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The Laptop That Saved a Soldier’s Life

product-reviews.net — We have heard of U.S. soldiers taking a bullet for a fellow soldier, but now a new friend took a bullet for a U.S. soldier in Iraq.

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  • gsherwood, on 10/12/2007, -6/+108So PC can take a bullet. Can Mac? I'd like to see that ad.
    • dtd00d, on 10/12/2007, -56/+13Actually a while back there was a mac notebook (I believe the TiBook/Titanium aka Apple Powerbook G4) which was in fact bulletproof.
      http://reviews.cnet.com/Apple_PowerBook_G4_PPC_G4_1_5_GHz_17_TFT/4864-3121_7-30867901.html?ctype=msgid&messageSiteID=9&messageID=982098&cval=982098
    • saikhan, on 10/12/2007, -11/+149"Hi I'm a mac"
      "And I'm a PC. And organizations such as the United States Military use me in hazardous environments."
      "Well, people use me to do stuff too. You know, freelance journalism, freelance design, freelance... You know, freelance stuff."
      "I was built to withstand even the harshest weather and conditions. Once, I took a bullet for my user."
      "I was built to look pretty. And once I made my user cry after my screen got scratched."
      "Sounds like you're quite the asset."
      "Yeah thanks, I know. Want me make you a soldier at war blog or design a sticker for your peripherals ?"
      "No."
    • Layzie, on 10/12/2007, -9/+77Iraqis hate our freedom. They are targetting our laptops.
    • KyleMistry, on 10/12/2007, -21/+4Hell, the PC's main use for most people is gaming; putting bullets in things. It should be able to take one.

      Wait, so does that mean that the PCs are "bustin' caps?"

      It is now that I remember why I did a Gangster Nerd comic.

      http://weird-comix.kylepoint.com/?strip_id=63

      On a separate note, this Wordpress-powered page seems to have gotten a cap busted in it's bandwidth. (So it's not really the bandwidth that's a problem, but WUH EVAH. Ah'll do wuh ah WAWNT.)
    • Junn168, on 10/12/2007, -20/+15Well, they do say Windows and IE have a lot of holes.
    • coditza, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19@dtd00d: that bulletproof expression referees to something completely different. In your opinion, BulletproofFTP is a ftp server that can stop bullets?
    • jackspayed, on 10/12/2007, -38/+4"Hi I'm a Mac"
      "And I'm a PC - By exploiting our monopolistic business practices over the last 20 years, Microsoft was able to secure itself as the platform of choice by notebook manufacturers. And since shareholders and lobbyist of Microsoft scored a series of huge department of defense contracts; And these contracts are constantly being renewed by officials in Washington - I recently took a bullet for you. "
      "You mean - the same guys who started this pointless war, endlessly waste billions of the taxpayers money, and by general consensus dont know their head from their a$$h0l3s - picked a PC to go into battle?"
      "YEUP!"
      "Smart... real - smart."
    • sanman, on 10/12/2007, -10/+14Sure. That's where the Titanium case comes in handy.
      Just don't let the Lithium battery take the hit, or the laptop will take your life more surely than the bullet.
    • otheruser, on 10/12/2007, -5/+48Alright, time to put an end to this:

      PC: "Hi, I'm a PC"
      Mac: "And I'm a -" *loud cracking noise*
      PC: "..."

    • krakkinem, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33if it ends with Justin Long taking a bullet, it's a great ad.
    • JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2@krakkinem
      If it ends with justin long taking a bullet it's a wonderful ad.
    • avihappy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8So this degrades into a Mac vs PC thread.
    • metallist, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0Error establishing a database connection
      LINK DOWN

      This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can't contact the database server at dansway2.xcalibre.co.uk. This could mean your host's database server is down.

      * Are you sure you have the correct username and password?
      * Are you sure that you have typed the correct hostname?
      * Are you sure that the database server is running?

