Panasonic has long held the throne for hardened laptops with their Toughbook line, but now Dell is about to enter the fray with a ruggedized version of the Latitude D630. I wonder what took them this long?
Regardless, the new XFR D630 meets the US DoD’s standards for what they require in the field. Things like withstanding temperatures from -20 degrees F to 140 degrees; sealed against moisture; shock resistant hard drive. If you’ve got almost $4k, then you can pick one up next week.
There is certainly a market for a rugged notebook… especially among those who pay for them with corporate budgets.
But I think the consumer answer to the ruggedized notebook is not bigger, heavier, tougher, but rather, simpler/cheaper/lighter. Like the Asus EEE PC or the OX (one laptop per child) machines come in with much lower price tags, so you can treat it more like a beater notebook… and when it breaks, big whoop, go get a new one.
Yep, totally agree.
Sure, beat up the cheapo notebook. Just remember to backup!