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SINGAPORE : The Tokyo rush hour is notorious for its human sardine cans, where commuters are packed neck to neck and shoulder to shoulder by train staff wearing white gloves. The sheer force of the mass of bodies being shoved into the train carriages is enough to crack a laptop screen.
Except, maybe, for Panasonic’s line of physically-resilient ToughBook laptops.
In Japan, the ToughBook has had the lion’s share of the business market for the past three years. No surprises there.
These hardy notebooks go through a rigorous test of high-pressure water sprays, drop tests and endurance tests of rapid temperature changes. The ToughBook series has also been ruggedised further specially for the United States Army to ensure stable performance under extreme weather conditions.
On YouTube, you can even catch a clip of a ruggedised ToughBook being driven over by a car and coming out unscathed.
Last week, Panasonic held the global launch of its latest ToughBook laptops in Tokyo. Aimed at frequent flyers and business folks, the laptops can withstand a 76cm drop from 26 different angles. Its keyboards are spill-resistant and the chassis can withstand a force of 100kg.
There are five laptops in the latest line-up, but our shores will only see three of these. One of them, the 14.1-inch CF-F8 (S$3,899) is making its debut as the first ToughBook to come with a widescreen LCD screen and an integrated handle. The hardy briefcase-like laptop weighs only 1.66kg.
Next are updates to the 12.1-inch CF-T8 and CF-W8 (S$3,299), which see them being fitted with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors. Both sport the energy-efficient Intel SU9300 ultra-low voltage (ULV) processor that provides ample horsepower. The T8 is a tablet PC aimed at industries such as healthcare and service and is only available here for corporate orders. The CF-F8 and CF-T8 will ship in December, but you can start pre-ordering yours from next month.
The CF-Y8 and CF-R8 will be for Japan only. While the CF-Y8 is a capable 14.1-inch ToughBook that boasts up to eight hours of battery life, it’s the CF-R8 that’s got our attention. The 10.4-inch Toughbook has the makings of a netbook with its small form factor, but it shares the same tough features of its bigger cousins and comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor running at 1.2GHz.
Panasonic has no plans to make itcommercially available here, but let’s hope there’s enough demand for the company to change its mind.
All the ToughBooks are equipped with magnesium-alloy cases and are capable of hooking up to networks that use the latest Draft-N standard. The F8, Y8 and W8 models also come with top-loading DVD writers.
After building up the reputation and quality of its products on home turf, Panasonic is making an effort to reach into foreign markets. At the launch, the company announced it will make the ToughBook available to more countries in the region, as well as in the emerging economies of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Panasonic plans to ship 1.3 million laptops worldwide by 2012, up from the 660,000 it shipped last year. - TODAY/ar
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