IBM Makes it Safer to Drop Your Notebook

Have you ever been running through the airport terminal with your trusty notebook tucked under your arm or swinging wildly in the carry on bag you're toting with you?  If you drop that notebook while running and it is turned on, the end result could be data loss.  If it's you're business laptop that can be a huge problem.  The next generation of IBM Thinkpad notebooks, the ThinkPad T41 and ThinkPad R50 have been designed to solve this problem.

IBM has  introduced new thinkpad notebook computers designed to protect data when their owners drop them or try to run down the hall with them without turning them off first.

The ThinkPad R50 and T41 come equipped with the IBM Active Protection System, which is similar to the technology that tells cars when to deploy air bags.  Joe Dorian the worldwide manager for the Thinkpad brand at IBM says, "these new ThinkPads include an integrated motion sensor that helps decrease damage when accelerated motion is detected."  Basically what happens is that a chip on the motherboard detects when a computer is falling and parks the read/write head on the hard drive so that the platter is protected. This helps prevent data loss when a notebook computer falls off a desk, for example, Doria says.

I don't know about you guys, but I think this feature is just great.  I'm lucky enough to say I've never actually dropped my notebook, but if I did and the hard drive becomes crippled along with all my data then I'd be a very unhappy camper.

The ThinkPad R50 is available in 14- and 15-inch models and can achieve up to 10 hours of battery life, officials said.

The T41 is a refreshed version of the popular IBM T40 model, with updated processor options as well as the Active Protection System.