IBM ThinkPad aces the Torture Test

Reinforcing the robustness and reliability of the renowned IBM ThinkPad notebook range from Tarsus Technologies, the predecessor to the T30, the IBM ThinkPad T23 won the 10th annual Ziff Davis Smart Business Notebook Torture Test earlier this year.

The Torture Test includes freezing, baking and dropping 11 top-of-the-line travel notebooks as a way of illustrating the unreported, often unacknowledged, costs of notebook neglect.

In the Torture Test, the IBM ThinkPad T23 displayed extreme usability, long battery life, high performance and a super-large display - all in a package that proved to be virtually indestructible.

Lost data is usually irreplaceable and, according to Ziff Davis, 58% of insurance claims for notebooks in the US are due to accidents resulting in damage to the PC. This has led ZD to believe that "you are better off buying a durable notebook than you are paying for extended warranties and expensive theft-prevention plans". Hence its search for the notebook that can survive its Torture Test.

The IBM ThinkPad T23 triumphed over stringent testing that involved the use of extreme temperatures - and heights. Those products that withstood the rigours of being baked, frozen, dropped from a height of 1.2m at a 45-degree angle and having cola poured directly over keypads were considered survivors of the test.

"ZD`s verdict for the IBM ThinkPad T23 was `As ultraportables go, this is the best you`ll find`," says Tanya Smart, IBM product manager at Tarsus Technologies. "This is the quality customers have come to expect from IBM, and it carries through to the entire range of IBM products available from Tarsus Technologies."