      If you're unsure what these terms mean you should probably contact your host. If you still need help you can always visit the WordPress Support Forums.
    • birkoph, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9What were the specs on that laptop?
    • thushan, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Was it a Dell?
    • SIRBERUS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10In other news... terrorists now using their Dell laptops for suicide bombings.
    • nullmind, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Hmm, I thought McAfee Shield was worthless!

      Well, nobody is shooting me anytime soon* so I'll stick with Linux ...

      *(Although some ***** did pull a knife on me yesterday on the street)

      Is PC gonna have to choke a bitch?
    • ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Those comments are funny, but when did the OS have to do with the case? That hardware was able to physically run Mac OS X. :-/ just a thought.
    • BenderFlexo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Too bad toughbooks aren't good for anything else. I hate that the Army buys so many of those peices of *****. I have had to install software and use them, it is a waste. I am a Mac guy, but I would buy 5 Dells before wasting money on a toughbook, and save money too.
  • Nydas, on 10/12/2007, -6/+60Lucky for him it was an Army laptop. Had it been me and my personnel laptop, well i would have made sure my laptop came out in perfect condition. Even if it meant taking the bullet myself. Because I seriously doubt my warrenty covers bullet holes.
    • Layzie, on 10/12/2007, -3/+90He should've used a vaio so that he could throw it with the battery at the insurgent. The iraqi dies in the explosion and the warranty gets you a new laptop. Win win.
    • RubeusEsclair, on 10/12/2007, -20/+4@Nydas

      Does YOUR warranty cover bullet holes?

      I didn't think so. A pc can be replaced. A life or limb cannot.
    • Blandyman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5SARCASM ALERT, SARCASM ALERT, TONGUE-IN-CHEEK STATEMENT, INBOUND!

      Someone needs to get their sarcasometer checked!
  • cwshea, on 10/12/2007, -17/+2This is old....

    The guy was sitting in his tent writing an email when an insurgent came in. He raised his laptop and the bullet went thru the screen and lodged in the body of the comp.

    At least, thats what I heard.
  • chingy1788, on 10/12/2007, -12/+0i want a laptop in which i can drop

    hmm wonder if they have bullet proof PDAs lol taht would be awesome
  • mike81890, on 10/12/2007, -8/+0link brokeded?

    i want to see the aftermath
  • Auckum, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1http://duggmirror.com/

    Well nevermind, its not us who broke it.
  • drakia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Holy crap, you guys killed it before ANY mirror got it.
    • DurkaMcDurk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16welcome to digg?

      you must be new...
    • WildTang3nt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10It's wordpress... what'd you expect?
    • raada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5When someone creates Digg-proof laptop I'll buy it...
  • KyleMistry, on 10/12/2007, -4/+33"Dude, you're gettin' a BULLET."

    "Hi, I'm a Mac Ten."
    "And I'm a 9mm."

    "Shoot Different."

    Man, the list goes on and on.
    • Layzie, on 10/12/2007, -16/+2Apple has reinvented bulletproofing. The new bulletproof laptop is years of ahead of its time.
    • RoshanK, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I always did wonder what happened to the old "dude you're gettin a dell" commercials
    • nreynolds, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1@ layzie

      ya, the new apple powerbooks totally skipped the "bullet blocking" step and went straight to "laser blocking." Really really weak lasers.....
    • pathy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1It is unbelievable that mere mortals would get something this bullet proof. This is huge. Cool, huh?
    • KyleMistry, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2@pathy

      "Boom."

      :D
    • noreturn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The "Dude, You're Getting a Dell" guy was arrested for possession of marijuana.. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.
  • haxorjoe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+69It appears the laptop was also running the site.
    • haxorjoe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1omg thanks guys! this is my most dugg up comment! (so far anyway)
  • Cowmin, on 10/12/2007, -58/+3I bet the soldier was gay, and was having sex with the laptop at the time.
    • Jaq524, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12... so that would make him a laptop?
    • oyourmom, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22What the *****.
    • KyleMistry, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17"You're hard drive is so fast!"

