rugged

Notebook PCs for the accident-prone

Mobile computing can be a haphazard business, and new notebooks from General Dynamics and Panasonic give their owners permission to drop them (from a reasonable distance) as often as they like.

General Dynamics' GoBook MR-1 claims to be the smallest fully rugged ultramobile PC, and it may very well be. It weighs 2 pounds, and is about the size of a small jewelry box. It was made to have all the same features and capabilities of the full-size GoBook XR-1 but in a more compact form factor. That means four wireless connections: Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, GPS, and Wireless Wide Area … Read more

Mac Mini gets a suit of armor

Judging by the survivalist nature of many products coming on the market, we sometimes wonder if half the computer world is in a real-life episode of Lost. Either that, or it's an inordinately clumsy bunch. (We suspect the latter.)

Whatever the case, VictorSystems saw an opportunity to customize the Mac Mini for today's extreme computing, specifically for military use. This armored Mini has a case of reinforced aluminum that's "constructed from extruded rails and finned heat sinks to keep it cool, while the outer covers are made from wrought plates," SlashGear says. Bulletproof mouse and … Read more

A tablet PC built for the bunker

Sometimes it seems that every company wants to play the tech industry's version of Survivor with super-tough products. But rather than offering something of limited use like a USB key, TabletKiosk has ambitions to take over the whole island with a new rugged tablet computer.

The "TufTab" line, despite its Playskool-sounding name, is a reinforced version of its "eo v7110" ultra-mobile PC that's been toughed up with a rubberized case to withstand "rain, dust, humidity, extreme temperatures and vibration," according to the company, as well as a biometric fingerprint reader for additional … Read more

Panasonic's rugged SD card camcorder

Earlier, we reported on the Panasonic SDR-S10, an SD card camcorder the company claimed was the smallest on the market. Unfortunately, details were sparse. Fortunately, we finally got the full scoop on the little camcorder.

Panasonic officially announced the SDR-S10 at PMA 2007. The SDR-S10 is a compact, rugged, affordable SD card camcorder that can handle both drops and splashes. The S10 measures just 1.5 inches thick and weighs just 6.4 ounces, making it at least one of the smallest and lightest camcorders we've seen so far. It's shockproof for drops up to four feet, and … Read more

The survivalist's keyboard

If Speed Link's aluminum keyboard is the equivalent of a tuxedo, than Stacco Switch's M779 is what you'd wear to go camping--or maybe your paramilitary training exercises.

This keyboard may not be the prettiest on the block, but that's hardly the point. The M779 (sounds like an automatic weapon, appropriately) is designed to "withstand vibration, shock, severe jolts and spilled liquids," according to Gizmowatch. It also has a touchpad and LED lighting so you can save the batteries on your night-vision goggles. And to complete your undercover mission, we suggest a titanium USB drive … Read more

Tough climb for handheld DVD player

A lot of us at Crave have small children, and at least some of us aren't ashamed to admit that we rely on portable DVD players in emergency situations (such as drives that last more than an hour). So we were pleased to find that a new handheld player had made its way to the market, MediaStreet's "eMotion."

On closer inspection, however, the player seemed to fall short compared with other models at least in the specs department. Its 3.5-inch screen is smaller than that of a comparable player from Hammacher Schlemmer, for example, which … Read more

Dell gets rugged

As a CNET employee, I am often harassed by friends and family about "what to buy and where to buy it." I often tell them to visit our Web site, not me. Recently, folks have been asking me about my thoughts on rugged notebooks. The first brand that comes to mind is Panasonic and its "ToughBook" line of notebooks. Recently, Dell (yes, Dell) has gotten into the mix by offering its first rugged notebook, the Latitude ATG D620. It's a rugged version of its popular Latitude D620 notebooks, offering new casing, a shock-mounted hard drive, … Read more

Dell launches sorta-indestructible laptop

You may be tempted to drop-kick, drown, or otherwise abuse the new Dell Latitude ATG D620. That's not because of any sort of personal animosity--the ATG stands for All Terrain Grade, and it's Dell's first semirugged laptop.

The ATG isn't exactly a new system built from the ground up. It's essentially a Dell Latitude D620 with a new case and a few other rugged extras. It has a magnesium-alloy shell with high-durability textured bumpers built onto the edges, a shock-mounted hard drive (a 1.8-inch drive in a cushioned 2.5-inch drive bay), a spill-resistant … Read more

Toughbooks get tougher to resist with mobile broadband

These days, if you're not rocking some mobile broadband on your laptop, you might as well not even leave the house. The latest notebooks to jump on the EV-DO Rev. A bandwagon (for those speedy 800KBps downloads) are the Panasonic Toughbook W5 and the T5, originally released in September. The provider of choice in this case is Sprint.

Our enthusiasm is only somewhat dampened by the fact that those two models are what Panasonic calls "business-rugged." That means these laptops have a magnesium-alloy case designed to withstand a 1-foot drop, and shock-mounted hard drives rated for a … Read more