Just to be clear, I wasn't making an endorsement, I was just passing on
the info FYI so to speak. I have used tablet computers with conventional
hard drives up to 17,000 ft with no problems. Your results may vary.
C. Smith

That is interesting. Perhaps they have the problem solved.
What brand? As I understand it the read write head "flies" over the surface
of the disk in ground effect. The theory is the air density needs to be
reasonable for this to happen. An airplane speeds up and or increases the angle
of attack to fly at higher altitudes to make up for the lower air density.

--------------------------------------------------------
Here is a web site on the subject and a recent patent.
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/heads/op_Height.htm

Lots of people want to use notebooks with moving map software
as it is 1/10 the cost of aviation moving map software.
I wrote my own years ago and I used a floppy disk to store
the FAA airport data base. :)

The Home Built Glass Cockpit by Paul Lamar
Kitplanes
June 1988 page 69
The future can be here now: electronic
instrument displays in your homebuilt.

Glass Cockpit: Part II by Paul Lamar
Kitplanes
January 1989 page 66
Automatic position reporting could be helpful
when pilot's hands and mind are full.

Paul Lamar

I ran tests with the Itronix brand tablet, a couple of years back.
I was flying my 182T. We ascended to 17,500. Stayed there for an
hour and a half, running flitesoft from RMS technologies, linked
to a gps, and XM weather reciever. in the background I was running
a continuous hard drive testing utility. I can't remember the drive
maker off the top of my head. No problems. Also ran a Motion (LS-800)
computing tablet on a long cross country form howell, Michigan to
Phoenix and back, return trip we  ascended to 19k for a while to
take advantage of the tail winds, then my oxygen hose popped it's
fitting, and we flew the rest at around 12k, landed in Oklahoma
for gas, and get my blood oxygen back to normal. No problems with
either one.

What you say about the drives is still true, the head floats on
a film of air, just that I didn't have any problems. I ran the
testing because I was planning to try to market the tablets to
the aviation community, when solid state drives were not
readily available, and I felt that the technology had improved
(there is mil-spec testing criteria on the General Dynamics website)
and that much of the altitude and hard drives don't mix talk
was "I once knew a guy who talked to a guy who walked past a
bar where he heard someone say...." I'm sure that there is
some altitude where the drive will become unreliable, I was
just unable to find it myself, and it probably varies with
manufacturer and model of drive.
Again, your results may vary.
C. Smith