Dell's Rugged Laptop Doesn't Quite Pass 4-Foot Drop Test 113
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."
Re:Dude, you're gettin' a Dell (Score:2, Informative)
*shrugs*
I accidently dropped my wifes Dell laptop from at least 4 feet. It survived and still runs just fine.
Re:4-Foot Drop = Rugged? (Score:4, Informative)
Are you able to get a replacement for your kindle?
Already have it. I submitted an inquiry on amazon.com, and they responded promptly telling me to use their tool on the website to speak with them via phone, which sounded kinda strange, but ok... so there's a page (after you log in and go to the manageyourkindle page) where you type in your phone number, and they call you RIGHT THAT SECOND. You still wait on hold for, gosh, maybe 30 seconds, but freaky anyway. ;-) Then a rep with a Starbucks-caliber chipper friendliness in his attitude asked what I'd done to try to address the problem, and after I told him I'd done what you're supposed to do (I'd power-cycled and used the Reset button under the back cover), told me I'd have my replacement Monday, which I did. That was Friday night at 9:30 p.m.
They never even asked how it got broken. I'd been agonizing over whether to say "Gosh, I just pulled it out of my purse and it was like that" or tell them the truth... but it didn't even matter.
Best. CS. Ever.
Re:4-Foot Drop = Rugged? (Score:3, Informative)
The extreme fragility of ePaper displays is still somehow eInk's dirty little secret. They are WAY more fragile than typical laptop LCD screens. The Kindle forums are full of stories from people who have broken the screen while doing various benign things, like resting another book on top of it (while the Kindle was still inside its protective cover no less.) I personally cracked my Kindle screen simply by pressing on it lightly.