I just got through unpacking six laptops we ordered from Dell. I'd say that the amount of packaging they were in was … average. Out of curiosity, I weighed the packaging material and the actual usable product on our shipping scale. The packaging weighed 25lbs. (11.34kg). The actual laptops with their batteries and power supplies weighed 44.4lbs (20.14kg). Well over a third of the shipping weight was in packaging. And a significant portion of the packaging existed to house the six CDs and regulatory flyer (2.15lbs., 1kg) that are eminently downloadable.

I'm really getting tired of all this superfluous packaging and I really wish someone would do something about it. Amazon is kind of pretending to. At least someone is recognizing that this is a problem, even if the initiative is mostly just lip service.

I don't know. I guess I just felt like I needed to rant about this. Sorry. Please go about your business.