We offer two product lines

The L-series and the X-series. It is fairly easy to choose the right product for your organization’s specific needs and priorities.

Quick decision guide

Distance

The main difference between the two series is how long the cables can be between the shared PC and your users. The L-series gives you the freedom of distance. Your users can be just about as far away from the shared PC as you like. They can be in different rooms, different buildings, or the farthest reaches of your network. The X-series is better for workgroup clusters, where the users are within 10 meters (about 30 feet) of the shared PC.

Performance

Both series deliver a very pleasing PC experience. Most people see no difference in the performance of a dedicated PC, an X-series, or an L-series when they run standard office productivity tasks. But for demanding multimedia, go for the X-series. Even when running videos and Flash, people say they can’t tell the difference between a dedicated PC and an X-series virtual desktop.

Ease of installation and maintenance

It doesn’t get much easier to install and maintain a product than with the L-series. The L-series access devices plug into standard Ethernet networks, so it is, quite literally, a snap to install, move, or replace them. The X-series takes a little longer and requires basic PC skills because you have to open up the PC and install a PCI card. The X-series does have one convenience advantage over the L-series: because the power for the X-series access devices comes through the data cable, there’s no power adapter, so you don’t need an extra outlet at each workstation.

Number of users

You can generally get more users onto one shared PC with the L-series than with the X-series. Each X-series kit includes three access devices. Two kits can go into a single PC. That way you get up to seven users sharing one computer (three on each kit, plus one on the PC itself).

Because the L-series connects through Ethernet, there are no card or slot imitations. Technically, a single PC can support up to 31 users (one on the PC and the other 30 on L-series virtual desktops). Realistically, it all depends on your applications and expectations. As a rule of thumb for office applications, 10 users can run comfortably on an entry-level PC (about US$400), and 30 on an entry-level server (about US$1000).

Which specific model

This step is easy because there is only one product currently in the X-series—the X300. But if the L-series is right for you, you have one more decision: the L230 or the L130.

The L230 has three features that the L130 does not have:

• USB flash drive support
• 24-bit color depth 
• Microphone port

The L130 is less expensive than the L230. The L130 displays fewer colors than the L230 (16-bit vs. 24-bit), but the L130 is actually more secure than the L230 (because it doesn’t have a USB flash memory port that can be used to download confidential data). The L130 also doesn’t have a microphone port, so it wouldn’t be suitable for VoIP applications (like in call centers), so we recommend it for the ultimate in economy and security.