GM drives Hummer-branded laptop

General Motors is expected to announce a new laptop next week that's styled after its popular Hummer multi-terrain vehicles.

The carmaker has signed an exclusive three-year licensing agreement with Spokane, Wash.-based Itronix to make a portable computer designed for people who work outdoors: police officers, firefighters, claims adjusters and construction workers, for example, as well as people who own a Hummer and are fascinated by anything related to the oversize vehicles.

Itronix, which makes laptops and tablet PCs for the U.S. military, said it wanted to style a new category of "semi-ruggedized" laptop. Priced at $2,988, the laptops come with enough padding to survive six separate drops from a height of 30 inches onto two 3/4-inch sheets of plywood placed on top of concrete.

Industrial-strength laptops, which are water-resistant and can withstand extreme temperatures, are finding their way onto battlefields and oil fields. Models like the Panasonic Toughbook, and Twinhead, with its Durabook line, also come with external body armor and internal shock absorbers.

Itronix Senior Vice President Matt Gerber said the company's new laptops were originally designed to meet the needs of military commanders in Iraq who told Itronix they were caught between using thick and heavy laptops used by the infantry and inexpensive business-class PCs from Dell.

"Halfway through the development phase, we got this call from General Motors asking us if we would make a laptop that reflected the spirit of their Hummer vehicles, which also has its roots in the U.S. military," Gerber said.

Itronix said it is using the same military-grade technology (vibration and temperature standards) in the Hummer laptop to launch its own brand--the GoBook VR-1. That computer, priced at $3,299, has nearly all the same attributes as the Hummer-branded laptop, including a 1.86GHz Intel Pentium-M processor, a 12.1-inch color display, 512MB of memory, a DVD/CD-R/W combination drive, 8021.11a/g/b wireless connectivity and Microsoft's XP Professional operating system.

Both computers have a flip-out LED light to illuminates the screen and help users work in low-light conditions. The laptops also come with four wireless radios, including an integrated GPS antenna that helps Microsoft Streets and Trips map software locate your position and help you to your destination, Gerber said.

The Hummer laptop has the added features of an 80GB shock-mounted removable hard-disk drive (a security benefit for multiple computer users) and a swappable radio module that allows users to switch between North American and European GPRS/EDGE wireless plans.

Gerber said the company is currently discussing adding biometric readers for extra laptop security.

The Hummer laptop comes in black and silver with yellow, red or pewter-gray trim. Its battery lasts a little more than four hours; a battery extender pushes that to about seven hours. The Hummer laptop will be available at car dealerships that sell Hummer products or online at the GM-approved Web site Hummerstuff.com starting Nov. 1.

General Motors lost an average of $1,227 per vehicle sold in North America during the first half of 2005, the most of any U.S. automaker, according to an industry analyst report out Tuesday.

[GTOfan]

when will GM wake up?

When is GM going to wake up and realize that the day of the oversized gas guzzler is past? I continue to be amazed how much money GM spends promoting its large vehicles, while the demand is quickly shifting to efficient vehicles.

How many of you think of GM when shopping for a gas-stingy car? Either they don't make any, or they make only a token effort to promote what they have, while the other car menufacturers continue to make inroads into the market. They will be bankrupt in a few years because they are not building/promoting appropriate products, and it will be no surprise to anyone.

What idiots!

[David Arbogast]

Who's an idiot?

When was the last time GMC sold a fuel-efficient car? The is demand, and thus a market for trucks, and that demand must be met by somebody. Not everybody is looking for a hybrid gimick or a screaming 4-cyl. Lots of people still need trucks for work, moving large number of people, and accessing territories without good roads. There is also still a market for large, high-priced vehicles that is driven by image and money.

GM may need to make some changes to become more profitable with its trucks and SUVs, but it is silly to suggest that the market no longer exists, or that everybody wants to drive a roller-skate to work in the morning.

[Jim Hubbard]

Any bets on battery life?

Approx 15 MPG (Hummer on a good day, downhill, with a tailwind, in neutral).....

?Laptop 15 MPC (minutes per charge)....unless you want to use the monitor....

Let's hope, where energy efficiency is concerned, that it's only a Hummer in name.

[David Arbogast]

Its probably just fine

With a 12" LCD and a low-power Celeron, battery life is probably just as good as, or better than most laptops.

[jeffhughes1]

Re: battery life

One thing the article didn't mention is size. Most Itronix laptops are up to 2-3 times as thick as a normal laptop, much heavier, and usually have longer lasting batteries designed to make it through most of a workday.

[ddesy]

And in other news...

You can already buy Twinhead laptops that will pass the same drop, liquid, and other tests for under $1500. Anyone want to bet that the people they're targeting have no sense of value?

If you want the hummer logo that bad, get a sticker and put it a Twinhead.

(To those who don't know Twinhead, they are a long time maker of laptops sold under other brand names. They now also sell under their own name.)

[fred dunn]

Flash Instead of Mechanical Hard Drive...

For that amount of money they should replace the hard drive with 80GBs of Flash and not have to worry about the mechanical damping. My experience with mechanical damping is that it hardens over time so there is less damping, hence more failures.

[raitchison]

I can picture the product roadmap now

I can picture the product roadmap now:

First they will release a ruggedized laptop that will be tough as nails but really heavy and have poor battery life.

Then they will release an ordinary laptop dressed up to look like the ruggedized one. This one will actually be less rugged than the ordinary laptop it's based off but it will sell like crazy because it looks like the rugged laptop. They might throw in some extra weight to make it just heave enough to not need to be classified for battery life.

Then they will release a compact laptop also dressed up like a rugged laptop but smaller & lighter and release commercils showing off how it fits in a laptop bag as well as an ordinary laptop.

Wrong target market!

I think that this is a bad match, marketing-wise. People that are *truly* outdoorsy are not generally Hummer owners. Generally these people own a real truck, or utility vehicle such as the Jeep CJ or 1970's era Toyota Landcruiser. When was the last time you saw a civilian Hummer climbing a grade steeper than the owners driveway? Have you ever seen one dirty? How many people are really going to spend that much money for such an ungainly vehicle and actually DRIVE IT THROUGH THE DIRT? Unfortunately, for me the Hummer name has lost any of the lustre it may have once had, and now is only a signal that the driver is in the middle of one heck of a mid-life crisis. Perhaps there are enough of these mid-life crisis types for this laptop to sell a few units as well.....

[HummerH8]

ummmm...

I wonder if it comes with 50cal machine guns and a rocket launcher like my Hummer H8...
http://www.hummerh8.com

[echoluali]

dell laptop

dell laptop is usable and i like dell replacement laptop battery http://www.ecbattery.com