Comments on: GM drives Hummer-branded laptop

Itronix helps carmaker create a semi-military-grade computer complete with a Hummer logo.
Photo: Laptop for the Hummer crowd

[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

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