Review: NEC TCM160A business notebook

It looks like a notebook, but NEC’s TCM160 is, in fact, a portable terminal for use with Windows Terminal Server, Citrix and other thin-client apps.

With no internal disk, the TCM160 is lighter than most conventional notebooks and, thanks to a low-power Via Eden processor, has no noisy cooling fan. Other than that, it’s fairly ordinary, with a 15in TFT display in the lid, integrated keyboard and touchpad, plus integrated audio and a modem as standard.

A 10/100Mbits/sec Ethernet port is on the back panel, or you can use the optional built-in 802.11g wireless adapter to connect to the local network. Five USB ports are also arranged around the sides, plus there’s a PC Card slot available, if needed.

The Linux-based operating system loads from Flash memory and can be started with either a Windows-like desktop or in ‘kiosk’ mode, where users choose from a list of preconfigured server connections.

The connections can use Microsoft RDP, Citrix ICA or X-Windows protocols, with a built-in agent for the Citrix Program Neighbourhood, plus local Thinprint, Telnet and VNC clients, support for Java and the ability to configure secure VPN connections using PPTP.

A Firefox browser is provided for direct web access, which is fairly ancient (v.0.8), and comes preconfigured with pdf, Flash and media player plug-ins.

Local legacy terminal emulation isn’t provided and the Via processor isn’t exactly state of the art, but then performance is mainly down to the host server and, as a Windows thin client, the TCM160 acquits itself well.

With a battery life of five hours, portability is also an advantage. It’s also a secure solution, with no disk to get corrupted, although you can add external USB storage as well as printers and other devices.

For thin-client users looking for portability, it’s well priced and there’s very little to beat it.