Some working environments make more severe demands upon a portable computer than a standard office desktop, train carriage, airplane seat or car boot. If you're working in particularly hot, dusty or humid conditions, or the system is likely to suffer significant vibration and drop shocks, then you may need to consider buying a rugged notebook. You'll probably have to compromise on issues like portability, and also pay a premium price, but the £2,168 (ex. VAT) <a href="http://www.gd-computing.com/index.cfm?page=Products:XR-1">GoBook XR-1</a> from Itronix (a subsidiary of General Dynamics) shows that you don’t need to sacrifice any functionality.