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Durabook Laptop Marketing Claims 'Destroyed'

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the hard-knocks dept.

jkwdoc writes "The crew at [H] Consumer got a hold of a Durabook sample from Twinhead and got the green light to hold Twinhead to their word about what kind of abuse the unit can withstand. Twinhead originally claimed that their unit could survive 26 drops from 29 inches. A cracked LCD and busted hard drive later, they changed their tune. Complete with video!"

16 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Marketing nonsense by udderly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Twinhead originally claimed that their unit could survive 26 drops from 29 inches. A cracked LCD and busted hard drive later, they changed their tune.

    Seriously, did anyone really think that *any* notebook could take that?

    1. Re:Marketing nonsense by Herkum01 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, but you know, if you don't expose their lies for what they are they will keep telling the same lie over and over.

    2. Re:Marketing nonsense by jonored · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The one I'm writing on (CF-27 toughbook) wouldn't flinch even if it were on. You'd not want to do it on a table you care about, though, as it'll leave gouges in the surface; there's no plastic padding on the corners. A friend of mine was giving a presentation on a CF-26, and when asked if that was a toughbook, unplugged the cable, closed the hatch over it, threw the laptop against the brick wall, running, picked it up, plugged it in, and finished the presentation. Of course, that did crack the screen, but it was decidedly an out-of-spec event.

    3. Re:Marketing nonsense by lakin · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not over and over indefinitely though. They claim the lie will work 26 times, but our testing has shown it is infact significantly less than that.

      --
      Paul
    4. Re:Marketing nonsense by multimediavt · · Score: 4, Interesting
      FTFA:

      DURABOOK Rugged Standard All DURABOOK systems pass US Military and European Committee rugged feature standards to ensure its durable qualification. These standard test measurements include: DROP TEST - MIL STD 810F, Method 516.4, Procedure IV, 26 drops of 36 inches (29 inches for all 15" DURABOOK systems) onto plywood over concrete with unit off and display closed. Now, this is something that the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Military will not tolerate. The Durabook is *claimed* to meet MilSpec and I am curious to know how many of these things they duped the military into buying. I'll be very surprised if they don't get shut down for this. It's fraud, plain and simple, and although comical results were gotten at, the company has got some serious explaining to do! I have seen and played with MilSpec laptops and, frankly, I wasn't surprised by the test results when I saw the design. I was surprised that they claimed MilSpec. MilSpec portable computers look like the old Dolch boxes that I don't think they make any more. Kind of like an old Osbourne system with a modern set of guts, but ammo box (or better) quality metal all around. I dropped that thing off a loading dock straight onto concrete (by accident, really) and it did dent on the corner, but everything worked peachy!
  2. Still not so bad... by Danimoth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While it certaintly looks like it didn't live up to the full expectations, the damage taken was gradual. For the most part it was "optical drive came out, system still works." I wouldn't want to see what happens to my macbook pro in the same circumstance.

    --
    No smoking sigs indoors.
  3. Accckkkkk too many pageviews by sulli · · Score: 5, Informative
    These hardware review sites are awful, forcing you to tab through ten freaking pages just to get to the bottom line. Do they still get paid by the ad view rather than the click?

    On topic, forget these no name laptops that give away samples to shady review sites, Panasonic Toughbook is the real deal.

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
    1. Re:Accckkkkk too many pageviews by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Insightful

      These hardware review sites are awful, forcing you to tab through ten freaking pages just to get to the bottom line. Do they still get paid by the ad view rather than the click?

      I'll let you in on a little secret: when you read a review like this, jump to the last page: you'll find the conclusion there, which is usually about the only thing interesting in the article. And in the case of this article, videos as well, which is even better.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Mean time to failure by Pretzalzz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Surely a reasonable person would expect the 26 drop number to be a mean time to failure sort of number. Otherwise you are left to think: "Oh, 26 drops is no problem, but that 27th is the real doosy".

