The 5th generation of Intel Core processors, codenamed "Broadwell," builds on the "Haswell" 4th generation's major steps forward in combining excellent performance with remarkably frugal operation and greatly improved integrated graphics. The primary difference being the two generations is that Intel yet again shrank its lithography from 22nm to 14nm, thus further increasing efficiency and reducing cooling needs, and enabling an even larger number of transistors on an even smaller package. And Broadwell is what Getac upgraded the second generation of its V110 platform to.

Available V110 CPUs	V110 Gen 2	V110 Gen 2	V110 Gen 2	V110 Gen 2
Intel	Core i7	Core i7	Core i5	Core i5
Model	5600U	5500U	5300U	5200U
Cores/Threads	2/4	2/4	2/4	2/4
Lithography	14mn	14mn	14mn	14mn
Base Clock Speed	2.60 GHz	2.40 GHz	2.30 GHz	2.20 GHz
Turbo Speed	3.20 GHz	3.00 GHz	2.90 GHz	2.70 GHz
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Smart Cache	4MB	4MB	3MB	3MB
Integrated graphics	HD Graphics 5500	HD Graphics 5500	HD Graphics 5500	HD Graphics 5500
Graphics base speed	300 MHz	300 MHz	300 MHz	300 MHz
Graphics max speed	0.95 GHz	0.95 GHz	0.90 GHz	0.90 GHz
Intel vPro	Yes	No	Yes	No
Intel TSX-NI	Yes	No	Yes	No
Intel SIPP	Yes	No	Yes	No
Intel Trusted Execution	Yes	No	Yes	No

For the new V110, Getac offers the choice of four ultra-low voltage chips (vs. just two with the first gen V110), the Core i5-5200U and i5-5300U, and the Core i7-5500U and i7-5600U. The table to the left shows the important specs of the four available processors.

The i7 chips are a bit faster and have more Smart Cache (4MB vs. 3MB) than the Core i5 models, but other than that, there isn't a large difference between the four (see full Intel comparison between these two chips here).

All are dual core designs with four threads and 15 watts thermal design power, all use the new-for-Broadwell HD Graphics 5500, and the clock speed differences aren't very large.

What may make a difference in certain applications is the availability of four Intel technologies (vPro, TSX-NI, SIPP, and Trusted Execution) that's included in the i7-5600U and i5-5300U, but not in the i7-5500U and i5-5200U. The extra security and manageability capabilities of vPro, especially, are required in many enterprise deployments. TSX-NI Transactional Synchronization Extensions New Instructions) helps make parallel operations more efficient via improved control of locks in software, SIPP (Stable Image Platform Program) allows deployment of standardized, stable image PC platforms for at least 15 months, and Trusted Execution technology provides security capabilities such as measured launch and protected execution, and may thus also be an enterprise requirement.

To give an idea of the thermal and efficiency improvements in Intel's latest Core chip generations, note that the super-efficient 15 watt TDP chips in the 2nd gen V110 match or exceed the performance of the final versions of the Getac V100 and V200 convertible notebooks with their much less efficient 35 watt TDP standard voltage Intel 3rd generation Core processors.

An important decision systems designers must make is whether to use passive cooling or an active system fan. In the past, Getac used advanced passive cooling systems even in powerful standard voltage systems. The rationale was the elimination of fan noise and potential mechanical failure. Well, the V110 platform does have that small fan. It's unobtrusive and doesn't come on often, but it is a fan. One possible reason may be that the lightweight V110 doesn't have the mass to act as its own heat sink. A more likely one is that an active fan still offers better protection against overheating and, more importantly, makes it possible for the CPU to operate without significant performance drops even at the upper end of its operating temperature range.

In order to get a sense of where the 2nd gen V110's performance level stands compared to a variety of systems with different types of processors and configurations, we installed Passmark Software's PerformanceTest 6.1 that runs about 30 tests covering CPU, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, memory, and disk and then computes scores for each category and an overall PassMark score. We also ran our second benchmark suite, CrystalMark.

The results are as follows:

Despite Broadwell's impressive power conservation features, is half the battery power than was available in older Getac convertibles enough to provide acceptable battery life, let alone the "up to 13.6 hours" that Getac specifies from their own testing with BatteryMark 4.0.1? To find out, we installed Passmark's BatteryMon battery benchmark app.

