Sierra Wireless Aircard no hard drive, but hard drive caddy is included. Thanks

  74. Jared Ritchey December 18, 2009 10:56 am

    Please send me an email directly or use the contact form because I have parts for both systems available.

  75. Jared Ritchey December 18, 2009 10:58 am

    Please email me directly so I can help you out with this.

  76. don December 25, 2009 5:29 am

    I know very little about computers, I saw your information about Itronix 250 bought one for my daughter. When i power it on it says invalid dis there is no place to put a cd.I downloaded the information that you provide on a jump drive pop it in but nothing happens. I should be giving it to my 9 year old today but i am unable to get it going. Please help Thank you.

  77. Jared Ritchey December 29, 2009 9:39 am

    Can you please email me directly and I’ll see if I can help you with this.

  78. Gilles Desbiens January 2, 2010 7:57 am

    How do we get to the hard drive on the Itronix 260
    Thank You

  79. Justin January 7, 2010 5:47 pm

    I have 2 ix250 they are p3 850 with 20gb hdd and have sierra wirless aircard 750 which is not 3g compatible that i need anyone need a 750 aircard swap for a 3g compatible one allthough it has some kind of extention itronix has put on them so they extend to the side if i use a different card will i have to use the extension or is the slot same as normal slots need to use this slot as the ariel is routed there also was looking at getting a headset anyone know which would be compatable as they dont list on sierra and the nokia one i tryed dont seem to work can hear but not talk just one other thing anyone got a scrap keyboard as i have a few keys missing on one of them any help would be appreciated and thanx jared for the drivers they work a treat was first place i found and was glad Top Man !

  80. tony pfab January 9, 2010 1:53 pm

    Hi, Jared. I recently won another IX260 on Ebay and it has a module plugged into the PCMCIA slot that I can’t identify. It sort of looks like this:
    http://cgi.ebay.com/Itronix-IX325-Gobook-Duo-Touch-I-II-GPS-Receiver_W0QQitemZ300383798856QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f0450648

    but the module I have is different. I uploaded a photo of it to Imageshack. Here is the link:
    http://yfrog.com/0dp1010955wj

    There are several number/letters on it that look like they could be part numbers but I have had no luck punching them in on Google. The first is X4040121676.On the other side is 59-0464-002 rev.2. Right below that on the same sticker is 0114-1-1 MOR 0427. Inside the gray triangle shape is a small device that the wire on the card connects to. I can’t remove it to see any numbers/identifiers on it.The odd thing to me was that the card has it’s own CR2032 battery on it. Have you seen anything like this before? I was thinking that it might be a GPS antenna, but could find no reference to say for sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

  81. Jared Ritchey January 10, 2010 1:19 pm

    I’ll find the link to the supplier I use and send it to you likely Monday. Can you send me an email directly.

  82. John Deitle January 18, 2010 9:15 pm

    I am looking for a driver for my IX 250 docking station the USB does not work on dock all pins are in tack,, Are you aware of any links to a driver. Thank you in advance for your help

  83. Jared Ritchey January 19, 2010 8:15 am

    John that driver is in the bulk zip I have on my site here. The link to those files are http://www.jaredritchey.com/available-downloads/itronix/Itronix-IX260-Software.zip

  84. Hassan March 15, 2010 11:59 pm

    I have Itronix IX260+ Laptop, I want to connect to internet via WIRELESS, So do I need to purchase the Wifi card or does that laptop built in wifi. Because there is no option for wifi. Please help me. Thanks

  85. Jared Ritchey March 16, 2010 12:28 pm

    There is a company selling them on ebay for about $60 and its worth it. Mine ties right in like it was made for it. It is a 3G WiFi card that you must open your screen and tie it into the existing antenna. I’m not sure of the name of the company but if you search on ebay for itronix wifi they should come up.

