Hummer Roughneck Computer Tool Review

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By Mark Clement Complaints. I have three complaints about the Hummer, and I had to look for them: 1. The HOME and END keys work differently than I'm accustomed to, which makes scrolling through large documents a little trickier. For most jobsite documents—schedules, calendars, Word docs, e-mail—it's hardly noticeable and some fancy finger-work with the blue Function (fn) key helps. 2. I did watch some DVDs. They skipped a bit. Note: The machine I tested is Hummer's tradeshow unit (it's got perma-plaque on the bottom saying so) and, according to Hummer, it's been dropped around 200 times. If that's the only symptom after 200 drops plus what I did to it, I'm OK with that. 3. I wish there was a third USB port on the side of the unit so I could hook up a device such as a camera without unplugging the printer or mouse. Bottom Line Part of my test was a failure. Secretly, I hoped to send the Hummer back in pieces, but no dice. This roughneck is tough to kill. I was foiled again attempting to subvert the machine's success with price. A base unit is $2,075—comparable to consumer laptops. And the Hummer is likely cheaper to own. For example, my old Brand X crashed once on site. In one day I lost the cost of the original machine plus $3,500 for data recovery plus downtime plus opportunity cost (easily $1,500-2,000) plus a new computer. So when I look at $2,075 (upgraded units cost more) I can't reasonably view that as "high." It's a no-contest decision for me. Design. OK, it's a Hummer. You need to mention design. Even if you don't care about the trucks, the industrial designers deserve a hand. It's an attention getter. The red, yellow, or gray colors look sweet in-laid in the magnesium housing. If style is your gig, you've got one more reason to dig this info-tech roughneck. PREVIOUS  1 | 2 | 3 | 4  NEXT