Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: torture, testing, twinhead | Themes: Business Notebooks
- 1. A Notebook Built To Take It And Give Back
- 2. Features Scream "Business Computer"
- 3. Using The Twinhead Durabook N15RI: Build, Keyboard And Mouse
- 4. Using The Twinhead Durabook N15RI: Build, Keyboard And Mouse, Continued
- 5. Using The Twinhead Durabook N15RI: Buttons, Ports, Jacks And Holes
- 6. Using The Twinhead Durabook N15RI: The Display
- 7. What Exactly Does "Rugged" Mean?
2. Features Scream "Business Computer"
The following table presents the features of the Twinhead Durabook N15RI. Check out the table and then I'll discuss some of the key features.
| Manufacturer | Twinhead |
|---|---|
| Model | N15RI |
| URL | http://usa.twinhead.com/ |
| Dimensions & Weight | |
| Width x Height x Depth | 13 x 1.75 x 10.8"
33 x 4 x 27.5 cm |
| Unit & Battery | 6.6 lb / 2994 g w/ 6 cell battery; 6.82 lb / 3094 g w/ 9 cell battery |
| Battery | 6 cell battery: .83 lb / 377 g; 9 cell battery: 1.05 lb / 474 g |
| Charger & Power Cord | 0.88 lb / 400 g |
| Total (Computer, Charger & Power Cord) | 7.48 lb / 3393 g w/ 6 cell battery; 7.7 lb 3493 g w/ 9 cell battery |
| AC Adapter & Battery | |
| Battery I Capacity | Li-Ion 6 cells (11.1 V, 5328 mAh, 48 Wh) |
| Optional Battery Capacity | Li-Ion 9 cells (11.1 V, 8126 mAh, 73.3 Wh) |
| AC adapter | 60 W |
| Pointing Device(s) | Touchpad |
| Display and Graphics Controller | |
| Display Size | 15.1" (38.35 cm) |
| Display Resolution | 1024x768 |
| Graphics controller | Intel 82915GM (GMA 900) |
| System | |
| BIOS | AMI v.080011 (08/31/05) |
| CPU | Intel Pentium M 760
(2.00 GHz, 2 MB L2-Cache, FSB533) |
| Northbridge | Intel 915GM |
| Southbridge | Intel 82801FBM ICH6-M |
| Memory | 2 x 1 GB DDR333 |
| Hard Drive | |
| Manufacturer & Model | Hitachi Travelstar 2.5" E7K100 (HTE721080G9AT00) |
| Size | 80 GB |
| Performance | (P-ATA / 7200 rpm / cache 8 MB/ 10 ms) |
| Other Drives | |
| Manufacturer & Model | Lite-On SOSW-852S (DL DVD/CD R/W) |
| Speed DVD/+-R/+-RW/RAM/+DL | 8x, 4x/4x, 2x/na/2.4x |
| Speed CD/R/RW | 24x/24x |
| Floppy Drive | none |
| Hard drive bay | none |
| Connectors B=Back side, F=Front, L=Left side, R=Right Side | |
| PS2 Mouse/Keyboard | none / none |
| USB 2.0 | 1x (L); 2x (R) |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 1x (F) |
| Serial COM Port | 1x (R) |
| Parallel LPT Port | none |
| Microphone | yes |
| IR port | none |
| Bluetooth | none |
| VGA / DVI out | 1x (L) / none |
| Video In / Out | none / 1x S-Video (R) |
| AC Power | yes (L) |
| PC-Card / PCIe-Card Slots | 1x (L) |
| LAN | 1x (L) Realtek RTL8169/8110 Gigabit Ethernet NIC |
| WLAN | Intel PRO/Wireless 2915AGB |
| Wireless WAN | none |
| Audio Connectors | 1x SPDIF, 1x Audio Out (F), 1x Microphone In (F) |
| Audio Chip | VIA VT1617(A) |
| Modem/Model | 1x (L) / Smart Link AC'97 |
| Card-Reader: | none |
| Fingerprint Security Sensor | none |
| Manufacturer's Docking Socket | none |
| Software | |
| OS | Windows XP Professional |
| Application Software | None |
Using our standard table for classifying laptop and notebook computers, the Twinhead N15RI is a notebook computer. It is 13" x 10.8" and weighs 6.6 or 6.82 pounds, depending on battery. I know it's not quite 11" in depth, but a 10.8" depth and its weight are close enough to qualify it as a notebook.
| Type of Mobile Computer | Weight (Pounds/Grams) with standard battery | Size (Width & Depth Inches/Centimeters) |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) | Less than 2.5 / 1134 | Fits in standard size pocket |
| Ultra Lightweight Laptop | 2.5 / 1134 or less | Does not fit in standard size pocket |
| Lightweight Laptop | 2.6 / 1179 to 4 /1814 | NA |
| Standard Laptop | 4.1 / 1860 to 6.5 / 2948 or less | 13 / 33 x 11 / 28 |
| Notebook | Over 6.5 / 2948 | Over 13 / 33 x 11 / 28 |
The 2 GHz Pentium M 760 CPU tucked inside the N15RI may not be state of the art, especially considering the 64-bit and mobile multi-core processors now on the market, but along with 2 GB of 333 MHz DDR memory and a very fast Hitachi 80 GB hard disk drive, the Durabook's performance is impressive. Some might fault the notebook for its limited 1024 x 768 maximum screen resolution, but, as with the CPU, memory and disk drive, this resolution is just fine for business applications.
Twinhead shipped the N15RI to me with the optional high capacity 73.3 Wh Li-Ion battery. It performed well in my tests, lasting close to 5 hours on most tests. It's nice to work with a notebook with very good business computing capabilities and reasonable battery life. If you use the 48 Wh standard battery, battery life should be around 35% lower.
All in all the Twinhead Durabook ran fairly coolly. Even during heavy benchmarking activity the temperature on the case where the keyboard is located never went above 87° F (30.6° C). Temperatures on the bottom of the case near the CPU occasionally hit 102° F (39.9° C). Other areas on the bottom of the case near components such as memory and the disk drive ran from 96° F to 98° F (35.6° C to 36.7° C). The rest of the bottom of the case remained in the upper 80s (27s) during all testing.
I found the N15RI a little noisier than most notebooks I've used. Only a small part of the noise seemed to emanate from the chassis and CPU fans. Most of it came from the hard disk drive. Perhaps it's the high RPM rate of the drive or maybe this particular notebook, being a demo loaner, has undergone one too many drop tests, but the drive was definitely a bit noisy. The one- too-many-drop-tests hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that the DVD/CD drive was also noisier than most I've worked with.
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