Subnotebook with Steel - Toughbook Elite

Posted by Todd Gold

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Hailed as the "world's only magnesium alloy laptop", the Toughbook Elite appears as elegant as many other ultralights on the market. However, unlike other laptops in the ultraportable category, this ruggedized notebook is dust, shock and spill resistant.

Often, in the quest for portabilty, durability iscompromised. How many subnotebooks on the market today are housed in magnesium alloy casing, and canwithstand the rigors of being bounced around on the front seat of a land rover cruiser, in off road conditions?

How many are able to operate after a soaking from a mug of hotcoffee, that accidentally spills onto the laptop's keyboard. How many can survive the halitosic intensity of the editor'sfetid breath, as he sits hour after hour in front of his laptop,allegedly researching articles for Laptopical, but really playingBaldur's Gate?

Not many......That's why it's time to check out the ToughbookElite from Panasonic.

Billed as the "world's only magnesium alloy laptop", thePanasonic elite is equipped with a 14.1 inch screen, 60GBshock-mounted hard drive, 512MB of SDRAM, and a 1.50 GHz mobilePentium M Processor courtesy of Intel.

This toughbook is Wi-Fi enabled (Integrated 802.11a+b+g wireless LAN), weighs 3.4 lbs,and Panasonic boast it has a battery life of almost 6 hours.

The notebook is nice looking as well, it's svelte, silverelegance seeming to contradict a steely toughness. Enoughrambling, what do real users of toughbooks actually think ofthem?

Wayne Bennett, engine support engineer for Access Motorsports inPlano, Texas had this to say:

".....Sometimes computers get dropped. And, if it's not arugged Toughbook computer, it isn't going tosurvive....."

Captain James Garcia of the Fire Department in Chula Vista,California was impressed by the reliability of Toughbooks.

".....They take a beating......They get hit, they getdropped, they get kicked around. And they are reliable day in andday out....."

Sounds just like our office temp, but unfortunately not ascheap.

If you have your heart set on one of these portable beasts,you'll have to shell out the best part of 3 grand, $2,969.00dollars to be exact.

However there is a cheaper option if you don't mind compromisingon screen size and a few other bells and whistles.

2,499 dollars will get you a Toughbook Elite with a 12.1 inch screen, a 1.20 GHz processor and 40GB shock-mounted HDD. Grantedthese specs aren't as good as the 14.1 inch elite, howeverlooking on the positive it weighs only 2.9 pounds.

This laptop also comes in a choice of four colors - Arctic White,Firehouse Red, Steel Gray and Galaxy black.....The 14.1 inchversion only comes in silver.

More about the Panasonic elite at Panasonic.com

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