      "RAM me baby, RAM me!"

      "I swear, I never knew! She lied about her number of pixels! She said she was hi-def!"

      "Your keyboard is so ERGONOMIC!"

      So much innuendo could be derived from this...
    • kankerfist, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1Why digg him down? I was wondering the same thing
    • Metaridley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You're a dick.
  • Miniman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+36Why does wordpress suck so much?
  • Voide, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4I think people need to figure out how to install a ***** wordpress blog before they submit their ***** to digg. This is like, the fourth fricken wordpress site that's had database errors. How do you even do that? If wordpress is already setup and running well enough to submit your story to digg, why would you ***** with the database??
    • JustinPM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Well, they didn't screw with the database, every time someone visits the page it gets all the info from the database. When Digg hits a poorly constructed Wordpress site, it overwhelms the database long before the web server itself. People setting up Wordpress to be able to withstand a Digg usually make the site or article static so they don't have the database as a point of failure.
    • gregm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3There is a plugin for Wordpress that takes 3 seconds to install and will automatically load pages from a cache rather than generating them every time. Even if you set it to refresh the cache every 30 seconds, you're saving 100's if not 1000's of calls to the database when you hit Diggs front page.
  • mlaramie, on 10/12/2007, -18/+2man so many people are just jealous of the mac... i'm sure a military mac could take a bullet.
    • Burritoking924, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Why would I be jealous of a computer that is slower then my little sisters. Seriously. And im not talking about power PC either.
    • warlock4890, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Only maybe 0.2% of the military even use Macs in a work setting. Even then its just VI and PA using old eMacs or iMacs. They don't even connect to our network. Its easier to try and secure one OS then multiple ones. Oh and before you go and say that Macs are more secure then Windows, think of this... If Mac OS whatever was running on the largest percentage of computers in the world, like Windows, more hackers would be putting in their efforts to attack it. Just look at the recent "Month of Bugs" for OS X.

      BTW, I own an iMac and a PC.
    • LordLucless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm sure a military mac could take a bullet too. If one existed. Which it doesn't. See, the PC is an open hardware spec. That means that when the military wants one, they can produce the specs, hand them out to tender, and get anyone who offers to build it for them. If they wanted a mac, on the other hand, they'd just have to wait for Apple decides to offer one.
    • guerrilla_suit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Lots of macs are in use by the Govt. Linux machines are in use everyday also. They use Windows for general computing needs, like secretarial work and administrative stuff. Everyone has a clone machine of the person next to them. Nothing special about that. In special needs situations some parts of the government use different Operating Systems. The percentage of Windows alternatives used in the government is probably higher than the general computing population.

  • MaXPL, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9i just laugh that theres still a bunch iFanboys here trying to come up with excuses as to why a mac would lose in this situation.
    • sephiroth4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm a mac fan, but these new macs would not be able to run during the day in Iraq because of the heat. An old white PPC ibook would be perfect though!
    • avihappy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"i just laugh that theres still a bunch iFanboys here trying to come up with excuses as to why a mac would lose in this situation."

      Wait! What?! Mac fanboys saying the the mac wound NOT have blocked the bullet (thus allowing the soildier to die). I think you need to look up "fanboy".
  • WombatBob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16While I was in the marines and bored in Iraq we got bored and shot up a broken Panasonic Toughbook. It stopped the M-16 rounds (5.56mm) no problem. The two AK rounds (7.62mm) we shot at it got lodged in it but didn't penetrate it all the way. So we tried breaking it more by running over it with a HUMVEE but it didn't even flex. They really are "Toughbooks".
    • jdun, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3I serious doubt it will stop a 5.56 NATO round unless the Toughtbook is steel plated.
    • chort0, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5@jdun

      Remember, the M-16 wasn't designed to fire at high velocity... The rounds are supposed to be slightly unstable in flight so they "tumble" when they strike a squishy target (human flesh) and angle downwards (the idea is to tear up human innards instead of passing right through). It's not surprising that they wouldn't penetrate specially hardened field equipment.

