There are several devices available on the commercial market which are safe for use on a ship, however, they are not easily found, are poorly identified and can cost quite a bit more than the household variety. There is an unlimited list of other factors that can directly affect PCs onboard a ship. For example, the ship's dusty environment is a unique mixture of saltwater laden air, some form of fossil fuel and common dirt which deposit themselves on every surface. Equally unique is the shipboard radio frequency environment which challenges commercial products to operate routinely while bombarded with stray electrons from radar, HF radios, aircraft landing on the roof which also radiate or jam, and degaussing facilities. Commercial PC products have changed quite a bit in recent years.
Systems are now available with more sturdy cases that provide better shock isolation.
Review of recent studies by IDC and the Gartner Group document a strong improvement in equipment reliability indicating the standard commercial and industrial product lines are converging. Office automation, E-commerce, robotics, etc. are everyday terms which suggest that commercial use of PCs and expectations for reliability are changing to more closely parallel the military environment which expects the PC to be ready and available for continuous use 24 hours a day. Industry and the military have gained significant experience in the past decade using PCs in extreme environments, and the experience has been used to improve the product. Recent technology advances in packaging, networking and configurations also afford many more options for installation plans. The testing laboratory is the ship at sea and the evaluator and implementer of the future technology of choice could be you.