Roving and vendor audits, machine capability studies, incoming and final inspection, and measurements on large parts, are just a few of the many needs portable data collectors now satisfy. In many cases, fragile, environmentally unprotected notebook computers have been used to pacify portable data collection requirements, all too often with tragic consequences. In situations where the data collection can be done at a PC desktop workstation, gage multiplexers are utilized to enable the use of a variety of gages. Unfortunately, this is impractical in portable applications.