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Jason Perlow and Scott Raymond
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MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.

By | May 3, 2011, 10:47am PDT

Summary: Prove it! Drop it from 500 feet in the air!

DAMMIT! Can’t they just break it? I wanna see it break. Just a little teensy, eensy wittle kwack?

Oh I gotta get me one of these.

While I might suggest that “Soft and Floppy, Extreme Protection” is probably a mantra that is best suited for a joint venture between Cialis and Trojan, I posit that the laptop carrying case market has probably just been spun on its head.

As with the Extreme Sleeve for iPad, which is shipping shortly, G-Form is now introducing a Laptop case for 11″, 13″ and 15″ standard notebook sizes made out of the high-tech shock-resistant PORON XRD material.

The new product will most likely satisfy everyone with the latest crop of Android Tablets as well, since the 10.1″ form factor devices should slip in the 11″ size quite nicely.

The Extreme Sleeve™ for Laptops is now available for preorder for $69.95 at www.gform.com shipping May 31st and is offered in both Yellow and Black PORON XRD material.

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Topics

Apple MacBook, Apple MacBook Pro, Jason Perlow, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets

Jason Perlow, Sr. Technology Editor at ZDNet, is a technologist with over two decades of experience integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies.

Disclosure

Jason Perlow

My Full-Time Employer is IBM. I write as a freelancer for ZDNet.

Disclaimer: The postings and opinions on this blog are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

I own no investments or direct financial instruments in the companies I write about.

Biography

Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow, Sr. Technology Editor at ZDNet is a technologist with over two decades of experience with integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies. A long-time computer enthusiast starting the age of 13 with his first Apple ][ personal computer, he began his freelance writing career starting at ZD Sm@rt Reseller in 1996 and has since authored numerous guest columns for ZDNet Enterprise and Ziff-Davis Internet. Jason was previously Senior Technology Editor for Linux Magazine, where he wrote about Open Source issues from 1999 to 2008.

In his spare time, Jason is an avid amateur chef and food writer, where his work reviewing New Jersey restaurants has appeared in The New York Times. He is also the founder of the popular food web site eGullet and blogs about restaurants and cooking at OffTheBroiler.com.

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Dropping it wrong... lol
naibeeru 5th Jun
@jgm@... Nice one - one of the best comments I've read in a while.
View in thread
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
LBean 3rd May 2011
Nice. I'd like to see it dropped on an edge though.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
Droid.Incredible 3rd May 2011
@LBean Yep. We've seen it dropped on its flat side. I too would like to see it dropped on its edge.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
tom@... 4th May 2011
@LBean ,,, When I was managing a compliance shop, one of the UL tests was a drop on all 6 surfaces (all on same unit) and 4 corner drops (all on one more unit) from 36". All the product had to do was remain functional with no exposed electrical connections carrying xx volts ac and DC. I think it was 42V DC & whatever the equivalent of that in ac would be; I forget now.
It was pretty surprising to see how many handheld products lived through it. In contrast: Larger, heavy equipment only simulated dropping flat on its bottom and lifting/dropping each of the 4 corners 6 inches.
If we were doing earthquake tests we actually got to keep going with the vibration & drop/tip over tests until the unit no longer functioned! Fun stuff.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
yanickn Updated - 4th May 2011
@LBean
Not only that, but also on a harder surface, the soil surely act as cushion too, and absorbs some of the energy gained during the fall.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
Rick_K 3rd May 2011
This stuff looks interesting. I wonder how far hay can actually drop it before it breaks?
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I was wondering as well
Mac Hosehead Updated - 3rd May 2011
Just how high would you need to be to break something in one of these cases?
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It is interesting. It's not more impact absorbing then other materials
Bill Pharaoh Updated - 4th May 2011
@Rick_K
it's that it's comperable to other foams while being more flexible and lightweight.

It should respond prrtty much the same way results wise as other materials in terms of protection.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
steve.ro 3rd May 2011
There is approximately zero chance that a laptop will be dropped so as to land on its side, as in this contrived demo, and approximately 100% chance that it will land on a corner. A real test will have it land on a corner.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
Rick_K 3rd May 2011
@steve.ro
Funny I have seen a few notebooks fall and land flat. Landing on a corner is usually due tot he power cord being yanked. Only problem with yanking a Macbook power cord is it just pops off with no damage.
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But what about the others that fall on the edge
Bill Pharaoh 4th May 2011
@Rick_K
it would be nice to see that demo because you know it happens alot.

Even cats don't land on their feet all the time.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
JB2317 Updated - 4th May 2011
@steve.ro "approximately 100%"?
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
snoop0x7b 4th May 2011
@steve.ro I wouldn't say 100%. But you make a valid point, laptops often end on corners and edges.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
jmholmesjr1967 3rd May 2011
I'm with everyone else... I've actually dropped two laptops myself and have seen countless other ones dropped and they always land on a corner or side, never flat...
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
jgm@... 4th May 2011
@jmholmesjr1967 You're dropping it wrong.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
tom@... 4th May 2011
@jgm@... It -could- stll be useful data if there were other comparson drops of competiting product. Not as good as most have noticed, but what good is data without somethinig to compare it to? If 85% of mfg competitors meet the same test, then it's really no big deal. You must have a control point and a comparison point for such tests to be meaningful.
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Dropping it wrong... lol
naibeeru 5th Jun
@jgm@... Nice one - one of the best comments I've read in a while.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
jmholmesjr1967 3rd May 2011
I'm also not terribly surprised that he chose to use a MacBook Pro, one of the sturdiest computers built, as opposed to a cheap plastic Windows laptop... I am not sure it would fare quite as well in a fall, even flat...
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
kenosha77a 3rd May 2011
@jmholmesjr1967

That was cold. Grin.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
jmholmesjr1967 4th May 2011
@kenosha7777

Honestly, it's not cold. It's pure hard fact. I have a Dell Latitude E5510 for work and I own a 2011 15" MacBook Pro personally. If you tried that test with this Dell, it would most likely not come out nearly as well in the fall...
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Don't tell that to my old Inspiron
Bill Pharaoh 4th May 2011
@jmholmesjr1967
it's been dropped a couple of times without a case, and it still survives to this day.

