"There are really only two practical methods of making a notebook screen readable outdoors: (a) crank up the brightness (measured in nits, which is display-industry slang for "candela per meter squared", or cd/m²) to the point where the light emitted by the screen is sufficiently greater than the ambient light reflected by the screen, or (b) treat the surface of the screen so it reflects much less light, which again allows the emitted light to exceed the reflected light."

There are other options such as transflective or reflective displays, but they are compromises at best, and the industry has moved away from them. As is, daylight-readability is achieved with optical coatings or a stronger backlight or both combined. Both approaches have pros and cons. Optical coatings add cost and can result in weird optical effects or discoloration. Strong backlights require a large battery (extra weight) or quickly drain a standard battery (inadequate battery life).

Though Getac does not specifically mention optical coating, a degree of coating must be there as the image remains visible in direct sunlight. That, however, is not the main attraction. What sets the B300 apart is its superbright 1,200 nit backlight. A standard notebook backlight is in the 170 to 200 nit range. Some manufacturers up the brightness in their rugged products, usually into the 300-400 nits range. GD-Itronix combines its impressive DynaVue technology with a 500 nits backlight for excellent results. The Panasonic CF30 has both optical coating and a 500 nit backlight and also excels, and the touch screen version can be had with a 1,000 nits backlight. Getac offers the standard B300 with 500 nits, but beat everyone with a superbright 1,200 nits backlight.

The 1,200 nits blaster is considerably brighter than the maximum of the standard brightness range. To engage it you push a special button above the keyboard. Turn it on and the screen lights up with an intensity unseen in any regular display.

The two pictures below show the B300 in bright daylight in partial shade and facing away from the sun. To the left is the display with indoor brightness setting (in all fairness, it's actually more readable with the eye; the camera does not appear to capture everything the human eye does). The picture to the right has the 1,200 nits backlight on.

Below is the B300 in direct, bright sunlight. Once again, the image is readable with the standard brightness setting, but truly comes to life with the 1,200 nits booster on.

The two pics below show the B300 directly aimed at the sun. The camera angle is such to eliminate reflection and shadows. Here you can see the inherent anti-reflective properties of the Getac display on the left (a standard LCD would wash out completely), with even the strong 1,200 nits light making only a small different in such strong ambient light.

How does Getac get away with such a strong backlight while still claiming superior battery life? By making the superbright setting accessible only via button push. It is actually too bright for indoor use, so you're not tempted to have it on all the time. And it is also not linked to the integrated lightmeter that can automatically adjust the backlight. This way you get the extra brightness when you need it, but you don't burn through the battery when you don't.

Getac faced a challenging design issue by deciding to go with a fanless design despite the fairly powerful L7500 Core 2 Duo processor with its sizable heat dissipation. They solved this by using a total of over three feet of copper heatpiping that dissipates the heat generated by the three main chips first through steel heatsinks, then into the copper conduits and from there into the magnesium bottom of the unit that comes off in one solid piece. The cover contains just one opening, beneath which you can access the two memory slots.

The bottom plate has a continuous O-right style seal along the entire perimeter and is held securely in place by 16 small Philips screws. The whole assembly has that very industrial high-tech look that always differentiates Getac machines. It's form-follows-function to the max with nothing covered up. Yet, the outer surface of the bottom plate has an elegant warm-gray powdercoat finish.

The sole door in the bottom plate has eight rounded corner -- no mere rectangles here -- and is also neatly and precisely sealed. The door is held down with six very small Philips screws.

The battery is the large, powerful 86.6 watt-hour unit that lets the B300 run for up to 12 hours. It has a built-in battery gauge that shows charge status via five green lights upon pressing the button next to it. This comes in handy when you carry spare batteries around. The battery can be removed if the unit is plugged in, but it is not hot-swappable.

The B300 sports rugged good looks that combine great industrial design with good ergonomics. The case is almost all magnesium-alloy, finished in a pleasing combination of matte black and gun-metal gray, both with a very slightly crinkled painted finish that provides extra grip.

