Well, Aren't We Nosy ...

What surface will the notebook be dropped on? (carpet, wood, tile, etc.) Is this a tumble, angle, or a straight drop? (meaning they'd like to know the specific direction.)

Hoo, boy.

When we set out to test notebooks for toughness, the thinking was as complicated as this: Beat them all up and see which survived. Some PC makers, though, sounded like they wanted us to put on white lab coats, walk into a hermetically sealed room and then issue a white paper on the results.

This was a tough notebook challenge, not the Pepsi Challenge. PC makers do argue that because soda can act as a conductor depending on its ingredients, how sugary it is can determine how likely the unit is to short out or fry. (We wound up using regular Pepsi—but that was a game-time decision.)

Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo gave us a "Thanks, but no thanks" when we asked them to participate. Before turning us down though, Lenovo wanted us to answer some questions. Actually, they wanted us to answer a lot of them.

HERE THEY ARE:
THE KNOCK TEST: Will the unit survive a fall from desktop height?
• Can the exact height/distance be determined at all?
• What state will the system be running in? (assume it is powered on in some state)
• Will there be an application or test running that will be writing to the disk drive?
• Will the lid be open?
• What surface will the notebook be dropped on? (carpet, wood, tile, etc.)
• Is this a tumble, angle, or a straight drop? (specific direction)

THE STAIR TEST: Will the unit survive a tumble down a flight of stairs in a carrying case?
• How many steps in the staircase?
• What material are the stairs made of?
• How will the system be released and are conditions repeatable for all vendors?
• Will the system be on or off?
• What carrying case will you use?
• Any other materials in the case, such as an AC adapter?

THE SPILL TEST: Will the unit survive a spill of four ounces of soda?
• How will the soda be applied?
• Where will it be poured?
• What brand of soda? (determines sugar amount)
• Can the system be picked up for drainage?
• Can it be wiped off after spill?
• Will the system be running and, if so, in what state?
• What happens after the spill to determine pass or fail?

THE TRIP TEST: Will the unit survive being pulled off a desk by a trip over the power cord?
• Will the system be running or idle?
• What is the height of the desk?
• Will the system be pulled down or an actual simulated trip?
• What type of surface will the system fall onto?"

Panasonic, Acer, Dell and Toshiba all jumped at the chance to participate. None of them had such a lengthy list of questions. Neither, do we expect, would the typical road warrior as he reaches into the hotel minibar while finishing up that PowerPoint presentation at 2 a.m., trying to pick between diet or regular.