Not that it gets used alot anymore, it's just a Celeron happy
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
snoop0x7b 4th May 2011
@jmholmesjr1967 Windows doesn't make the laptop cheap and plastic... You could get a Panasonic toughbook laptop and it'd be just as tough and run Windows!
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Useless comparison
kwabinalars 4th May 2011
@jmholmesjr1967
You know there is only one portable computer that survives military standards and it is not a Mac, it runs Windows.

Your comparison is oversimplified too. There is pretty much only one line of Mac Book. There are dozens of Windows laptop manufacturers with varying degrees of build quality. None of those factors have anything to do with the OS either.

I would fare to say even one Apple product could not stand next to another if dropped as even they have a wide range in the quality of their machines especially if viewed over time.

So I think you wrote this to intentionally incite people into another ZDnet comments arguments about the superiority of Mac vs PC when in reality it's just one plastic vs another.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
nightbirdsf 3rd May 2011
Does it blend?
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It looks ugly.
kraterz 3rd May 2011
It may be functional but, boy oh boy does it look fugly.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
The Rifleman 4th May 2011
It's amazing how much money there is in " Stupidity Protection!"
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
brian1@... 4th May 2011
Flat drop onto dirt. Try an edge drop onto concrete. Having said that, surviving a 20' drop even though it was flat and onto dirt is kinda impressive. Maybe a 3' - 4' edge drop (typical table height or carrying height while walking) is survivable too.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
jgm@... 4th May 2011
@brian1@... There's nothing magical about an edge or a corner. The technology behind G-Form is good enough to protect human bones in motorcycle accidents and I've viewed a demonstration in which a man wearing a helmet with this stuff was whacked over the head with a shovel(!!!) to no discernable ill effect. It's a substance that hardens upon impact and absorbs the kinetic energy. It'd shrug off your 3-4 foot edge drop more easily than a shovel to the noggin. I became an instant believer and have no doubt it'd handle any realistic (or even marginally realistic) laptop drop you can devise. BAE Systems is also developing a prototype using related material for use as body armor for soldiers, so you know it's good.

Here, I found the video of this stuff shrugging off shovel blows to the head and knees....

http://youtu.be/9VDeJ7rLUYU
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
seaniepie 5th May 2011
@jgm@... Difference is that the protection is right there for his head. Looking at the laptop product there is no protection for the corners and that's where the zippers are. It does nothing to stop buckling or deformation, and that is inherently down to it's 'flexible' design. So this product is ONLY good for direct impact to a face surface with approx. a 20? tolerance of rotation from the horizontal.
Aluminium all in one laptops will fare much better than plastic body even unprotected. Try this same test using the same Mac and you will likely get the same result with a few minor scratches to the surface. Go ahead, prove me wrong!
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Dropped like that?
Naryan 4th May 2011
Yeah maybe if you're doing an experiment to prove your product, it won't break. Let's say for example, you *accidentally* drop it and it doesn't land nicely on it's flat side. Let's say all that gathered momentum of aluminium weight is put on a single small point of pressure on the corner.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
jeffpk 4th May 2011
This reads like a paid ad spot.

Thought your editors should know.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
trx_1 4th May 2011
I don't see anything earth shattering. Is it more than foam with a high density outer shell? Plus how does it compare to other forms of protection (and no protection) when dropped from 20 feet? It doesn't mean much without a comparison.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
rhtretter@... 4th May 2011
Will It Float?
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Lack of warranty and liability information
rdemena 4th May 2011
I would be concerned about how much and how long they advertise these products in this fashion... it only encourages someone to test it themselves and counter the purchase with a lawsuit over product liability. I see this short lived or clear terms of liability and limitation wrapped around it so that you are not allowed to reproduce the events observed.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
amob23 4th May 2011
Did no one notice the fact the nice soft dirt area had also just been freshly raked (probably using the digger parked in the background). You can clearly see the condensed tracks to the right where a truck has driven over. I'm guessing a nice soft inch of dirt might even let a macbook survive without even wearing a case... same theory as high diving into shallow pools.
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Contributr
RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
jperlow 5th May 2011
@amob23 Oh by all means, try it. happy
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
winterspj 4th May 2011
Unfortunately I am 22 feet tall and often use my computer as a hat. This product is of no use to me. I need something from Mac that is IP rated to keep the sun and rain out, as well as a 22 foot drop proof chassis.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
MrElectrifyer 5th May 2011
Drop it on a concrete floor, lets see how it survives that wink
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
mikokomikaka 7th May 2011
nice one. however would love to see it fall on all sides and the video shows it falling on a sand filled ground. Test it on a cemented or tiled ground and then we can then decide on how safe it is.But the demo show some good potentials at least to some little extent.
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RE: MacBook Pro dropped from 20 feet, G-Form saves the day. AGAIN.
mikokomikaka 7th May 2011
nice one.However would fall like to see it on all sides and edges.The video shows it

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