The B300 is both a well-sealed and a well-connected machine. The pictures below right show the left and the right side both with the doors open and closed.

On the left side are the Media Bay and access to the main battery. The Media Bay is protected by a hinged door that snaps closed when two hooks engage. A spring-loaded lever releases the hooks. The door seals tightly when closed. The battery compartment has a double-secure mechanism. First you move a small lever to unlock the main lever. Then you move a larger lever to fully release the door. Both levers go hard and it is unlikely that they'll ever open by accident. However, there is no actual lock, so the battery could be removed without authorization.

On the right side you find access to the hard disk, expansion ports, and a variety of other ports. The hard disk sits in its own shock-mounted caddy behind a double-secure door like the one used for the battery on the other side. The same concern applies here: the door closes and seals securely, but it cannot be locked, and thus provides potentially unwanted access to the hard disk. A hinged plastic door with a rubber pressure seal protects the two PC Card slots and two USB 2.0 ports. A compartment next to it has separate microphone and headphone jacks, a IEEE1394 "FireWire" port, an external antenna port (if the GPS option is installed), and a springloaded MMC/SD card slot. Next to that is yet another door that protects and seals the RJ-45 gigabit LAN jack as well as the landline modem jack.

Along the back are the individually sealed powerjack and an also individually sealed third USB 2.0 port. The better part of the backside is taken up by a large hinged door that covers two 9-pin serial ports and a 25-pin video port. The cover has an integrated sliding door that provides access to the expansion bus connector even while the main door is closed. On the right side is a Kensington lock slot, and there are two D-rings for a carry strap.

Most of the doors have metal hinges that are screwed onto the body and the actual door via two Philips screws each, making replacements very easy.

The front of the unit does not have any connectors or ports other than two small speakers to the left and right of the LCD case clasp. There wouldn't be room for anything else as most of the front is taken up the large, impressive looking magnesium handle that is screwed onto the system side of the computer. There are, however, five indicator lights built into the right side of the handle base. They show the status of power, battery, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS.

The B300's 89-key keyboard is full-scale. It has black keys with white labels. Instead of using less legible blue for function key combos, Getac used white for those labels also, but placed them in little white square boxes. The keyboard can be set so it becomes automatically illuminated in low light conditions.

Below the keyboard is a small and slightly recessed (so you can feel its boundaries in the dark) touchpad and two mouse buttons. To the right is a fingerprint reader that has its own sliding door.

Additional expansion is possible via the B300's Media Bay. It is located on the left side of the computer. Our unit came with a HL Data Storage Super Multi DVD Rewriter. Depending on needs and applications, that can be replaced either with an optional second battery or an optional second hard drive. One concern here is that while the Media Bay door is sealed and securely snaps into place, it cannot be locked, thus exposing whatever is in there to the possibility of theft.

Security

Like most mobile hardware these days, the B300 offers various levels of hardware and software security to prevent unauthorized access as well as theft.

The Protector Suite QL from UPEK Software Products handles Fingerprint scanning. Initial setup enrolls any number of fingerprints to the hard disk. The system then sets up an enrollment record that combines the Windows user name, password, fingerprint and an automatically generated security key that cannot be reconstructed. To enroll, you enter your user name and password, then select which finger(s) you want to use, then have the fingerprint scanner scan your finger(s) three times. The fingerprint is now registered and locked to your user name and password. You can do a swipe to bring up the security control center from where you can fine-tune security.

As part of its security, the Getac B300 uses Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 hardware to create and manage computer-generated digital certificates. Combined with software, these certificates can be used to:

• Send and received secure email,
• Set up the browser for client identification,
• Sign Word macros,
• Encrypt individual files or entire folders, and
• Create secure network connections.

To use TPM, you have to enable TPM support in the BIOS and then configure the system with the UPEK Protector Suite.

All of this can get pretty involved. Some users may never implement TPM or even passwords, whereas others may be set up in accordance with their company's IT security procedures, or they may configure an individual system for maximum security.