Do You Need A Rugged Laptop?
The first time you look at rugged laptops, it might seem hard to understand why you’d want to buy one over a regular commercial laptop. After all, the benefits aren’t apparent right away, and the price tag is pretty high.
On the other hand, if you’re someone who needs to be able to work under any conditions and in almost any location, rugged laptops may fit the bill. They offer flexibility, durability, and deal with almost any situation.
If you’re working in an environment where your laptop could be exposed to vibrations, falling, liquid, dust, electromagnetic emissions or other dangers, rugged laptop computers might be the right solution for you. While the initial expenditure might seem rather high, you’ll see that it’s not once you realize that these computers are able to deal with just about anything their environments can hit them with.
Rugged laptops have sealed keyboards and strong, gapless casings. That means that liquids, damp, and dust can’t get into the compartments inside to damage delicate components. Use your laptop in damp or dusty conditions, but don’t be afraid of losing your information!
If vibrations or a fall could be a hazard, you’ll want to make sure you choose a rugged laptop that’s been built with protection against shock and vibration for the case and the hard drive, too.
Workers around radio or power transmitting equipment have trouble with electronics, since the delicate parts of their computers can be damaged by electromagnetic emissions. Choose a laptop that protects against these kinds of emissions if you need to work around them.
While protecting the fragile interiors of a laptop might seem tricky, there are a number of methods available that’ll guard even LCD screens and rotating hard drive platters.
Instead of an ordinary plastic case, these rugged laptops use high impact plastic or magnesium alloys. They may also have rubber bumpers on the corners to keep them in good shape, and you’ll get a carrying handle with many models.
Slightly smaller screens are less susceptible to damage, though rugged laptops use screens that can be read more easily in bright light. Hard disks are mounted on shock absorbing devices to keep the shock of a fall from being transmitted to them.
There are even a few newer rugged laptops using smaller capacity solid state drives instead of traditional mechanical ones, and devices with motion sensors to stop a hard drive platter before the computer reaches the ground.
These computers are made waterproof using gaskets around case joints, rubber membranes under the keyboards to reduce dirt, dust, and liquid absorption and rubber casing around all connectors.
There are quite a few rugged laptops made for use in outdoor environments, too. They contain tiny heaters to keep their components at the correct temperature and larger keys that you can press with gloves, with some keyboards made to glow in the dark.
Is a rugged laptop right for you? If you work in any kind of rough environment, in the military, emergency services, surveying, civil engineering and more, you might be perfect for one of these sturdy, nearly indestructible machines.
Posted: December 18th, 2008 under Computer.
Tags: Computer, computer;internet, Computers, computing, laptops, notebooks, technology