  5. The MIL-STD drop test is in the shipping box by Animats · · Score: 5, Informative

    The MIL-STD-810F test, procedure IV, calls for 29 drops of the test article while in its shipping box without functional damage. Think of that as soldiers unloading a truck in a hurry. Or baggage handling at some airports.

    The operational tests are much milder. Procedure I, functional shock, is 40G for 11ms, 3x on each axis, with the unit running, without any operational glitches. Think of this as in use in an off-road vehicle bouncing over rough terrain, i.e. normal military usage. Procedure VI, bench handling, is a 100mm drop test in normal orientation, power off, 4x. That's just dropping it on a table from 10cm.

    1. Re:The MIL-STD drop test is in the shipping box by Alpha232 · · Score: 4, Funny

      That is crazy, everyone knows that 0.001 m is the same as 0.001mm, if you look at it on paper... You must work for Verizon... And we already know that Verizon Can't Do Math .
  6. Durability testing summary from the article by EMIce · · Score: 4, Informative

    Summary

    Obviously, the Durabook didnt survive some of the abuse Twinhead initially claimed it should, but lets look at this in real-world terms.

    If you find yourself accidentally dropping your laptop 26 times from a height of nearly three feet, you should probably see a doctor. Most of us have probably sent our laptops tumbling only once or twice. Our first Durabook survived three very gnarly drops before something broke off completely (an easily replaceable optical drive faceplate), and at least 10 drops before we started to get some significant hardware failure. It took around 20 drops for the hard drive to fail. Thats some fairly serious protection, especially since the data on that hard drive is often worth more than the laptop itself.

    The second unit was more of the same. Although we saw some minor damage within the first 6 drops on both units, all of the essential hardware, including the LCD and hard drive, was still fully functional and the machines had no problem booting. This is a huge testament to the security a form factor like this can give the consumer.

    ----------------------

    So as far as hardened notebooks go, it fairs decently, but marketing's original claims were clearly out of whack with reality.

  7. Surprised no one mentioned by edwardpickman · · Score: 4, Informative
    These are the real deal.

    http://www.griduk.com/

    I've seen test videos and they are amazing. You can drive car over them and all that happens is the screen cracks, they are still useable. Also seen them dropped down a flight of concrete stairs and they still worked.

  8. Tandy Model 10x by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Informative
    Anyone remember the Tandy Radio Shack Model 100/101/102 "laptops"? - they were small BASIC-programmable computers that same out in the 80s with an LCD screen right above the keyboard and no moving parts to speak of since programs were retained in RAM by a backup battery. We still had some of them going strong and being used for field work on automation systems in a previous job (after year 2000 :/ ). We had them literally fall down flights of stairs, and it didn't seem to have any bad effect. They just sort of bounced.


    If one wanted a "tough" notebook for field work, why not revert to that kind of form factor? Screen above the keyboard covered by thickish Plexiglas - no screen hinges to break and the screen can be thicker. All storage on a (say) 5 GB Flash ROM disc. No moving parts. USB ports or Bluetooth to connect external peripherals when needed. Slightly slower processor than top of the line for lower heat production - a fan wouldn't be needed. All powered by standardized LiIon or NiMH AA-sized batteries. You should even be able to use alkalines or NiCads in a pinch.


    -b.

    1. Re:Tandy Model 10x by fishbowl · · Score: 4, Informative


      >Anyone remember the Tandy Radio Shack Model 100/101/102 "laptops"?

      The Model 100 revolutionized jornalism. This was in no small part due to the fact that it ran on AA batteries -- available anywhere in the world, and that it was the first portable computer to easily combine a word processor and a modem, the perfect and obvious thing for field reporters. They were extremely reliable, and were a de facto standard for quite a few years.

      Except for certain PDA devices with keyboards, I have yet to see a portable computer that matches the battery life of a model 100 TRS-80 -- a Kyocera product, by the way. These machines were an absolute joy to use; but I'm not saying we were not painfully aware of their limitations.

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
  9. Re:This machine is HOT! by Redshift · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is much much much harder than you think to light a magnesium-cased computer: see http://www.simson.net/hacks/cubefire.html