Like I said a fool and his hobby and or job.
I'm not saying that there isn't a place for a more robots computer just that 99% of the population would never need such a unit.
Take camera's for example, the weakest link is the battery. Take a camera to a Packers game in December and if you're not carrying the battery next to your body before putting it in the camera for use, forget about it lasting very long. In the extreme cold batteries don't last very long. Laptops regardless of manufacture would have the same problem.
Water falling or use when it is raining can be dealt with, put the laptop in a large freezer bag, most are clear enough to allow operation and the largest ones will allow you to put your hands inside or use a couple of rubber-bands and incase the laptop within the plastic then type on the keyboard normally. I'll admit it might be a bit strange but it works. As a photographer and most recently as a digital photographer I'm out in the rain at sporting events all the time. My cameras remain dry and my Macintosh G4-laptop has remained dry and functional for the last couple of years. So I know the plastic bag trick works out in the field.. Most drill sites either oil or water have a control shack and or truck where other electronic equipment can kept safe and warm. Yes extreme temp changes can and will cause problems for electronics. As for resistance to dust. A can of compressed air works wonders or simply remove the screws when you get back to a safe place i.e a hotel room and blow the unit out. The only reason a consumer grade laptop would get destroyed in the field is because of carelessness by the operator.
prime example of carelessness:
your quote:
How about -50C outside up north in the tundra. Take your alienware outside at that temp, and then bring it inside a tent.. the condensation would kill the laptop.
Why take the laptop out of the tent in the first place? If you are going to contact the head office the safest place to do it is in the tent. If you're going to do a video conference again the safest place is in the tent. Personally I have friends who have climbed Everest and they took there Dell with them. It worked just fine so long as common sense was observed. Anything is going to fail if it is misused.
For the average user/gammer/graphic artist/computer programmer/digital photographer/teacher/federal employee/private citizen, or most other run of the mill type occupations a computer from Alienware will out perform most other computers on the market. Yes they are extremely expensive but you get what you pay for. And yes I own two work stations from Alienware. I've not purchased one of there laptops yet since most of my post production work is done in house and I have a mac laptop which does what I ask of it when outside.
As a prime example of quality control or lack of it. I purchased a workstation from a national chain (Pc-Club) just needed a box for e-mail,letter writing,ftp access,something that could be isolated from the rest of the network but available to the outside world. Well after 3 mother board replacements all work being done at pc-club and countless months in for various repairs at pc-club the store manager simply refunded my purchase. In contrast my Alienware computers which are used daily and heavily with large amounts of data being created, moved, and then removed (typically an activity that would require formatting or defragging often) have never once failed or exhibited any type of problem i.e the blue screen of death that are so common to the average Dell,HP and many of the other pc's out there.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ParchedMosquito:
Fubar, you'd be right to say that most laptops components are manufactured in taiwan. Power isn't the issue here, resistance to dust, moisture, and vibration is. What country its assembled in has very little to do with how reliable or durable it is, especially these days.
Any laptop could be usable in the field, its just a question of duration. Even a little rain would destroy a consumer grade laptop. Most consumer laptops aren't tested to be reliable in conditions that certain itronix laptops have gone through. That particular hummer laptop is probably tested to mil-810. Not the most stringent standard, but certainly more than an Alien ware. Parts like water proof fan assembly's, magnesium casings, gasketed cases are NOT common on every laptop.
I can think of many places (including some exotic, and not so exotic places) that would not have shelter.
An alien ware laptop is no different that a run of the mill dell or hp in terms of reliability and durability.
When I'm standing 2000' underground with water dripping everywhere and I can't move to a location where there's no water as my instrument are plugged in, I'll use an itronix.
How about -50C outside up north in the tundra. Take your alienware outside at that temp, and then bring it inside a tent.. the condensation would kill the laptop.
Next to a drill rig in the pouring rain..
10000' up in the mountains near Chile. Ever had a hdd crash on you at altitude?? not pretty.
When its 48C degrees outside, and a couple hundred thousand dollars of data are on the line, I will use an itronix. Not an alien ware.
I've learned through practical experience that the laptops people buy based simply on their computational specifications (most consumer grade laptops) are not good enough. I've been to too many places and broken many a laptop for stupid reasons like overheating, short circuiting due to moisture. All the dual processors, multi HDD, 17" UWXGA screen is worth squat if you can't use it when you really need it. What you're paying for here is the computer AND the casing.
4500 bucks?? worth every penny and that amount of money would be a drop in the bucket in an equipment budget for most projects. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>