600,000 Laptops Get Stolen Every Year: 10 Things about Laptop Theft

Yesterday, I wrote about the data theft through a laptop of GE. Well, many top companies are suffering similar problems these days. I just read a well written report about laptop theft in Red Herring. Laptop theft is now turning a very big problem but few people are aware about it. Even, government agencies are not so serious about this matter. Big corporations are not doing enough to protect data and this is causing a lot of problems.

I am listing here ten things about laptop theft to make you aware about the severity of the problem.

1. The Department of Commerce of US, out of their 30,000 laptops, has lost 1,137.
2. Recently, the police department of Britain had to change their security arrangements after one of their laptops containing security measures of the upcoming labor party conference went missing.
3. Nearly 600,000 laptops get stolen in America every year.
4. According to Consumer rights protection group Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, ‘93 million data records of U.S. residents have been exposed due to security breaches since February 2005.’
5. 24 states in USA have some sort of a legislature regarding data privacy.
6. Companies related to laptop security are witnessing huge growth in their revenues.
7. Absolute Software has emerged as the market leader in the laptop security field.
8. LogMeIn, Inc. has come out with a good solution to track the stolen laptop.
9. Laptop theft is still a smaller problem in Asia compared to US.

If data gets stolen from the laptop of the company you work, you are in a big risk as your information of social security and credit may fall into the wrong hand. This can turn your life into a nightmare considering the high number of identity thefts.

General Dynamics GoBook XR-1

This rugged notebook is the latest product of Itronix. GoBook XR-1 is a high performance laptop which looks very attractive with fashionable design. So, it can make satisfied those users who are so selective about the appearance and design of their laptops. It comes with Intel processor, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo T2400 and compared to GoBook III, it is very light. Its weight is only 6.8 pound that puts this laptop in category of mainstream or midsize laptops. It has three USB 2.0 ports and plenty of different ports and of course an IEEE1394 FireWire. In this model, Itronix has tried to keep advantages of GoBook III. For instant, it has a comfortable keyboard like GoBook III and the keys are glow-in-the-dark (means you can see the letters on buttons even in darkness) too. Also, it is totally rugged like GoBook III and it is water proof, dust proof and has resistance against dropping, vibration and temperature. GoBook XR-1 has12.1" gloomy touch- screen monitor that can show everything clear even in outdoor. This notebook is twice faster than Panasonic CF-29 and 70% faster than GoBook III. It works with 512MB expandable to 2GB DDRII and 40 to 80 GB hard disk.

Unfortunately, like Itronix’s last model its battery life is only about 4 hours. It is very expensive. The price is more than $4000.

Itronix GoBook III

This Itronix laptop that won IT Week magazine editor’s award in 2005, provides all the desktop computing power. Also, it is total rugged and resists against harshest and toughest environment. So, it is water proof and dust- resistant and very durable in low and high temperature. It can tolerate dropping and vibration too. It can work easily even in extreme temperature between -10 to 140 degrees. It works with a bright semi-transflective 12.1" screen with 1024 x 768 resolutions which is touch-screen. You can use its stylus or your finger. So, both of them make your work easy. Also, it has comfortable and water proof keyboard and smooth touch-pad. Its battery life is not bad about 5 hours. Unfortunately, it is very heavy. It weighs 8.2 pounds and it is very expensive (more than $4000). So, only people with very special works or special organizations can use it. This laptop comes with Intel Pentium M 745 with clock speed of 1.8 GHZ and 512MB RAM can be expanded to 2GB. So, this shows that this notebook has a good performance. Especially, it works with ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics processor. Also, it has 40 GB hard disk that can be upgraded to 80 GB hard disk. It has FireWire, USB 2.0 port and variety of wireless options and fortunately.

HP Compaq Rugged Notebook nr3600

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This mobile rugged computer is an expensive one which has got good rating from Cnet editors. It resists against high vibration, dropping, humidity, water, dust and low and high and shock temperature. But Cnet editors prefer Panasonic CF-29 more. It is thinner than that Panasonic model but with larger screen- its monitor is 12.1" touch-screen with maximum resolution of 1024 x 768 (XGA) and comes with an ATI Mobility Radeon graphics processor with 16MB memory. Also, it has comfortable keyboard.

Unfortunately, its battery only works for 3.5 hours. It weighs 9.1 pounds which is very heavy that makes it one of the heaviest rugged laptops. Also, it doesn’t have a FireWire and has only one USB 1.1 port which makes me some annoyed. It has a DVD player but not DVD writer. Regardless of those disadvantages, it has better performance than Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 and Itronix GoBook II. This laptop comes with Intel Pentium 4-M processor with 1.7 GHz clock speed and 512 MB DDR SDRAM which can be expanded to 1GB. It has various wireless options. It has 3 years warranty.

The longest-lasting Mac notebook battery ever

The battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro lasts up to 8 hours on a single charge1 and can be recharged up to 1000 times2 — compared with only 200 to 300 times for typical notebooks. To do this, Apple engineers custom-designed lithium-polymer cells to create the largest possible battery, then they went even further: They built the battery right into the computer, eliminating the space-consuming mechanisms and housings that standard removable batteries require. The result is a battery that’s 40 percent bigger than the previous generation and offers up to 8 hours of wireless productivity on a single charge — all in a notebook that’s less than an inch thin, weighs just 6.6 pounds,3 and remains the same price as the previous-generation model.