In our testing we determined battery draw for each of the Windows power settings, those being "Power Saver," Balanced," and "Max. Performance." For each of those settings we measured power draw with the screen backlight at its lowest setting, at a setting suitable for indoor viewing, and at maximum brightness.

Getac V110 Power Draw (at idle)
Backlight level	Lowest (1 of 20)		Room (5 of 20)		Maximum (20 of 20)
Generation	Gen 2	Gen 1	Gen 2	Gen 1	Gen 2	Gen 1
Power Saver	4.1 watts	3.1 watts	4.8 watts	3.9 watts	8.1 watts	8.9 watts
Balanced	4.3 watts	3.1 watts	4.9 watts	3.9 watts	8.1 watts	8.9 watts
Max Performance	4.2 watts	3.1 watts	4.9 watts	4.0 watts	8.1 watts	9.0 watts

The results, presented in the table to the right, show what we recorded for the 2nd gen V110 as well as the draws we measured on the original unit. Since the 14nm Broadwell chip technology is inherently more efficient than the older 22nm Haswell lithography, we expected the gen 2 unit to draw less.

However, the absolute lowest idle power draw we saw on the gen 2 unit was actually about a watt higher in all three power modes. The difference shrank with the display backlight at comfortable office reading level, and then turned to the gen 2 unit's favor by almost a full watt with the backlight fully cranked up. Determining the precise reason(s) for this goes beyond the scope of this review, and may be something for the Intel and Getac engineers to explain.

As is, the battery draw results suggest that the 2nd gen V110 is extremely power efficient, and especially so when used outdoors with its backlight set to maximum brightness. To fully appreciate that, consider that the V110's backlight maxes out at 800 nits, which is about four times as bright as that of a standard consumer notebook, and at that brightness the V110 still only uses 8 watts. Not so long ago, most machines we tested we unable to reach such a low draw even with the backlight turned off.

And here's an other interesting test result: When we measured a worst case scenario by running full 1080p video in High Performance mode and full brightness, the 2nd gen V110 still drew just 10 watts, a full three watts less than what we had measured in the first gen V110 in the same test. What this suggests is that the new Broadwell-equipped version gets ever more efficient the harder it has to work.

I should mention that the V110's batteries have a handy power status indicator, where pushing a button on the battery shows its charge status via five LEDs. This way, users can quickly check the status of spares taken along for hot-swapping.

On the mobile broadband side of things, the V110 can be ordered with an optional 4G LTE module (our tester had a Sierra Wireless AirPrime 4G card). A dedicated GPS module is also optionally available.

Ruggedness

On the ruggedness side, the V110 is considered fully rugged and designed to perform "flawlessly under extreme working environments where weather conditions and physical abuse are unavoidable." The machine can operate between -6° and 140° Fahrenheit (-21° to 60°C) (though, per manual, the recommended temperature range is between 32 and 131F). Sealing is at the IP65 standard, and the machine fills MIL-STD-810G testing requirements for humidity, altitude, shock, drop, vibration and others, and there is optional compliance with MIL-STD-461F (electromagnetic interference). The pictures below show ruggedness testing being performed on a Getac V100. We couldn't find V110 testing images or videos, but Getac undoubtedly runs the same test on the V110.

To go into a bit more detail on the individual ruggedness testing categories:

IP ratings refer to Ingress Protection standards for electrical enclosures, with the first number describing the protection level against solids and the second protection against liquids. The V110's IP65 rating indicates total protection against dust and protection against low pressure water jets from all directions.

In terms of temperature resistance, the V110's -6 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit operating temperature range was measured in accordance with MIL-STD-810G, 501.5 Procedure II and 502.5 Procedure II. The computer also passed non-condensing humidity testing up to 95% per MIL-STD-810G, 507.5 Procedure II, and can operate in altitudes up to 15,000 feet (and obviously in aircraft with pressurized cabins) per MIL-STD-810G, 500.5 Procedure II.

The device is RoHS-compliant. RoHS stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances and regulates the use of certain hazardous substances in electronic equipment. The RoHS standard is fully implemented in Europe, with lesser restrictions applying in the US.

