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Video: iPhone vs netbook in extreme rally car typing challenge

When Crave gets bored, odd things happen. Today, we're pitting an iPhone against a netbook in an ERC rally car. Because that's how we roll

Rory Reid
2 min read

When Crave gets bored, odd things happen. We'll fly RC planes through the streets, we'll dress up in costumes and expose our cleavages, hell, we'll even drag a big-ass 20-inch laptop through the London Underground -- just for kicks.

Our latest stunt continues this tradition of recklessness, we think you'll agree. In this video, we decided to pit an iPhone against a netbook to see which is the true king of mobile productivity. Rather than attempt this stunt on a train, in a coffee-shop, or somewhere equally lame, we thought we'd do it in the back of a £1m rally car. Yup, that's how we roll.

Our challenge was pretty simple: hop into the passenger seat alongside 14-time European Rallycross champion Kenneth Hansen, hurtle around Lydden race track in Dover, and attempt to type, 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' -- a pangram, or holoalphabetic sentence containing every letter of the alphabet -- on to each device.

It might sound easy enough, but Ken's Citroen C4 does 0-60mph in 2.39 seconds -- quicker than some Formula 1 cars -- on gravel. Then there's the fact the car can generate three times the force of gravity in a corner, and has a passenger cabin so hot and so inhospitable it could put Texas to shame.

So what'll it be? The netbook with its full Qwerty keyboard, or the iPhone with its touchscreen and clever auto-correction feature? There's only one way to find out!

Correction: We stated in the video that Kenneth Hansen is Swedish. He's actually from Denmark. Our båd.

Updåte: Nope, we were right the first time. Kenny's Swedish. Sorry if we offended any Scandinavian sensibilities there. Please don't pillage us.