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Military Grade Laptops

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the when-cpu-comes-second dept.

bllb writes "Slate has an article about the "waterproof, vaporproof, shockproof" laptops the military is using. It's not at the cutting edge of performance, but it's nice to see some bombproof hardware." Most of the laptops I've owned over the years died through dropping or drowning, so maybe I should look into something a little more sturdy ;)

6 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. Re:crazy price... by pbranes · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Well, if you believe that, then the laptop isn't for you. They say in the article that it is meant for people who work in hazardous areas and need a working laptop that can stand up to whatever they can throw at it, not a fast & cheap laptop.

    I don't think I'd buy one of these laptops either because I'm not likely to be fighting a chemical spill or a fire while working on my laptop.

  2. Reliable Hardware Platforms Deserve Solid Software by n9fzx · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Reliable hardware is of course a Good Thing, but without some improvements in software reliability, you're buying a HumVee when a Yugo would do. The old Bell Labs standard called for 1/3 of system faults to be ascribed to hardware, 1/3 to software, and 1/3 to operator error. Most available operating systems clearly aren't there yet, and can't even match the reliability of existing off-the-shelf motherboards and power supplies.

    Having said that, it's also clear that some operating systems, owing to their monlithic architecture, will never improve. At least with Unix, you can discard what you don't need, reducing the volume of code that has to be checked. That's a major reason why Microsoft's "Trustworthy Computing" initiative is such a joke -- you can't get rid of the crapola, heck you can't even see the crapola!

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    ...-.-
  3. Clearly you don't understand by Gekko · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You obviously don't understand the NEED for rugadized computers. What good is 4 crappy comercial laptops when your on a ship that is torpedoed or a plane that crashes? Those four laptops will be toast, but a properly rugadized computer has a good choice of still running. This is important when your LIFE may depend on that laptop.

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    I mod down any one who says "I'm sure I will get modded down for this"
  4. Re:iBooks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good for you. Most laptops can survive a 3 foot drop. Try doing a google search for laptop + 3 + feet + drop and see all the people talking about all their laptops that they dropped 3 feet and had them survive.

    All your ibook has to do now is survive being baked in an oven, chilled in a freezer, vibrated, and submitted to a shower of hurricane proportions, and then it is relevant to this article.

    Disclaimer: I own an ibook and am, in fact, typing on it now.

  5. Re:crazy price... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That is because your data is 100% worthless. Even to you by your own admission.

    The panasonic toughbook and the military units contain priceless data and in the military people will DIE if it fails.

    you are a consumer with absolutely useless and value-less data.

    it is not for you.

  6. I think you mean 'open' by dan+g · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not sure what you meant by the term, but if you are talking about operating systems and kernels, Unix systems are generally monolithic whereas windows (nt and on) are microkernel(ish) architectures.

    You say that on Unix you can throw away what you don't need but that on Windows you "can't even see the crapola". You certainly can't open up Solaris, cut out what you don't need, and recompile for a leaner version so I assume you meant Linux or BSD. But obviously you can only do that with those OSes because they are open source, it really has nothing to do with their architecture.

    dan.