But how long does the large battery last? We ran our standard BatteryMon drawdown benchmarks to determine power draw and projected battery life. We set backlight to its lowest setting, turned off all the radios, and set the machine to "max battery" mode. With those settings, the idle discharge rate was as low as 12.8 watts, which translates into a theoretical battery life of almost seven hours. That, of course, varies with the way the computer is used. The power draw is about what we expected from this setup and processor.

The pictures to the right show how well the SR858's display performs in direct sunlight. The unretouched pictures, taken with a 14.5-megapixel Canon G10 digital camera, show the SR858 facing the California mid-day sun. This is a remarkable accomplishment. I am not sure of the exact composition of the display's layers, filters and bonding technologies, but they certainly work. While the filters and coatings all come from a small number of highly specialized vendors, the way they are bonded and layered can make a huge difference, and the manufacturing technologies are closely guarded secrets. As is, the screen Samwell uses for the SR858 does not wash out and remains clearly visible, with excellent contrast. That's especially remarkable for a touch screen with its additional layers (and therefore additional surfaces that need to be bonded or treated).

Nothing is perfect, though. The SR858's yielding touch screen surface is smudge and fingerprint-prone. Since it is not totally flat like a plate of glass, there are some optical distortions in the reflections, especially around the perimeter. And since this is a "gloss" screen, there can be annoying reflections and you often find yourself positioning the computer to minimize that effect.

In the picture below, the two machines are in the same location, but the image was taken from an angle. The SR858's display remains very readable with just a bit of reflection from its surroundings. The older display's matte surface diffuses the light so much that the screen becomes unreadable.

Photographed from the right side, the SR858's glossy display surface shows reflections from the trees next to it. This a price you pay with almost all "glossy" display surfaces that make for a bright, contrasty picture that "pops," but are also prone to showing reflections. The older display's anti-glare display doesn't have reflections and remains readable, though just barely.

Here are some of the features of the touch screen utility:

• Setting lets you set linearization either to nine or 25 points, with 25 points offering maximum accuracy. You can also set double click time and area, beeps, auto right click, cursor stabilization, and five different mouse modes (like click on touch, click on release and so on) according to personal preference. If you intend to use the computer primarily with finger touch, you can set it so that the driver stops reporting points when movement is within a pre-defined range. This way the cursor will not jitter around when the same point is touched again or when you move a pen within a small area.

• Tools (second screen in above picture) shows a linearization curve, lets you verify touch accuracy, and lets you set and clear linearization parameters.

• Display (third screen in above picture) lets you map the touch screen in various ways. You can enable multiple displays and you can also map the touch screen to only part of the display. There may be applications where it comes in handy to have only the bottom part respond to touch, and the SR858 lets you do that. You can even create a customized area anywhere on the display and set it so only that area responds to touch. This is ideal for custom software applications.

• Edge Compensation (right screen in above picture) can be very valuable for those who use the stylus a lot. With touch screens and digitizers it's often difficult to touch or select items at the edge of the panel, and especially so when the LCD display runs all the way to the kind of thick protective bezel some rugged computers have. The SR858 touch panel allows you to precisely define edge compensation for all four sides, i.e., set it so the cursor thinks the edge is either farther away or closer in. Precise configuration can make for optimal usability and responsiveness in touch applications.

• Hardware makes the system read the touch screen hardware parameters. After it's done, you can then change the sensitivity and delay time.

Keyboard and touchpad

• screen rotation in 90 degree increments
• brightness up and down
• turning radios on and off
• bring up the onscreen input panel/onscreen keyboard
• bring up the Windows Task Manager

As is, the Tablet PC Edition includes a variety of pen-centric functions, utilities and applications. There's a special input panel that can work both as an onscreen keyboard or for handwriting recognition for when you use the SR858 as a tablet (see screen captures of all three modes below). There's Windows Journal (a fairly powerful ink processor), Sticky Notes, pen tutorials and Microsoft also offers all sorts of very useful utilities and helper apps. Problem is, the Tablet PC Edition was really designed for use with an active digitizer. Touchscreen systems do work with the Tablet PC Edition, but they are far from optimal for the special pen functionality designed into the Tablet PC Edition. With an active digitizer, ink goes on quickly and smoothly and the pressure of your hand or palm onto the screen is no issue. With a touchscreen it is, and it makes Journal and other pen applications pretty much useless. That's why a lot of slates come with both a digitizer and a touchscreen. It'd be nice to have both in the R858 as well.

As part of its security, the SR858 also uses Trusted Platform Module (TPM) hardware. The TPM 1.2 micro controller with cryptographic functionality allows you 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.

The Infineon setting tool is a wizard that guides you through the entire process from initial user settings where you set your basic password, configure secure email and encryption, and manage certificates; to making backups of all the security settings, secure drives, and credentials; to migration of security credentials from one platform to another; password resets; and advanced topics like owner passwords, enhanced authentication, emergency recovery, and system and user-specific security policies.

Setting up all this security can get pretty complicated. Some users may never implement TPM or even passwords, whereas others may configure their systems in accordance with company IT security procedures, or they may configure an individual system for maximum security.

Almost all ports are individually sealed so that using one of them does not expose others. Protective doors can easily be replaced should they get damaged.

Summary