A line of
notebook computers by
Panasonic. They claim to be
ruggedized and
durable, usually sporting
magnesium LCD cases and anti
shock mounted
hard drives and components.
At my job we
bought a Toughbook 47 as a
loaner for
users travelling to other
divisions. The thing really didn't last that long, It got loaned out twice, then I used it for a few months. By then the
cdrom wouldn't be
recognized to
Windows, the
LS-120 drive wouldn't open or eject and it would never boot on the first try. It probably needed a
stern reloading of
Windows, but it obviously had
hardware problems. Later, I bought a....
Toughbook CF-27 for myself. A
tank among notebooks, this thing's whole case is a
magnesium alloy with
sealed port and
connector covers, with a
moisture and dust
resistant everything. It was designed with
MIL-STD-810E tests in mind and has cool features like a
touchscreen display,
backlit keyboard (optional),
wireless capability, and even a
POTS line tester option.
A
drawback is that it only can support up to a
Intel PIII 500, since it doesn't have any air
vents or
fans. Panasonic is still trying to figure out
drivers for the touchscreen under
Windows 2000. The
integrated modem never wants to connect on the first dial. It is also a fairly
weighty beast, but I don't mind any of this stuff. With it's
suitcase like handle, it looks
serious when you walk onto a customer's site. It also has a
suprisingly loud
speaker for those
MP3's. I
love this thing.
I remember the Panasonic
represenative showing us the demo
mpeg for the CF-27. It showed
military guys running the books over with
humvee's and stuff. Another guy spilt hot
coffee into the keyboard, then
sprayed the whole book off with a
hose,
no problem.
Back to
Panasonic Laptops
(
nodeshell rescue)