Panasonic unveils new Toughbook range

Panasonic has unveiled its latest '8 series' Toughbook laptops – introducing the lightweight F8, a T8 tablet and an ultra-portable W8.

Boasting the Gobi 3G mobile broadband (WWAN) solution, Panasonic suggests its new range is suited to 'road warriors, walking workers and mobile executives'.

"Panasonic Toughbook business-rugged notebooks are engineered for the truly mobile professional," said Panasonic's director of product management Kyp Walls.

"We have designed these notebooks to offer industry-leading portability, durability and wireless connectivity – a necessary combination for today's workers on the move.

"Reliability is an issue that is coming into the mainstream with a lot of talk about computers being 'rugged'. While many vendors appear to be making moves in the direction of improved durability, most business notebooks are still seeing annual failure rates in the double digits."

Panasonic Toughbook F8, T8, W8

The Panasonic Toughbook F8 – which Panasonic claim is the world's lightest 3G ready notebook with a 14.1-inch screen and internal optical drive, has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM and a shock-mounted 160GB HDD, but it is the inbuilt handle that marks it out from the crowd.

The tablet Toughbook T8 is being described as a "tablet-alternative notebook with a touch screen, stylus and screen rotating software" for walking workers and comes with a 12.1-inch touchscreen, low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB RAM and offers seven hours of battery life.

Last but not least, the Toughbook W8 has a DVD drive 12.1-inch anti-glare screen and weighs in at 3 pounds. Expect an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM and a 120 GB HDD.