Lenovo has announced that eight of their ThinkPad notebooks.  Eight of Lenovo’s laptops are now built for rugged environments according to the military.  The ThinkPads were blasted with sand and were even heated in an oven.  Other tests include temperature fluctuations, exposure to dust, and jostling.  The laptops that passed the military-grade standards include the ThinkPad X200, X301, X200s, X200 Tablet, T400, T500, R400, and SL300.

The ThinkPads have an Active Protection System encloses the hard drive in an air bag-like system in the event that it is dropped.  The ThinkPads have a spill-resistant keyboard built in and a protective frame called a Roll Cage.  The price of these ThinkPads range from about $1500-$2500 new.  Some of them can be found on Amazon.com for less than $1k.

[via eWeek]

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