Inside the Box » Blog Archive » ThinkPads are Ruggedized Machines

Inside the Box » Blog Archive » ThinkPads are Ruggedized Machines: "It was past time for us to get third party validation that our machines could take on the rigors of use normally reserved for only the “rugged” category. Earlier this year, Trace Laboratories took our ThinkPad T61 and ThinkPad R61 and put them to the test. The results are great news and a great testament to our engineers. We passed the following tests: Altitude (500.4), Humidity (507.4), Vibration (514.5), High Temperature (501.4), and Temperature Shock (503.4). We almost passed blowing sand and dust test (510.4), but there was an error message on boot. However, the system did boot normally after we bypassed the error message. I count that as a half victory — so a ThinkPad has successfully passed 5.5 MIL Spec tests."

This makes me somewhat happy to own and use a ThinkPad. I say only somewhat because I used the older T42 model. However, I already knew that the ThinkPad was somewhat ruggedized as it uses accelerometers (starting with the T40 series), and roll cages and such. Its cases are built fairly strongly. The main weak point is the power connector (something like DMC connector?). In any case the ThinkPad which costs slightly more than some other "standard" laptops, but far less than "rugged" laptops, passed 5 MIL Spec tests.

Apple Sales and Refund Policy

Apple Sales and Refund Policy: "Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment."

The iPhone (8GB) just dropped in price from $599 to $399. As such, it is important to remember that being the first to own the latest and greatest does have its price. However if you bought the iPhone from Apple withing the last 10 days then you should hurry up and call the above number to ask for a refund of the difference.