Itronix X-C 6250 Pro

There's no getting around the fact that the system is slow. The Cyrix MediaGX processor, lack of Level 2 cache and 32Mb of SDRAM all see to that, but Itronix rightly points out that reliability is more important than speed in terms of where this notebook will be used. Itronix argues that Intel CPUs generate more waste heat than the MediaGX, which is also less electromagnetically noisy (and so doesn't interfere with the on-board radio system) and is more tolerant of high temperatures.

Clearly, great thought has gone into the design of this machine, and it offers a remarkable degree of off-road durability. It's also expensive, so it looks likely to remain inside the specialist sphere, although I imagine there are IT managers out there who'd love to specify notebooks like this for their more destructive colleagues.

Author: Dominic Bucknall