Jul 1, 2011 14:49 GMT  ·  By

There isn't much that workstations like the Radius EX-B can't do, especially now that this particular model's maker, NextComputing, has managed to overcome a certain limitation.

Portable workstations are either laptops with high level specs, maybe rugged casings, or something more akin to desktops with handles.

Though not particularly easy to move about, the latter sort of workstation are, nonetheless, possible to transport with mild efforts.

Sacrificing looks and compactness allows their makers to put in high-level computing, graphics and storage capabilities, though a power plug is still required.

As it happens, however, that the recent portable briefcase-like workstation from NextComputing actually has a battery as well, one that can keep the system on full load for two hours or so (the PSU is of 320W and the Lithium-ion battery pack is removable).

With a built-in 17-inch widescreen, the product is powered by a second generation Intel Core i7 quad-core or a Xeon E3-1200 CPU.

Whatever chip is chosen is backed up by a maximum of 32 GB of DDR3 memory and up to 6 TB of storage space, plus graphics from either AMD or NVIDIA (four full-height PCI Express and PCI expansion slots are present).

NextComputing expects the Radius EX-B to be utilized in military intelligence, digital video production and network testing. No price is given, unfortunately.

"When trying to run these applications in the field, these users are often forced to choose between large, non-mobile systems like a tower or rack-mount server that gives them the performance they require, or scale their application down to run on a laptop for mobility," NextComputing explains.

"NextComputing solives this problem with the Radius EX-B. Like all NextComputing portables, the briefcase-like Radius EX-B is designed to offer true workstation and server performance in a compact, all-in-one package that is easy to transport and set up."