Toughbooks:lower cost than non-rugged laptops

I came across an old case study about the cost of ownership of Toughbooks compared to non-rugged laptops, perhaps it is interesting for some here. The company studied is Telstra, who are Australia's largest telephone company. They used to be a government agency, and they still own all the copper telephone wires and a huge chunk of the optical fibre in the country.

View attachment Telstra_Mobile_Computing-4_Years_On-WHITEPAPER.pdf

Short version is that annual device failure rates went from 25% down to 3.7%, with a few thousand Toughbooks giving a net saving of about half a million bucks a year.

 

Does that take into account the addiction factor? They are like Lays potato chips...

Bet you can't have just one.

 

yeppers ...

as i write this i am working on an acer laptop ... it is 3 years old and owned by people who are not hard on equipment ... they are careful ...
the thing looks like brand new .
there are two stress fractures on the lid back , right where the hinges are attached .
the weather turned cold recently (-10F) and this is when the cracks happened .
the fix will be ugly if i route it out and patch it with two part methacylate plastic bonder/fill .
the cost for a new back/lid (sans the bezel) will run about 100-120 bucks (the lowest i have found so far) .
i will not recommend anything but "new" as i have a feeling that there is an inherent design/materials problem .

the lid is not completely broken , i have loosened up the hinges (clamp type ... not compression detent) as best i can .
so , what does one do in this case ... tough call .

 

Put 120 toward a Toughbook.

What do they use it for? Probably a 52M....my converts....husband and wife bought one each and don't seem unhappy with theirs. She runs the business books on her unit.

 

Bought wifey a new Lenovo Z580 for her birthday. Nice i7 processor and pretty display. She used it for personal stuff and her bookkeeping business. About 11 months later she started getting blue screens. Returned Lenovo to factory for warranty repair and moved her books over to a well-used CF-74. Lenovo comes back, works great then after 2 months another blue screen. Got her a decent CF-52 performance model with Core i5, ATI graphics and Samsung SSD. She still likes the Lenovo better for sitting around doing on-line personal stuff but will never trust it.

 

Well, I got rid of one (swapped it for a Landcruiser rear diff) so I've only got two sitting around now... but another three on the way. )

 

That article was an interesting read...thanks

 

a little follow up ...
i looked around some more and found a brand new lid back and hinges on sneezebay for 26 clams .
still , with the labor that a regular shop would charge my friend ... it is just about cost prohibitive .
it is not like she has not seen my unit a few times ... she does approve of the construction .
i will try to sell her on eventually getting a TB .
with chrismas around the corner people have earmarked money for presents .

 

Clams and units in the same post? We try to keep this place family friendly.
CAP

 

oh dear ,,,
i assure you that was not the intent of my post .

 

I did not even catch that until it was mentioned.......Then I reread the post :laugh:.......
I think Cap is being tongue in cheek and not really criticizing your unintended choice of words......

 

What he said ^^^. Sometimes I just can't help myself.
CAP

 

heh ...
no offense taken .
i normally would catch something like that but my low caffeine light was blinking .

 

That's exactly the kind of item one would trade for a Toughbook. That or "I swapped mine for a gun turret for my APC. Shoots straight, but not as reliable as my Toughbook."

 

This thread is about as off course as it can get..

 

naaa ...
inimitably put by BTO :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cia_v4vxfE
(check out the gibson SG)

 

Pssshhhht... I like BTO... But that video was no better than a Britney Spears lip-sync!

To get back on topic... I think I posted before about the local Sheriff's Dept. Several years ago their contract with Panny was up and they went to the Dull rugged laptop of the time. I don't have statistics available but I do know that the Dull failure rate was so high it cost them tens of thousands of dollars over a Panny contract. The junked the Dulls at the first available opportunity and went back to the Toughbook!

Some things just need to be experienced! Some lessons just need to be learned.

 

In my use cases, the ToughBooks have saved me many times the cost of lesser. Spastic proof or go home. If I can't fall with it, if I can't use it wheelchair mounted, if it can't perform in all conditions, it is more expensive to own over it's limited lifecycle. Boils down to the right tools for the job.

 

@ TB :
hey , it was the best i could find on short notice !
yeah , it is not the greatest ... '74 low budget technology .

a friend is heading to a conference in a month ...
he is going to drag his '30 along to show some of the other guys in the field what works and holds up .

 

The toughest test is yet to come... the baby has started taking an interest in things with screens, so I've ordered an H1 Field. )

 

" the baby has started taking an interest in things with screens ..."

*something* about screwing up an iron ball with a rubber hammer .
:laugh: