HP Compaq Thin Client t5700 review

There is plenty of competition in the world of thin clients, and HP has always maintained a constant, albeit low profile in this marketplace. Normally happy to rebadge other vendors' products, the Compaq Thin Client family represents a new direction as we were advised these are the first to be manufactured by HP. The range consists of three thin clients, which do look far better designed and built than many other products.

The t5700 represents the top of the three-model range. The latest version delivers a good specification wrapped in a sleek and well-built chassis. The unit can be mounted vertically on a small stand or left lying on its side. Inside its metal shell lurks a 733MHz Transmeta Crusoe processor backed by 192MB of Flash memory provided on a single SODIMM. A full complement of ports is provided, including serial, parallel, USB and audio. Graphics are also handled well. The embedded ATi Rage XC chipset and 8MB of video memory allowed us to take resolution up to a useful 1,280 x 1,024 at a 32-bit colour depth.

With Windows XP Embedded in the background, the boot-up sequence is faster than for Linux-based thin clients. Although severely cut down, the Windows interface is identical to the one we know and love. You also get Internet Explorer 6 pre-installed for direct client web access and for running Java applications without adding any load to the terminal server system. Both Microsoft's RDP (remote desktop protocol) and Citrix's ICA (independent computing architecture) clients are included, and you can create multiple connection profiles. Thin-client deployment is aided by Altiris' Deployment Solution - a licence is included in the price.

The thin client has a lot to offer over standard workstations as it's far easier to control and manage, provides much tighter security, costs less to run and is notably quieter. HP's t5700 makes a good alternative to the mainstream thin-client products as it offers good build quality and a decent specification, all for a reasonable price.

Author: Dave Mitchell