The Laptop That Saved a Soldier’s Life.

ProductReviews.net ^ | 02/10/2007

[Swordmaker]

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.

The CF-M34 Toughbook laptop you see in the photo above has a bullet hole which shows just how tough it is as it took a bullet for a U.S. soldier in Iraq.

The BULLETPROOF laptop from Panasonic was the constant companion of one soldier and was taken through the mountains of southeastern Turkey and into the war of Iraq.

The need for rugged laptops is growing, used by the U.S. armed forces (the 82nd Airborne Division) and it was one of these laptops that saved a soldier’s life,

An estimated market of $858 million in 2007 is expected for the need of the toughest laptops, people want toughness and the need is growing.

[Swordmaker]

Now this is what a "Bullet Proof" laptop does...

Thanks to Cyborg for the heads-up

[kms61]

mountains of southeastern Turkey???

[IronJack]

Yeah, but I'll bet he had to reboot it ...

Talk about the Blue Screen of Death!

[Albert Barr]

I thought that was strange too. Kind of puts the whole story in doubt.

[1rudeboy]

Check out the keyboard.

[SeafoodGumbo]

This pic makes it look like they do have mountains in SE Turkey.

[Fairview]

For $3500 it had better save my life!

[Albert Barr]

Yeah, but are our guys going through the mountains and into Iraq. I know Turkey kept us out for the original invasion. Have they changed policy?

[kms61]

I don't doubt the mountain part, I'm wondering what an American soldier would be doing there. Depending on what you mean by southeast, it could be the Iraqi or Iranian border region. Either way it raises some questions, or else the story is bogus. I have no idea which.

[rawhide]

Early in the war in Iraq, a firefight broke out in a neighborhood that had supposedly been secured by coalition forces. As bullets whizzed by, a U.S. soldier did what came naturally: He held up his laptop computer, a Toughbook 72 from Panasonic Computer Solutions Co. (MC ) Unlike most plastic-covered laptops, this "semi-rugged" model has a hard magnesium shell and steel-reinforced innards. The improvised shield did the trick. "There's a bullet lodged in his hard drive," marvels Maria Leadingham, who manages technology for the Civil Affairs Psychological Operations Center at Fort Bragg, N.C.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2003/tc20030411_8705_tc004.htm

and

In April 2003, a soldier was carrying a CF-M34 Toughbook on his hip in an unarmored Humvee. A 7.62mm round ripped through the vehicle's door and buried itself in the computer. Thanks to the Toughbook's magnesium casing, the bullet pierced the outer case, cracked through the LCD's glass screen and cratered the left side of the keyboard. But it didn't make it all the way through and it didn't enter the soldier.
The executives at Panasonic's Kobe, Japan, factory love this story. They told it to me several times during a recent tour of their production floor.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/1279251.html

[Veloxherc]

There are Mt.s in SE Turkey BIG ones.

[SeafoodGumbo]

I'm not really sure what the policy is, but the soldier may have been coming from here .
It looks like this is really south central Turkey, but maybe that's what the writer was referring to.

[Old Professer]

My harddrive died three days ago and I had it replaced; I have the old one here wondering what to do with it.

My neighbor just got a new Desert Eagle and is using it for a paper punch; maybe he can give it a proper sendoff.

[ASOC]

Back in the day we had a saying

Never trust a soldier that carries a briefcase into the field....

Where laptops would fall into this "field knowledge" today is an open question - any active types care to comment?

Ho-ah, chairborne ranger

[Cvengr]

mountains of Turkey, Afghanistan? whatz da difference?

[NonValueAdded]

Yeah, but a magnesium frame along with batteries that spontaneously combust doesn't sound like anything I'd want on my lap.

[SJSAMPLE]

I've worked in IT for a good portion of my life, including working with military equipment as an artillery officer, and I call BULLSHIT.

They don't show the other side of the laptop.
$100 says the bullet went right through.

I make a habit of shooting every bit of IT equipment that gives me trouble, and I can assure you that I haven't found a single piece of equipment that will stop a 5.56mm or 7.62x39mm bullet.

Toshiba ToughBooks are "ruggedized", but are in now way bulletproof.

[KarlInOhio]

John Cameron Swayze would have been a great pitchman for this: "Panasonic laptop: it takes a shooting and keeps on computing."

[Shamrock-DW]

CF-M34s and CF-M18s are used for SATCOM and HF data setup and transmissions.

However....they ARE NOT bulletproof. I can imagine a bullet that has almost expended its effective range not penetrating through it but this smells of toro caca.