Top 4 Features to Look for If You Want to Buy a Rugged Laptop or Notebook

When choosing a laptop, we mainly focus on its performance, storage and functional features. People who want a laptop that is tough, rugged and last a long time, then they look for the ‘durability’ feature of the device. A laptop or notebook is said to be rugged when it can meet military grade specifications such as high temperature, low temperature, rain and humidity, sand and dust, shock, solar radiation and more. These are not your everyday laptops! Rugged laptops are generally used by the military, fire fighters, police officers, and people who work in harsh or hazardous conditions. So if you are planning to buy a military grade laptop or military grade notebook, here are the features you should look for before making the final decision.

Ruggedness: Ruggedness is more than just passing stress tests. It is about surviving military specifications that ensure a laptop can withstand a lot of punishment, such as high pressure, vibrations, high and low temperatures, water immersion, corrosion, abrasion and other extreme conditions. Ruggedized testing for military grade laptop and notebook helps to tailor the materials and the design used in their production so that these devices can suit different environmental conditions. Note: There are different military standards in different countries such as MIL-STD-461 (a United States Military Standard), European standard EN 50155 and IEEE 1156.1-1993 Microcomputer Environment Specifications for Computer Modules (used globally).

Portability & Durability: While regular laptops are considered portable as you can take them anywhere. A rugged, military grade laptop is often made of magnesium or aluminum alloy which is tougher and heavier than plastic. Therefore, in terms of size and weight, the rugged laptop you will buy must offer portability like regular laptops. It must have minimal size, weight, and power (SWaP) so that it can be easily used during tough conditions. They may be somewhat heavier than regular laptops, but they should provide a high level of durability.

Hardware Specifications: A rugged laptop’s hard drive is responsible for storing important data. For this reason, it is important to choose a hard drive that has ample space and provides sufficient speed for your activities. CPU is responsible for determining how smoothly your applications run on your rugged laptop. A quad-core processor will be able to handle more workload than dual-core processor. Many rugged laptops are equipped with four gigabytes of RAM; however, you can buy a high-end rugged laptop that offers eight gigabytes of RAM.

Compatibility and Reliability: Compatibility is the capacity of two systems to work together without having to be altered to do so. Your military grade laptop or rugged notebook must offer unparalleled compatibility. The laptop’s rugged features must verify reliability in the real-world situations that you face every day.

If you need a device that's not affected by falls, rain or dust, then a military grade laptop or military grade notebook is a very good option to consider. Keep in mind the aforesaid features while purchasing your rugged device. You might have to sacrifice some things you find in a regular laptop but if you want a machine that is rugged, hard to break and can sustain any harsh condition, then a military grade laptop or notebook is the perfect choice.