Digital Archaeology: Getac S400

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(Edited)

The Getac S400 is a ruggedized laptop. Ruggedized laptops have features that let them hold up better in more extreme environments. They include things like a heavier duty case, shock absorbing hard drive caddy, port covers, etc. As far as the internals, this laptop includes:

  • CPU: i3-380M @ 2.53 GHz
  • RAM: 8 GB DDR3-1333
  • Screen: 1366x768

Check out more detailed specs from HardInfo. Getac continued to use the S400 model designation for subsequent laptops but this variation, introduced in October 2010, was the first.

I can tell the the RAM has been expanded because the modules are two different brands/speeds. This laptop originally would have shipped with 2GB or 4GB. As far as I can tell, everything else is original.

Specs for this laptop are relatively low end though this machine would not have had a low end price. When new, this laptop would have cost about double what a non-ruggedized model with similar stats would have cost. This laptop probably retailed in the $1800 range when new. The i3 CPU is on the lower end of the scale at the time it was released though it was still plenty fast. For a laptop meant to be used in the field, battery life was probably much more important than heavy multitasking.

Likewise, the graphics are low end as there is no dedicated GPU. This generation of Intel processors were really the first where the integrated GPU was moved from the motherboard chipset to the CPU itself. This laptop wouldn't be something you would use for gaming anyway so it doesn't really need anything more.

The screen is nice and bright which is useful for a laptop for which many use cases would take it outdoors. However, resolution is only average. 1366x768 qualifies as high def and was a pretty typical resolution at the time though full HD would have been nicer.

According to Getac, this model is actually classified as "semi-rugged" so there are even heavier duty models available. In addition to the features that make it "semi-rugged", it includes all of the typical features you would have expected in a laptop at the time including a PC Card Type II slot, ExpressCard slot, 4-in-1 card reader, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB/eSATA port, Gigabit LAN, IEEE 1394, VGA, audio in/out, modem, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, and more.


Like all of the hardware I use, this laptop is running BOINC and crunching tasks for various projects. It is attached to Einstein@home, Milkyway@home, Rosetta@home, Asteroids@home, Universe@home and World Community Grid. You can check out how it is doing overall at FreeDC.

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My brother-in-law used to work at a company which supplied and serviced ruggedized laptops for other companies. They may be better than average consumer grade devices, but they get used and abused plenty, and still require IT support and repairs.

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Even "better" is kind of relative. I'm not sure about newer ones but during the time period this one was made they may have been better able to withstand bumps and drops but the hardware inside was usually not very high end and they tended to be much more expensive. Definitely a trade-off.

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