Introduction

Notebooks have become extremely popular with consumers over the last few years. The number of notebooks sold per year is now greater than desktop computers. One of the things people fail to realize about notebooks is how fragile they can be. Simple drops from a desktop or an accidental spill of liquid can cause hundreds of dollars in damage to the average notebook computer. Of course, there are always rugged systems that will survive these accidents.

Rugged computer systems are typically used by military and research groups that need to send computers into the most extreme environments. They need to be able to withstand very hot and cold temperatures, moisture and particularly shock. The average rugged computer is overkill for what a consumer will use a system for. Because of this, a new category called semi-rugged has been developed. These systems are able to withstand small shocks or splashes rather than full military specifications. Rugged Notebook's Talon thin and light notebook falls into this category.

Talon semi-rugged thin and light notebook.

Specifications

The system that I received for testing is a base model of the Talon. This means that it has the minimum specifications available, but the systems can be ordered with higher specifications than were tested here. The hardware specifications for the system are as follows:

Hardware specifications seem to be a bit on the low side for a system of this price. In particular, the memory is very limited with a maximum of 640MB. Most thin and light notebooks will have a maximum between 1 to 2GB. Hard drive space is fairly limited with 20GB but the 24x CD-RW combo drive does give a wide range of optical storage. Software wise, the Talon system is very sparse. It comes preloaded with Windows XP Home operating system. Beyond this, only Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 Basic and Cyberlink's PowerDVD are included. Those needing an office application suite will need to purchase the software separately.

From top to bottom: Front panel, back pannel, left panel and right panel.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking of the Talon system spanned a range of applications. For component performance, FutureMark's PCMark2004 and SiSoft's Sandra Max 2004 were used with the standard settings. Since the notebook doesn't have any major 3D acceleration, graphics tests were bypassed. Simply put, don't expect to play any 3D games on the system. CD performance for reading and writing was tested using Ahead Software's Nero CD-DVD Speed v2.11. Additionally a battery life test was run to find out how long the system could go from a full charge to suspended mode.

PCMark2004

FutureMark's PCMark2004 is a general system benchmark that looks at CPU, memory and disk performance and generates an aggregated score for the system performance. This is the first time that I have used the 2004 version of the software, so I don't have any other numbers for comparison. The Talon's overall score was 2,386 PCMarks.

The Talon's performance seemed acceptable for the CPU and disk performance but when it came to the memory tests, performance was below average. This is likely due to the limited memory of 128MB provided with the system. This is considered the minimum amount of memory that Windows XP will operate with. It is generally accepted that 256MB is really the best functional memory minimum for Windows XP. As a result, the system would likely score higher with additional memory.

SiSoft Sandra MAX 2004

SiSoft's Sandra has been a staple in the benchmarking community for a while. One of the big advantages of the tool is the reference numbers for various hardware types to let you know the relative performance of the components being tested. The following table shows the results of the Talon and the closest reference part listed by Sandra.

CPU performance is better than expected. CPU scores were on par with a faster clocked desktop processor. Hard drive performance is below expectations here. This could be the result of the low amount of physical memory and the need for the operating system to use the page file. Memory performance here is better than expected. It scores nearly at the same level as an Intel based chipset.

Optical Drive Performance

The average laptop computer system now ships with a CD-RW Combo drive. As a result, performance of the optical drives for reading and writing CD media becomes even more important. Testing of the performance was carried out using the Ahead Nero CD Speed v2.11 software. Below are the results:

Reading speeds and seek times were very good for the unit. Since it uses a CAV reading method, the top rating speed will generally only be found at the end of the CD. In this case, the recorded speed was higher than the rated speed. Recording speeds were a bit more disappointing. The specification for the LSC-24081 drive should be 24x with CD-R media, but the recorded speed from the test is only 12x. This is significantly lower than expected. Most users won't notice this much as it still records a full CD in less than 8 minutes.

Battery Life

Battery life is crucial for those using portable computers while traveling or away from standard power sources. To test the battery life, a normal DVD movie was played to generate a constant stream of CPU usage. All power settings were set to the standard laptop configuration in Windows XP. The amount of time from when the system was powered on until the system goes into suspend mode was recorded.

From the test, the Talon latest for one hour and fifteen minutes before the system suspended operation. This is a bit on the low side for a thin and light notebook computer system. Battery life expectations have been getting higher and higher since the release of the Intel Pentium M processors. With the Pentium 4 Mobile processor, this system tends to use up more power.

Splash Test

Now what would be a review of a semi-rugged computer without testing some of the claims of the manufacturer? In this case, I decided to test the splash-proof keyboard that is supposed to maintain functionality even when liquid comes in contact with it. To test this, I setup the machine in a loop on the media player while a full 8 ounces of water was poured onto the keyboard during operation. This is probably more liquid than would likely be poured on it in the event of a spill.

Don't try this at home!

The average laptop system would likely encounter some problems with the water being poured onto it. The Talon continued to function without problems after the water was poured onto the keyboard. It should be noted that much of the water pooled inside the keyboard area and remained there until the laptop was tilted to allow the water to run off. Traces of water remained underneath the keys that would eventually evaporate. If it were soda or some other sticky substance, at least water can be pour on it to clean it out.

Conclusions

The Talon system does live up to its claim as a semi-rugged notebook. This is definitely a system that can withstand the rigors of the average consumer without problems such as damage to the disk or internals due to a shock or some water. It should be noted that it is still possible to have exterior case damage to the system from drops, but the computer will continue to function. Extreme shocks that a rugged notebook would survive will still damage this system.

There is a trade off for this sturdy construction. In particular, the specifications and performance of this system is going to be significantly less than an equally priced non-rugged notebook computer. This makes the Talon really fit into a specific market where it does what it claims, but it might be more than the average consumer needs. If you need something a bit tougher than normal though or are paranoid about damaging the laptop, then the Talon may be the system for you.

Manufacturer's Site