Things You Need to Know about the Panasonic Toughbook

What do you first think of when you hear the word “Panasonic”? What I think of immediately is my father’s first cell phone, as it was a Panasonic; I remember it being as heavy as a brick and I remember being confused – I had never seen a mobile phone prior to that! My parents had to sit me down and explain to me how the phone worked and why it was “cool”. Apparently, Panasonic was really popular in the 90s and it still is popular today, although not in the field of cell phones anymore. What Panasonic is most known for, in the field that is of my interest, is their Toughbook computers.

‘But Kennedy, what are Toughbook Computers?’

The first Toughbook computer created by Panasonic was released in 1996 under the name of CF-25, and since then, Panasonic has created multiple updated versions of CF-25, keeping up with the tech of today.

What’s important to know is that any Toughbook is a rugged computer, meaning that it can survive any damage inflicted upon it (be it physical damage or damage created by natural disasters) and that is one of the reasons many Toughbook computers are used by the military, government, healthcare, law enforcement, and other important utilities.

To ensure their safety, these computers undergo more than a few hundred tests before they are out on the market. However, there are different models of a Toughbook computer: they can be fully-rugged, business-rugged, and semi-rugged computers!

What is the difference between these types of computers, then?

The main difference between a fully, business and a semi-rugged computer is their strength to withstand external damage; with the fully-rugged computer line being almost indestructible, while the business-rugged line and semi-rugged line fall off the “toughness scale”.

The fully-rugged computers allow their users to work in wild and dangerous environments (think of war zones or zones with harsh weather conditions). This line of Panasonic Toughbook computers is all completely waterproof (yes, you read that right – every single part of the computer is waterproof!) so they can withstand not only water damage but even acid damage as well. As I already mentioned, you can use them even in harsh weather conditions – which makes them a better fit than any other computer as they can withstand temperatures that go well over the norm.

With the semi-rugged computer line, Panasonic transformed a normal notebook computer into a rugged computer by swapping the hard disk drive, and the keyboard for their rugged counterparts. In this case, they swapped the standard keyboard for a waterproof keyboard, and the hard drive was swapped for a shockproof hard drive.

Lastly, the business-rugged computer line has some of the properties both fully and semi-rugged computers have, but they are not as indestructible as the previous two. They aren’t waterproof and they aren’t sealed!