Microsoft shipping review gear in re-usable shipping boxes. Bravo!

In fully a year of reviewing gadgets and other manly bits and bobs, Microsoft (via PR firm Edelman) is the first to send me something in a re-usable shipping box. And, clearly, it has been re-used, over and over and over again.

(The item sent in is the new DSM-750 Media Extender from D-Link, by the way. First impressions are that it's much better than the last generation, but very much wants you to have Rube Goldberg's home network set up for it.)

Update: Lenovo sent me a test unit in a very nice reusable box. Shipping all this crap back to the manufacturers is half the reason I don't do more hands-on reviews than I do. It's such a hassle. Lenovo's got it down: slick little reusable box, barely any waste at all, and packed and ready for shipping in seconds. – Joel

[#1 posted by georgelazenby , April 17, 2008 7:21 AM]

I strongly recommend that any further video feature be done in this style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2v-AkSj260

you even look like him.

[#2 posted by nick , April 17, 2008 11:13 AM]

At my last job we had some Lenovo demo units that shipped in similar boxes. we ended up buying those instead of dells.

[#3 posted by maoinhibitor , April 17, 2008 1:55 PM]

These are great boxes! They are called Benson Boxes, and are made by Freight Mate in TX. I have used them before in a previous job as a PC-PBX trainer for shipping ~1500 pounds of classroom PC servers and Dialogic telephony boards all over N. America. You can order them with just about any number and size of internal foam cavities, with casters if you like, and they are much lighter than typical plywood & metal reusable equipment shipping boxes. Heck, I'm positively nostalgic about them.

[#4 posted by HeatherB , April 18, 2008 1:43 PM]

I had never seen one before this one. It's just too damn awesome. I love it!