      The US military requires that all gear for the field be "ruggedized" before it's approved, especially electronics since battlefields tend to be inhospitable places for delicate electronics, even without bullets and shrapnel flying around.

      BTW for all the people making jokes about how this means PCs are better than Macs, the Tadpole "SPARCbooks" have been around in military service for quite some time, and they are of course, ruggedized too. See, this is just another "feature" that PCs have copied from RISC-based machines!
    • guerrilla_suit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Which model?
  • jdun, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Firsts thing it isn't bullet proof. It's a Panasonic Toughtbook.

    Second it is a handgun caliber that hit the laptop. Any laptop can stop penetration of a handgun caliber if hit in the right place. The Toughtbook probably have a lot of padding around it to increase the like hood it will stop the penetration of a handgun bullet.
  • EsterGum, on 10/12/2007, -9/+8He was probably reading a pdf version of the bible at the time.
  • drakia, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Ok... I know this will most likely get me burried...

    BOOM LAPTOPSHOT!!!11eleben
  • tehdon, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4You know that laptop had to be running linux...

    /everyone knows that, properly configured, linux is bulletproof.
  • noclue, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7In Soviet Russia, laptops shoot YOU!

    (sorry, I couldn't resist)
    • FluffyArmada, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1In Soviet Russia, lame joke makes you! :)
  • truegodofwar, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1One more soldier, ready for Bush's surge. Thanks Dell!!!
    • tonage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bush? Some of you are so obsessed. I bet you start talking politics if someone sneezes.
  • matt888111, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1www.duggmirror.com
  • CodeMasseur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The site's down, and duggmirror didn't catch it...
  • Lilbrittle, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1People who digg other's down need a ***** life and can burn in hell...Seriously who waste time digging other people down or digging them up? God damn what the hell...
    • dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You could say the same thing about people who make comments whining about people digging other's up/down..
      - Ben
    • tonage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dude, it is an internet site. Who freaking cares? You must be one huge loser if you really care if you get dugg down. Get out of the house and get a life.
  • promisinglife, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Win a Sony VAIO Laptop. All you have to do is change your browser home
    page to http://usegooglesearch.50webs.com/
    and clear the site for popup's.
  • guerrilla_suit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I broke one of those toughbooks, a little too easily if you ask me. It didn't say where the laptop was on the soldiers body when it was penetrated by the bullet. In a backpack, or was he wearing it as a chest plate?
    Was this a personal item, or an issue item?

    This story doesn't say anything.
  • soopabanana, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Where are the Mac fanboys???

    Oh that's right, 8~12 hours ago it was Saturday night.
  • ismith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This story was featured 4 years ago in Popular Mechanics. Really, REALLY old for digg.
  • zjbird, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Doesn't look that bullet proof...
  • JesusIsSatan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The PC was worth more than the soldier!
  • IHatePants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We use the civilian grade of Toughbooks for one of our applications. Not nearly as tough as the "real Toughbooks." All the same, we have one that was "speared" by a forklift, and continues to work, and have had a few dropped on pavement, and even one left on top of a vehicle, and the vehicle drove off. It fell off around 40-50mph. Other than road-rash, it still works.

    On the other hand, we have one user that has magically killed 2 of them so far. I'm scared to ask what she's done to them...
  • EnderTheThird, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This just in...

    Toughbook was running Windows Vista, further proving that Windows Vista is bulletproof against all foreign attacks including, but not limited to: sniper whores, hax, Trojans, and bombs! Switch today!

    *NOTE: Windows Vista may still be susceptible to ***** batteries in Dell laptops. For added protection, upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate!

    /sarcasm :-)
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