Rugged Notebooks Talon

1/12/04 - Portable computing is a growing trend, but with that trend comes the risks to the equipment that is constantly being moved around. Falls from a table, drops from a computer bag or even spills from a drink can cause hundreds of dollars in damage. To address these minor accidents and the resulting repair bills, manufacturers such as Rugged Notebooks are introducing semi-rugged portables.

The Talon is a semi-rugged thin and light notebook computer system offered by Rugged Notebooks. It is designed to withstand minor drops from about 3 feet while the system is operating and continue to function. It also features a splash proof keyboard that can withstand small spills during operation without causing problems.

The system is based around a Pentium 4 Mobile 2.2 GHz processor which provides very strong computing performance. The system however is held back by many of the other components. For instance, the system comes standard with 128MB of PC2100 DDR built into the system. This is the minimum specification for Windows XP to operate. It is expandable to 640MB, but this is still lower than most non-rugged thin and light laptops.

Drive performance is slightly below average. The CD-RW drive is rated at 24x for CD-R media, but in testing it was only able to manage a 12x speed for recording. Battery life is also a bit of a let down. A fully charged battery only lasted about 75 minutes, much lower than current thin and light notebooks particularly those with the Pentium M.