One might think that they can simply put a durable shell on the outside of their old personal computer and they are good to hit the trails- but they would be wrong. While the outer casing of these products does protect them- there is a lot more going on under the surface. Many of these products are constructed from component parts that are specially designed to be able to withstand high temperatures and vibrations. If your home laptop isn’t considered to be rugged- slapping a shell on the outside won’t protect it from all of the elements out there.