Shock, vibration, drop and ESD resistance are all tested according to MIL-STD-810G and other relevant regulatory procedures. Not all results are in the promotional literature or owner's manual (which for now only states "vibration & drop resistant"), so inquire with Getac for specifics and also check Getac's MIL-STD-810G compliance testing table (see here).

With respect to the ever important drop spec, the situation isn't clear. Getac's web page specs don't mention a particular drop height, just that the tests performed on Getac units include MIL-STD-810G Method 516.6. — transit drop. That one generally requires 26 drops from four feet. Why four feet? Because when designing the drop tests, the government figured that if you drop something while standing, it'll drop about four feet, as opposed to something that falls off a table or counter, which is 2.5 to three feet.

I should mention that Getac offers optional UL 1604 certification that allows safe, spark-free use of the V110 in potentially explosive environments typically found in the oil and gas, petrochemical, aviation and related industries.

Security — all the tools are there

Data and access security is becoming an ever more important issue in mobile computing. The V110 offers TPM 1.2 functionality to store secured information. An optional contactless Smart Card reader provides additional access security. A Kensington-style lock slot can be used to secure the V110 via a steel cable. Both available processors support vPro, a set of Intel security and remote management technologies that provide multiple lines of built-in defenses (for more detail on implementing vPro features, see Intel's vPro page here).

LumiBond 2 display works well indoors and out

Getac's V110 into press release mentions an "updated LumiBond 2.0 touch screen that allows glove-on use." Since outdoor display and interface performance is just as important as overall performance (or perhaps more so), let's examine what this means.

First, rugged computer manufacturers have long been in a race for the best possible outdoor/sunlight-viewable display technology. Getac generally calls theirs "QuadraClear" (see QuadraClear page). The term derives from its four core features: a bright backlight, anti-reflective coatings, linear polarizer, and circular polarizer.

All major manufacturers of outdoor-usable mobile computing equipment use those technologies, and so the difference boils down to a) backlight brightness and b) the extent to which the expensive optical coatings are applied and how the various layers are bonded (the fewer reflective surfaces, the better). Getac calls their layer bonding process "LumiBond" (see LumiBond page).

Getac's QuadraClear increases screen brightness, up to 800 nits in the V110, while the optical treatments cut down the percentage of incoming ambient light. That's important because the ratio between the backlight and the reflected incoming ambient light determines the effective contrast ratio, which then translates into the degree of real world outdoor readability of a display.

The two comparison pictures below highlight the outdoor display qualities of the V110 compared to a 3rd gen iPad's retina display (top) and an iPad Air 2 (bottom).

The first picture shows the two devices side by side outdoors on a bright California spring day. While the 3rd gen iPad screen is quite good, its super-glossy screen and lack of reflection control turn it into a virtual mirror outdoors. The Getac V110's semi-matte display shows no reflections and remains perfectly readable. This is one of the major differences between a vertical/industrial market device carefully designed for outdoor and sunlight use, and a consumer market tablet designed primarily for use indoors.

The image below pits a 2nd gen Getac V110 against the newer iPad Air 2, photographed on a bright summer morning outside our Tennessee office. What's obvious here is how the V110's 800 nits screen can generate a very good image while the Apple tablet with its roughly 400 nits screen is noticeably darker.

The matrix below shows the V110 display under a wide variety of viewing conditions, all but one of them (the multi-touch picture with the hand) outdoors. As can be seen, the V110 display lives up to expectations.

Is there anything we'd still like for Getac to improve? There is.

First, while the anti-glare treatment of the display works very well, it does tend to make the screen appear a bit milky when viewed from certain angles. It's not nearly as severe as was the case with earlier matte screens, but improvement seems possible.

Second, while the horizontal viewing angle is perfect, the vertical one isn't, with noticeable color and contrast shifts. This is neither a QuadraClear nor a LumiBond issue, it's an LCD technology issue. We'd love to see an IPS display with perfect viewing angles from all directions in future versions of the platform.

Multi-touch — a multi-faceted issue

The V110 has multi-touch. That's good news because it's almost mandatory to have it these days, and certainly on a device that can also be used as a tablet. Getac's implementation of multi-touch on the V110 is capacitive touch, and not the modified resistive dual-touch that was offered on the V100. That means any capacitive touch stylus works on it, and one comes with the V110.

