Third Infantry buys new rugged laptops

The Army's first combat unit in this year's Iraqi conflict will buy more than 2,200 Itronix Corp. GoBook II notebooks after many of its rugged and regular laptops sustained sand and dust damage in Iraq, an Itronix official said today.

Officials at Itronix, located in Spokane, Wash., will announce Nov. 17 that they received more than $11 million in contracts to provide more than 2,200 notebooks to the 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Ga., said Vince Menzione, vice president of Itronix's public-sector division. The company has delivered about 1,600 of these laptops, he said.

About 30 percent of the 3rd Infantry Division's 4,000 notebooks failed to work in Iraq's rugged terrain, Menzione said. GoBook II machines will provide rugged computer and wireless capabilities, he said.

GoBook II notebooks can operate in rain, snow, wind, dust, fire, shock, vibration and chemical exposure, according to an Itronix statement. The company uses a die-cast magnesium casing to make its laptops more durable, the statement said.

The 3rd Infantry contracts mark Itronix's first with the Army, Menzione said. The company has sold rugged notebooks to the Air Force's Air Combat Command, Air Education and Training Command, and Air Mobility Command, Menzione said.