I’m into my second week of using Dell’s ruggedized laptop, the Latitude ATG. I still have to steel myself each time before I pick up my backpack with the ATG inside. I’ll admit that it’s felt a little easier with each passing day, so maybe that means it’s helping me get in better shape. The screen has continued to impress me; its colors are exceptionally vivid and it’s looked good in all of the lighting conditions I’ve used it in so far. The steel hinges that anchor the screen to the base are pretty rock-solid, as is the lid itself. Usually when you grab the sides of a laptop screen with both hands and try to twist it, you get a decent amount of bend. But I hardly got any bend at all with the Dell, even when I twisted just about as hard as I could. I can’t say the same thing about the extended battery that shipped with the laptop. While most of the battery fits in a bay under the system, part of it extends along the front of the system, as if you attached a thick ruler length-wise to the front of the laptop. Dell tried to make the most of this design by having the extended portion double as a wrist-rest. Problem is, it doesn’t feel like it can support much pressure–from, say, a 2×4 being accidentally dropped on it at a construction site–without breaking off. Another thing that I continue to notice about this laptop is how its touchpad (it has a pointing stick, too, though I’m partial to the former) feels noticeably smooth. I’m surprised by this since touchpads are usually a dime a dozen. The keyboard could use some toughening up; the keys feel sort of flimsy and they snap off with hardly any pressure–not the best trait for a “rugged” laptop. Technology Industry