rockdirect Hardbook review

Out in Iraq, they use laptops that are different from ours. In a skirmish towards the beginning of the war, a US soldier got caught in gunfire with nothing to defend himself but a Panasonic Toughbook 72. BusinessWeek reported that this soldier held his Toughbook over his chest and seconds later it caught a bullet which ended up lodged in the hard drive, ruining his Minesweeper high scores, but saving his life.

Like the Panasonic Toughbook, the rockdirect Hardbook uses a semi-ruggedised outer shell to protect the components and screen. While most of us are unlikely to run into urban combat situations, there is always the risk of dropping your laptop or spilling a cappuccino into it. Strangely, although rockdirect claims the Hardbook will tolerate the "harshest abuse -- from drops off the desk to spilled liquids and lunch remnants", the manual has a different take on things: "Do not use the computer near open water or other liquids. Never spill liquid onto the computer." It also says, "Never take the notebook anywhere without the carrying case." So which is it, Hardbook? Are you a warrior or a sissy?

Design
At first glance, the Hardbook doesn't look radically different from any other PC laptop: the chassis is a basic flip-lid design and ports are arranged down the two sides of the unit. There is a slightly cold, semi-metallic feel to the casing. It's a hybrid alloy which gives the machine added resistance to impact. Although it's unlikely to stop a bullet, it provides extra rigidity to the outer chassis at its more vulnerable points.

The screen is 15 inches on the diagonal and has an anti-glare treatment. We are glad to see that rockdirect hasn't made the same mistake as some PC manufacturers: using an incredibly reflective screen to attract buyers in the showroom, but annoy them in the longer term. The LCD on the Hardbook is finished in a neutral matte and feels more resistant to pressure and impact that the screen on our Apple PowerBook -- it's on a par with what we've seen from the Alienware Area 51m 7700. The keyboard also has a reassuringly durable feel, but removing keys reveals that the mechanisms underneath are not radically different to the keys on a conventional laptop. This suggests there is still a risk of corrosion damage from extreme moisture, wet hands or liquid spillage. We would have preferred to see a plastic membrane physically dividing the keys from the underlying contacts.

None the less, rockdirect claims, "The keyboard adheres to the IP31 ruggedised standard, guaranteeing that it is resilient to up to 100cc of accidental spillage and protected from foreign objects larger than 2.5mm in diameter preventing internal damage and malfunction. The Hardbook has also been drop tested repeatedly from 70cm onto a hard surface."

The base of the Hardbook is surprisingly full of vents and openings. The Hardbook's two main fan vents lead straight onto the lowest point of the laptop, making it extremely vulnerable to water penetration. Even a relatively small puddle would leak into the Hardbook's key components. We've seen better designed bases from laptop manufacturers who don't claim special levels of water resistance. Although the Hardbook's feet raise the laptop 5mm off the ground, it's a bad idea to cut ventilation slots into the base of the machine, where it's most likely to come into contact with wet surfaces.

The Hardbook is a comfortable machine to use and the keys are pleasantly tapered, making it ideal for quick typing in the field. The left-hand side of the chassis provides ports for Ethernet, modem, USB, PC Card and standard VGA monitor. On the right-hand side, there's a CD/DVD drive, two more USB ports and an S-video port. We were surprised to find a tray-loading optical drive on a machine that prides itself on durability. Tray-loaders are notoriously prone to snapping or bending when a laptop is dropped -- a slot-loading mechanism would have been a better choice.