Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 Versus an SUV

School is either out, or almost out, today for many students; and for some, a summer break couldn’t come soon enough. But such a sense of urgency for one college student led to a break of a different kind recently.

Branndon Nesspor, a Finance major at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey, was leaving school and talking on the phone with an employer when he set his Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 on the roof of his car to unlock the vehicle. He then pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road and “heard something smack the pavement and slide.”

Luckily for him, even though it wasn’t part of our Dell Latitude Rugged line of laptops, it’s still engineered and tested for reliability.

“I pulled to the side and saw my laptop in the road, on the opposite side of the lane,” Nesspor explained to me via Twitter. “I couldn't turn around to pick it up right away because an SUV was coming. I let it pass and boom it ran it over it with the front left and back left tire.”

Here’s what he saw once he was able to safely grab and open it:

“I picked it up and literally started to cry lol,” Nesspor direct messaged. “I was so upset with myself that I did something so stupid! I just purchased this laptop a few months ago and I use it for college only! I was relieved that it worked still. Just the touch screen doesn’t work and the glass is all cracked.”

Aside from a knick at the corner, the outside of the chassis barely shows the torture it endured. No skid marks left behind.

Now here’s where I should probably insert some “your results may vary” type of disclaimer. We do not suggest you try this yourself. While we do test an Inspiron laptop’s base and lid more than 25,000 times to ensure the parts inside are well protected, we do not specifically design them to withstand being run over by a sport utility vehicle. Nesspor’s story is not typical and he was very lucky that the inner mechanics of the system weren’t impacted.

We do know that you can’t anticipate every mishap that could befall your systems, though, and offer an Accidental Damage Service plan. (Something the parents buying for their students should especially give consideration.)

Here’s hoping that you won’t ever need it, and that all our student customers out there enjoy a fun and safe summer break.

About the Author: Laura Pevehouse

Laura Pevehouse was profiled as one of five “social media mavens” in the March 2009 issue of Austin Woman Magazine and named an AdWeek’s TweetFreak Five to Follow. She has been part of the Dell organization for more than 15 years in various corporate communications, employee communications, public relations, community affairs, marketing, branding, social media and online communication roles. From 2014-2018, Laura was Chief Blogger/Editor-in-Chief for Direct2DellEMC and Direct2Dell, Dell’s official corporate blog that she help launch in 2007. She is now a member of the Dell Technologies Chairman Communications team. Earlier in her Dell career she focused on Global Commercial Channels and US Small and Medium Business public relations as part of the Global Communications team. Prior to that, she was responsible for global strategy in social media and community management, as well as marcom landing pages, as a member of Dell’s Global SMB Marketing, Brand and Creative team. When she was part of Dell’s Global Online group, Laura provided internal consulting that integrated online and social media opportunities with a focus on Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. She managed the home page of Dell.com, one of the top 500 global web sites in Alexa traffic rank, and first brought web feeds and podcasts to the ecommerce site. In her spare time she led Dell into the metaverse with the creation of Dell Island in the virtual world Second Life. Laura has earned the designation of Accredited Business Communicator from the International Association of Business Communicators, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University. Before joining Dell Financial Services in 2000, she worked at the Texas Workforce Commission and PepsiCo Food Systems Worldwide.