The 10.4-inch display in our review MTC6 offered 800 x 600 pixel SVGA resolution with standard 4:3 aspect ratio, has a resistive touch panel, and measures a compact 11.2 x 9.0 x 3.1 inches. Despite its ultra-rugged aluminum construction, the MTC6 weighs just 6.6 pounds.

In terms of technology and electronics, the MTC6 is designed to perform touch-based operations and applications reliably and consistently. That task is assigned to a 1.1GHz Intel Atom Z510 processor, a gig of RAM, and a base configuration of 2GB of CFast card-based storage. Storage configurations will depend on the chosen operating system platform. The MTC6 can run Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Embedded, and Windows Embedded Standard 7. Our tester had XP Embedded installed on a 4GB industrial CFast card. The MTC6 needs no fan and the unit operates silently and without heating up at all.

The tough and rugged mechanical enclosure has the cut-outs, indents and screwholes required for mounting in numerous ways, including special brackets or flexible mounting solutions from RAM-Mounts. The picture to the right shows the MTC6 from the side using the unique RAM-Mount mounting hardware with its virtually limitless catalog of mounting options.

Note that the MTC6 originates from the DLoG side of Advantech. DLoG of Germany was acquired by Advantech in March 2010. DLoG has been around since 1985 as a specialist in industrial applications and in-vehicle computing in an extremely demanding environment. We have reviewed DLoG products in the past and came away impressed.

Unlike most consumer notebooks and tablets, the MTC6 is easy to service, with all of its components easily accessible. The design is heavily modularized, with a small and very compact system board at the center and a variety of subsidiary boards handling additional functionality—very much an embedded systems approach. Below you can see what the MTC6 looks like inside.

The overall design of the MTC6 is as neat and clean as can be. It is a clamshell with the front part consisting of a solid 4mm aluminum plate with the display mounted on it, and a very thick and sturdy aluminum backside housing. Sealing between the two halves, which are secured together with six hefty Torx screws, is with an O-ring style pressure seal.

The motherboard is a very compact affair measuring roughly 4.75 x 4.75 inches. On the right you can see the 4GB industrial CFast CF card, and next to it the unit's mini-PCIe WiFi card.

The 10.4-inch SVGA display is an AU Optronics G104SN02 with 160/140 degree viewing angles and a stated brightness of 400 nits. It has an LED backlight and is very securely mounted inside its own protective steel case.

The unit's single-core and exceedingly thrifty 1.1GHz Atom Z510 processor draws barely more than four watts, and that includes its companion chipset. Power draw, of course, hardly matters since the MTC6 will always be plugged into vehicle or other external power (there is no internal battery). With such a small power draw, there is no need for a fan as the unit's heavy metal housing serves as a very effective heat sink and can easily absorb whatever heat is generated.

Running performance benchmarks on a device like the UTC6 is hardly necessary; they are simply designed to be fast enough for the job. But just to get an idea of where a device like this fits in, we ran two separate sets of performance benchmarks (Passmark and CrystalMark) anyway, and compared the results with those of a variety of other Advantech boards and systems we had benchmarked earlier. The results are as follows:

PERFORMANCE COMPARISON PASSMARK	MTC6	UTC-520	PIT-1501W	PPC-157T	ARK-3399	ARK-DS303	SOM-6760
Intel Processor	Atom Z510	Atom D510	Atom Z530	Core 2 Duo T7400	Core Duo L2400	Atom N270	Atom Z530
Product type	Touch terminal	Touch terminal	Touch terminal	Panel PC	Industrial PC	Digital Signage	COM-Micro
Clock speed	1.10GHz	1.66GHz	1.6GHz	2.16GHz	1.4GHz0	1.6GHz	1.6GHz
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	2.0 watts	13.0 watts	2.3 watts	34.0 watts	15.0 watts	2.5 watts	2.3 watts
CPU Mark	101.3	512.9	244.4	1292.1	847.5	252.6	315.6
2D Graphics Mark	97.7	173.8	108.3	285.8	145.0	158.7	207.2
Memory Mark	111.5	245.2	215.3	552.3	264.9	227.7	191.6
Disk Mark	40.9	431.3	162.1	459.6	10.1	459.4	70.7
3D Graphics Mark	36.8	12.4	18.3	37.8	29.5	77.3	19.6
Overall PassMark	73.7	294.7	154.5	584.7	302.4	232.6	137.3

PERFORMANCE COMPARISON CRYSTALMARK 2004R3	MTC6	UTC-520	PIT-1501W	PPC-157T	ARK-3399	ARK-DS303	SOM-6761
ALU	2190	11309	5323	19311	12971	5409	5376
FPU	2100	9347	4678	22560	15353	4671	4667
MEM	1360	7778	3853	10867	6407	4223	3667
HDD	10363	7087	5058	8231	3631	8221	2702
GDI	1298	2270	2321	4679	2403	2158	2427
D2D	891	3693	859	3015	2444	2230	1009
OGL	201	711	317	2272	825	684	505
Overall CrystalMark	18403	42195	22409	70935	44034	27596	20353

The scores are are really only of academic value. The Z510 produces the expected modest numbers, but it's enough for the job, just as the modest performance of the Intel Atom N270 and its successors (used in tens of millions of netbooks) or the Atom Z530 (quite popular in embedded and industrial systems) was enough for the intended job.

The DLoG Config Tool is a password-protected summary utility for system administrators that greatly simplifies configuration and fine-tuning of the MTC6, or customizing the device for certain applications.

• Hardware monitor: Shows basic system information and certain current data (such as inside temperature.

• Environment:: Shows a variety of system statistics, such as total uptime, number of power-ons, counter data, number of error events, etc.

• Automatic Switchoff: Allows configuration and settings for automatic switchoffs, and how the system interacts with vehicle ignition.

  

• Front Panel: This is where the MTC6's eight front panel key functions are configured. Each key function can be set to execute a program, with parameters, or trigger another function or task.

• System Settings: This is where a variety of system configurations can be set or fine-tuned, such as logons, locks, auto-logons, etc.

• Network: Shows network settings and provides access to Windows network system settings.

• Network Startup: Here administrators can determine what applications and functions should be performed once a successful network connection has been established.

• WLAN: Allows more detailed settings and configuration of the WWLAN status dialog.

• Software activation: This is where software activation keys of license files are entered upon loading of new software or utilities.

• Enhanced Write Filter: The Enhanced Write Filter allows the protection of the system from unwanted modifications by setting write protections.

• File-based Write Filter: The File-based Write Filter can be configured to prevent unwanted changes on files and partitions.

The Summit Client Utility allows system administrators a high degree of access and configuration of the device's WiFi, including profile settings and management, status lookup, diagnostics, and global variable lookups.

The Hampshire TSHARC Control Panel is used to configure and customize the touch screen. The following functions are available:

• Screen Selection: Used to select the desired monitor in multi-screen systems.

• Calibration:: Performs a simple 4-point calibration of the touch screen.

• Click Settings: Allows configuration and settings for right clicks (enabling, area, delay) and double clicks (are and speed).

• Touch Settings: In certain environments touch sounds are desirable, in others they are not. This is where the sounds are set or disabled.

• Capacitive: Not sure why this function is here as the MCT6 does not appear to offer a capacitive option.

The Advantech DLoG MTC6

Advantech MTC6 Vehicle Mount Terminal Specs: