Denys Beauchemin wrote:

>Laptops are amongst the most fragile things in the known universe.  They are
>also the object of desire of thieves and they do not subscribe to the
>universal law of gravitation, or rather, they over-subscribe to it, heavily.

National Public Radio did a piece a couple of weeks ago on "hardened"
laptops, made primarily for the military but available to the general
public, with some effort. The NPR reporter said that NPR didn't have a
product testing lab, so she gave a sample "hardened" laptop (provided by
Panasonic) to a trio of kids in her neighborhood, with instructions to
break it.

They started by pouring mustard and ketchup over the thing. Then they
jumped up and down on it. Then they dropped it a bunch of times. Then
they threw it against a tree a few times. Then they had someone run over
it (twice) with an SUV. After each test, the machine booted up and ran
with no problems. At the end, there was one latch that was slightly
askew, and the screen was somewhat scratched.

The story said the machines cost about twice what an ordinary consumer
laptop costs for the same feature set.

The story is available in RealAudio format at
<http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/me/20020328.me.08.ram>.

-- Bruce


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Toback    Tel: (602) 996-8601| My candle burns at both ends;
OPT, Inc.            (800) 858-4507| It will not last the night;
11801 N. Tatum Blvd. Ste. 142      | But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -
Phoenix AZ 85028                   | It gives a lovely light.
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