Shop for an extra-sturdy laptop, and you'll encounter vague, overlapping terms like fully rugged, semi-rugged, and business-rugged. Officially, Dell refers to the Latitude 5424 Rugged as semi-rugged, meaning it's not as indestructible as the flagship Latitude 7424 Rugged ExtremeA¢a,¬aEUR instead of a six-foot drop when closed, for example, it's rated to survive a three-foot fall. That still makes it suitable for carrying into the field and other environments where a civilian laptop might crack, though my Core i5 test unit's performance and battery life trailed that of the more costly Core i7 Extreme. On the other hand, the Latitude 7424's touchpad was frustratingly unresponsive. The 5424's worked fine.