Review: HP t5630w thin client

The HP t5630w is a new addition to the firm's Flexible series of thin clients, designed to fit the requirements of a variety of roles, including access to Terminal Services sessions and hosted virtual desktops.

Available immediately, the new device is based on a 1GHz VIA Eden processor with 1GB of memory, and runs the embedded version of Windows XP (XPE SP2) from its built-in 1GB Flash storage.

This specification should ensure that the t5630w has enough performance to serve either as a client for web-based enterprise applications or to act as the user console for remote desktop sessions.

We tested the t5630w by using it to access a number of web-based applications, a Terminal Services session hosted by Windows Server 2003, and a hosted virtual desktop provided by ThinkGrid, and found its performance more than acceptable in each case.

HP states that the t5630w supports various desktop brokers for connecting to hosted virtual desktops, including those from Citrix, VMware, Leostream and Provision Networks.

However, our review unit came pre-configured only with a client for HP's own Session Allocation Manager. Customers requiring a different client will need to specify it when ordering, or be prepared to provision it themselves.

As delivered, the unit also did not include either Java or Adobe Flash player - two technologies widely used in web sites and web-based applications.

[Update: HP told us the missing components were due to the unit coming from EMEA evaluation stock and these will be installed in models delivered to customers]

Like most other thin clients, the t5630w comes with a Microsoft RDP client (version 6.0) for Terminal Services and a Citrix Presentation Server client (version 10.2). Also included is the TeemTalk tool that emulates a variety of text-based terminals for access to legacy systems.

Other software installed as standard includes a Neoware Management Agent (the client for HP's Device Manager), an agent for Altiris Deployment Solution and Symantec's Endpoint Protection 5.1 security agent.

There is also HP's Thinstate capture tool, used to create an image for deployment to multiple other terminals, and a client agent for Print-IT, a tool for mapping to local printers within a Terminal Services or Citrix environment.

In tests, we connected the t5630w to a Terminal Services session operating on a Windows Server 2003 machine in our labs, and verified that we could access applications with no apparent latency and view a full 24-bit colour desktop.

We also tried out the thin client with several web-based applications, such as email and web content management that we use internally, and found the device handled these with ease using the installed Internet Explorer 7 browser.

The t5630w also performed well as the access device for a virtual desktop, in this case an evaluation account hosted inside the datacentre of IT services firm ThinkGrid (see an earlier review of ThinkGrid's Hosted Desktop service).

We had to manually install a Provision Networks client in order to access the latter, but afterwards we were able to use the virtual desktop as easily as a local PC.

Installing client software such as this is not difficult, as XPE will for the most part run software written for XP without any changes. However, a manual install requires you to log in with administrator privileges and disable the Enhanced Write Filter, which otherwise prevents applications from altering the device's Flash storage. In an enterprise environment, such updates will typically be applied remotely using management tools.

The t5630w itself is fairly compact, about the same size as many wireless routers or broadband modems. It weighs 1.54kg and comes with a clip-on base that lets it stand vertically next to a monitor to take up as little space as possible. It requires an external power supply brick similar to that of a laptop.

The unit has pretty much the same complement of ports as a modern PC: two USB ports and audio jack sockets sit next to the power switch on the front of the case, while the rear has a serial and parallel port, Ethernet, an additional pai r of USB ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, and both VGA and DVI-D display ports.

Our review unit shipped with a US-layout USB keyboard and PS/2 mouse. The two display ports can be used simultaneously to give a larger desktop display area.