Getac's implementation claims five separate inputs in the manual, but actually seems able to differentiate up to ten separate touch inputs (on Windows systems we usually determine how many in good old Windows Paint). Unlike some products that have touch but make it difficult to use by having thick bezels around the screen, the V110 doesn't have a protruding bezel. Its display cover extends flush past the actual LCD perimeter by half an inch all around. And even where the screen cover meets the plastic bezel, that's flush-mounted, too, making touch use of the V110 in tablet mode as easy as it can be.

That said, there's still Windows, and Windows was never optimized for touch. The original pre-production V110 we had hands-on with before its introduction had Windows 8 installed, and the Windows 8 Metro interface worked, as expected, very well with multi-touch. But hardly anyone was/is using Windows 8 in Metro mode, and the legacy Windows desktop and legacy Windows apps work far less well with capacitive touch, or any touch for that matter. Our initial production eval unit came with Windows 7, and was entirely more pleasant to use. Once you configure the Windows 7 user interface as RuggedPCReview.com recommends in our "Optimizing the legacy Windows interface for touch and tablets", capacitive touch works quite well on the V110. The fairly bulbous point of a capacitive stylus is still less precise than the tip of a plain old resistive stylus, but capacitive touch is definitely far more future-proof.

The gen 2 V110 Getac sent us for testing came with Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 is available the end of July 2015.

Yet, since legacy Windows software will probably remain in use for a good number of years to come, and since some of that software requires mouse-style pinpoint accuracy, Getac does offer an active pen option. The pen then works as part of an auto-sensing dual input system where the screen responds to touch, but senses the presence of a pen and accepts its (very precise) input. Do note that if you intend to use handwriting recognition on the V110 — and yes, that's still available through the Windows Input Panel, and Windows Journal is there as well — you'll need the active digitizer option as capacitive touch won't do.

Glove touch

The other big issue with capacitive touch is that it in its generic form, it only works with human fingers or, to a lesser extent, with capacitive styli. Capacitive touch doesn't like rain and it won't accept thick gloves and such. Unfortunately, wetness and the need for gloves is exactly what one encounters out there where machines such as the Getac V110 are often used.

Getac says this has been addressed in the 2nd gen V110, and glove use capability may well be the primary advance in Getac's LumiBond 2.0 technology.

What Getac has added is a G-Manager "Touch" tab where users can select "Touch," "Glove," or "Pen." Here's what we found:

"Touch" seems to be the default mode. Drops near the hand on the "Touch" icon seem to suggest that touch continues to work "with direct exposure to rain." How exactly Getac does that is unclear. Water is so conductive that it affects the capacitance between two electrodes, which is the concept upon which projected capacitive touch is built. What can be done is switching from a standard mutual capacitance mode to self-capacitance where the capacitance between one electrode and the ground is measured instead of the capacitance between two electrodes. That would preclude a capacitive pen from working in this mode because a fairly large touch area is required. The capacitive pen does work, however, so Getac did it some other way.

"Glove" does indeed allow the V110 to be operated with gloves. That is usually done by increasing the sensitivity of the touch controller, so that it can recognize a finger even a brief distance away from the screen, as in the distance that the material of a glove adds to the finger's distance from the screen. That's the way Getac seemed to have done it, as not only do gloves work in this mode, but the cursor now follows the finger even when it is a short distance away from the surface, and touch operations no longer require a firm touch.

"Pen" mode presumably is for use with the dualmode input option that adds an active pen. It's a bit confusing because the passive stylus can also be considered a "pen."

As is, being able to switch to a higher touch controller sensitivity so that gloves can be used is a definite plus.

Helpful utilities

In the field, users need quick access to often-used functions and applications, and the quicker and easier it is to find and access those functions, the better. For that reason, Getac included a number of useful utilities. Below are screen shots of four of those utilities:

• Getac OSD Control Panel — OSD, which stands for On Screen Display, provides quick access to the V110's major functions.

  It can be used to control brightness and sound, activate airplane mode, rotate the screen, setup Bluetooth, and launch the Mobility Center, camera, keyboard, and web browser. OSD is especially handy when the V110 is used in tablet mode.

  In Windows 7 versions, the Windows hardware button launches OSD.

