Dell's Rugged Laptop Doesn't Quite Pass 4-Foot Drop Test

Posted by timothy on Tuesday March 10, 2009 @02:49AM from the pretty-toughbook dept.

narramissic writes "Dell's new Latitude E6400 XFR laptop is designed to withstand drops, dust and high pressure water spray. The company claims the laptop, which is intended for military use, can withstand rain and wind gusts of up 70 mph, and can work in temperatures from -20 to 145 degrees Fahrenheit. It can also work for an hour at an altitude of 15,000 feet and is designed to withstand drops of around 4 feet (48 inches) when not operating and 36 inches when operational. The LCD screen floats a little bit within the LCD cover so it can take impacts and shock, said Jeremy Bolen, a Dell spokesman. But watch as the laptop that Dell used to show these features wasn't able to withstand the rough treatment that was part of the company's demonstration."

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Re:4-Foot Drop = Rugged? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2009-03-10 03:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

Heck, now that SSDs are a fairly standard option, I'd expect an ordinary laptop to take a 4 foot drop with nothing more than some surface damage. If the laptop is going to be priced like a tank, ugly like a tank, and heavy like a tank, I'd expect rather better.