I'm the kind of guy that tries to get the most out of everything he has. No matter if it's a computer or a lawnmower, I milk it for everything it's worth, sometimes long past its usefulness. This was especially true of my current faithful PIII notebook -- it still ran, so why spend money on a new one? Well, not too long ago, I was given the opportunity to try out a Twinhead Durabook D14RA and quickly found mysel Well, not too long ago, I was given the opportunity to try out a Twinhead Durabook D14RA and quickly found myself wondering why I had not upgraded sooner. The Durabook I checked out had an AMD Turion 64 MT28 CPU, 1GB of RAM (max amount available), and an 80GB hard drive. The built-in 802.11 b/g WiFi adapter worked flawlessly in all situations as did the 10/100 physical network card. While no “wide-screen,” the 14.1 LCD is more than adequate for my needs in the lab or server room. The DVD-CDRW combo drive is a nice addition as are the 2 USB 2.0 ports. Battery life averaged around 3 hours — not the best available but not terrible.As someone who always ends up cabled up to a router or other device, I love that the Durabook comes with a serial port. So many of the notebooks on the market don’t have this one little luxury that makes my (and other sys admins) life so much easier. It always bugged me that I needed to carry a USB-to-serial converter just to log in to a router. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give kudos to the feature that gives the Durabook its name: its durability. Unlike many other notebooks, the Durabook’s case is made of magnesium alloy, up to 20 times stronger than ABS plastic (per Twinhead’s claims – I wasn’t about to intentionally trash the unit) and meets military 810F specifications. It also comes with anti-shock protection for the hard drive and the LCD screen, both of which can suffer irreparable damage if dropped. The spill-resistant keyboard is a nice touch, too. I have to say that the Durabook D14RA turned out to be a great notebook in all aspects. Performance with Windows XP Pro was more than adequate, networking worked without a hitch and it had all the creature comforts like DVD-CDRW, USB 2.0 and a 9-pin serial port. Sorry old notebook, looks like you’ve been replaced. Twinhead D14RA Durabook Cost: $999 Verdict: Excellent performance wrapped in a chassis made to be abused. The spill-resistant keyboard keeps liquids from damaging internal electronics and the anti-shock system for the LCD and hard drive keep the delicate devices humming. All of the necessary elements are included, like USB 2.0, DVD-CDRW drive, a serial port, 802.11 b/g WiFi and 10/00 Mbps networking, stereo sound and a built in 56k modem. Technology Industry