How Hard is Your Hardware?

You know, the thing about notebooks is that we all love the fact that they’re getting cheaper and cheaper every year (surely a Netbook’s going to be given away as a freebie in a packet of breakfast cereal before long, right?) but heaven forbid that manufacturers try to skimp a little on materials costs. That feel of slightly too cheap plastics, the slightly wobbly hinge, the crack in the chassis when it fell out of your bag? That’s the real cost of your notebook getting cheaper.

If you want the kind of strong, sturdy hardware that isn’t going to buckle when you lift the lid, Tech Radar suggests you may be interested  VT Miltope’s RLC-3 war-proof laptop. That’s not idle hyperbole, either, friends – this military grade notebook is ready for action.

Packing a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 Mobile Processor, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi and a 320GB hard disk, this tough guy can survive being dropped from a height of 3 feet 26 times (not sure what happens at drop 27), will work after being rained on in 20 mph winds, and is certified fungus proof (Note to self, must annoy local PC store employees by asking which models in their range are fungus proof).

According to the manufacturer, the RLC-3 isn’t mere hardware. It’s HARD WEAR. But then, it's probably a little more expensive than that Core i5 you're eyeing up.