When compared to the drop-tested survivalists known as rugged laptops, ordinary notebooks are 98-pound weaklings. Whether you're getting wet or muddy, these machines can withstand the elements and remain productive even in the worst conditions. We put them to the test in order to discover the best.
Rugged laptops are designed for use in the field or on manufacturing floors and are sold in vertical markets. They can be carried by first responders or military personnel, or they can be installed on the dashboards of police cars. They may have to withstand being showered on or dropped six feet onto a hard surface, work in freezing or scorching conditions or avoid becoming clogged by dust or sand clouds.
Rugged laptops are hulking devices that can withstand six-foot falls and water jets. It's important to realize that not all popular laptops are delicate. Some Lenovo ThinkPads, HP EliteBooks, and other business systems are resistant to bumps and bruises, but they won't survive high jumps or liquid spills that aren't modest. Even some Chromebooks have the same MIL-STD 810G classification as these rugged laptops, indicating compliance with a battery of tests needed by the US Department of Defense before a piece of equipment can be used in a military context.
Rugged laptops undergo the MIL-STD 810G standard. This standard is approximately 800 pages long and includes over 30 laboratory test methods for a variety of difficulties, including weather (high and low temperatures, rain, and humidity), as well as physical forces (acceleration, vibration, and shock). In direct sunshine, a standard display screen can become invisible, with insufficient contrast to discern anything more than a faint ghost of a picture. That's why many rugged laptop screens have 1,000 or more nits of brightness, compared to the 200 to 400 nits of typical indoor-optimized systems.
Only a Few computer manufacturers put their laptops and other electronics through all of the standard's tests, including gunshot recoil, ice, or freezing rain, if a laptop might cause an explosion in flammable-gas atmospheres, and—wait for it—fungus resistance. Rather, the manufacturer may state that the system has passed 10 or 12 MIL-STD tests, for example. But rugged laptops that undergo such tests and survive are guaranteed to overcome any extremity that they might encounter in an extreme work environment.
Other features to look for in a rugged laptop are the exterior casing or chassis. When faced with the abuse that tough PCs receive, the thin plastic of many consumer models crumbles to shrapnel, but it's surprising what a little strengthening can accomplish. For example, CTL claims that the lid of their Chromebook NL61TX (replaced by the NL7X after our study) can resist the weight of a few books piled on top of it on a desk or backpack—in fact, it can endure 365 pounds of strain before the screen breaks. Doors that cover ports have previously been addressed, but like with any laptop, you should evaluate which ports you require. Rugged laptops designed for factory usage are among the last to include RS-232 serial connections, which are commonly used to connect to older data-collection devices. Others have modular or swappable storage drives or battery bays, as well as slots for mobile-broadband SIM cards, so you can stay connected even when you're not near a Wi-Fi hotspot.