  86. wallew April 27, 2010 4:57 pm

    I purchased a GoBook III 260+ three months ago. I got it from USAT – http://www.usatcorp.com/default.asp. I chose to upgrade to 2GB main memory and the CDR/DVD player. Comes with a 60 day warranty – which I AM going to use – long story but USAT stands behind their used computers they sell. Came with ALL drivers and even had a free copy of GPS software already loaded and working. I’m using the WiFi capability as I type this.

    My cost was $570 shipped with the extra items included in that cost (mem & Dvd). I LOVE this machine. I’ve got to say that finding and purchasing this machine has been a goal of mine for several months.

    I’m considering purchasing a second one. Only this time I’m going to get one on the cheap off of ebay and then do the CPU upgrade, memory upgrade, DVD player. LARGE HD (300+ GB)and I will install all these upgrades myself.

    Plus I MAY have discovered something odd. I purchased a second AC charger from a company out of Hong Kong, meaning it’s ‘cheap Chinese’ stuff. I measured the voltage across my ‘correct USA’ charger and it measured just at 19.7 volts. The Chinese one measured at 20.3 volts. So I figured I’d see what happened.

    My battery has never held more than a two hour running time charge. But because of the higher voltage, it seems to charge the Li-Ion batteries MUCH better. I’ve gotten almost four hours from a single ‘full – 100%’ charge. This is astounding. A caveat would be I MAY be shortening the life of the battery by ‘overcharging’ it. Time will tell.

    Jared, your info here is beyond ken. You have provided so many of us with SO MUCH useful info (and drivers), I would like to add my own THANKS to everyone else.

    And I’ll let you know if the Li-Ion battery dies suddenly, but for now it’s humming right along. PLUS, USAT sells ‘refurbed’ batteries for $170. What they do is pull the case apart, replace the ‘AA’ Li-Ion batteries with new ones and sell them for $90 less than an actual NEW battery, which GDI has list price at $259.99 and that’s WAY too much. I’m going to purchase a couple of the used batteries for $40 each and then disassemble them myself and replace the Li-Ion batteries with new ones. It’s SUPPOSED to be very easy. Once I have completed this, I WILL report back here so everyone can know what happened.

    Again, thx.

    wallew
    denco

  87. Richard Burgoyne May 3, 2010 2:06 pm

    Many thanks for your good efforts in making Itronix 250 drivers available. I have been using a IX250 as a gps chart plotter on my sailboat now for a couple of years. The “Seaclear” free download program in conjunction with the ruggedized laptop make system that is in many ways supperior to the very expensive chart plotters normally used, although the 250 is not fully waterproof. The biggest advantage is cost but also the much larger display on the laptop.

  88. James May 21, 2010 9:45 pm

    I was wondering if anyone has found an inexpensive dvdrw drive that would work with one, and also, anyone got any hookups on reconditing the battery for less than $50? I got ahold of a bunch of batteries, and am still looking for the battery that fits in the spare drive for a decent price, best price I have seen was $150 thegemologist@gmail.com

  89. Jared Ritchey May 23, 2010 11:16 am

    One that works is the one from the DELL Dimension. Its the one I use. If you need the model number I can get it for you.

  90. jordan May 23, 2010 11:08 pm

    do I need a driver for my ix260 for my docking station usb’s to work?

  91. Jared Ritchey May 27, 2010 2:38 pm

    You do and you can download them in my downloads area.

  92. Doug June 12, 2010 7:18 am

    In several postings you referred to replacing the IX260 hard drive with an IBM drive.

    Can you provide the model or specs for that? Thanks!

  93. dave robinson June 14, 2010 11:13 am

    thank you for the information on the ix250,i have bought one to use as a marine navigation system it works great untill i conect it to a touchscreen moniter then it crashes ,would you know if it is possable to fit another usb port to one of these as i think that is my problem running a gps dongle and touchscreen monitor of one usb port,
    cheers dave

  94. Jared Ritchey June 15, 2010 1:59 pm

    Can you please email me directly and I’ll send that to you, brokerwebsites at gmail.com

  95. Jared Ritchey June 15, 2010 2:00 pm

    Yes I’ve fixed the download area of my site too.


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