• Getac Camera — a handy and very simple app that lets users control the V110's integrated camera (or cameras, if the optional documentation camera is also installed). You can set image storage location and naming conventions, brightness, contrast, hue, night mode, capture mode, shutter sound, white balance, and more. You can also get GPS information (if the computer has GPS), view stored images, etc.

• G-Manager — a control panel that provides a system overview, complete battery stats, ECO mode info and settings, touch screen configuration, docking station configuration, antenna settings, button configuration, status monitoring, and GPS information. Below are screen snaps of all G-Manager screens. Click the image for a full-size version.

Summary: Second generation Getac V110

The second generation Getac V110, introduced April 2015, provides a series of technology and functionality updates to Getac's convertible notebook that can also be used as a tablet. Already lauded for its slender, lightweight design (for a fully rugged machine), its easy-to-operate capacitive multi-touch screen, the full-scale keyboard, and the availability of an active pen for precision operations, the updated V110 includes, among other tweaks, Intel Broadwell processor technology and glove-touch capability.

Taking full advantage of the latest power-saving technologies from Intel and other suppliers, the Getac V110 provides a svelte and contemporary mobile computing solution that is rugged enough for any deployment, offers state-of-the-art performance, and leverages both the laptop and the tablet form factors to optimal advantage.

Apart from the sleek profile and surprisingly low weight, the second generation Getac V110 convinces with the efficiency and graphics improvements of Intel's miniaturized 14nm Broadwell lithography. Capacitive multi-touch provides a familiar, effortless operating interface that's now enhanced with glove-touch capability; communications are at the latest standards (802.11ac, BT 4.0, Gobi 4G); and Getac also made available a higher resolution camera.

What also impresses is that Getac didn't have to update its convertible notebook's technology so quickly. The original V110 was by no means obsolete. It's the drive to quickly pass on to customer the latest and greatest that sets leaders apart.

– Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, July 2015

Getac V110 Gen 2 Specifications

Status	Introduced Fall 2013, original V110 full review March 2014, full review update for Gen 2 version July 2015
Type	Rugged convertible notebook
Processor	Intel Core i7-5600U (2.60GHz, 3.20GHz max turbo) Intel Core i7-5500U (2.40GHz, 3.00GHz max turbo) Intel Core i5-5200U (2.30GHz, 2.90GHz max turbo) Intel Core i5-5300U (2.20GHz, 2.70GHz max turbo)
Thermal Design Power	15 watts (all available processors)
Chipset	Intel Broadwell-U PCH-LP
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 5500
Display Chipset	Integrated into processor
OS	Windows 7 Professional, Windows 8.1 Professional
Memory	4GB DDR3L 1,600MHz SO-DIMM, expandable to 8GB
Display type	LumiBond 2 sunlight readable TFT LCD, 800 nits, anti-glare and anti-reflection film, Corning Gorilla Glass.
Display size/res	11.6-inch/1366 x 768 pixel HD
Digitizer	10-point capacitive multi-touch with glove-touch setting; optional auto-sensing dual-mode adds active digitizer pen
Keyboard	Integrated, 88-key 100%-scale waterproof membrane keyboard
Storage	128GB or 256GB SATA SSD
Expansion slots	1 x Express Card/54mm, Smart Card reader
Housing	Magnesium alloy, sealed ports
Size	11.8 x 8.8 x 1.34 inches (300 x 223 x 34 mm)
Weight	Starting at 4.4 lbs. (2.0 kg.); 4.6 lbs. as tested
Operating temperature	-6° to 140°F (-21° to 60°C)
Ingress protection	IP65
Vibration	According to IEC 68-2-6 / MIL-STD-810G, Method 514.5
Intrinsic safety	Unknown
Power	Dual 2,140mAh 23 watt-hour Li-Ion ("up to 13 hours")
Interface	2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x gigabit RJ45 LAN, 1 x Serial RS232, 1 x headphone out/mic-in, dock, opt. RF antenna pass-through for GPS, WLAN, WWAN
Wireless	Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0 class 1; optional Gobi 4G LTE, discrete GPS, fingerprint reader, 13.56MHz RFID, contactless smart card reader
Price	Inquire
Contact	GETAC us.getac.com
Web page	Getac V110 page
Brochure	Getac V110
Warranty	3-year bumper-to-bumper warranty standard
Warranty	3-year bumper-to-bumper warranty standard