nvkhkhr
Prime VIP
This is definitely going to be the year of the tablet, and even more definitely the year of the iPad, but if there’s one thing Apple does worse than just about anyone, it’s make durable products. That’s not a problem if all you’re going to do is read on it while sipping lattes in the cafe, but if you’re someone who wants a tablet for on-field work, the fragility of the tablet form-factor is going to be a problem.
Let’s say, for example, you work construction. You want a tablet to access blueprints… but that exposed screen is vulnerable to flying bits of debris. No tablet on the market’s going to be a good fit for you, let alone the iPad.
Panasonic’s looking to elbow itself out a niche in the durability market by extending their Toughbook line of ultra-rugged laptops into the tablet arena. The new Toughbook H1 is a beast compared to the iPad, true, but what it lacks in svelteness it makes up for in being able to withstand extreme conditions. The specs aren’t bad: an Atom Z250 CPU clocked to 1.86GHz, 2GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD GPS, WWAN, a multi-card reader and a camera are all built-in.
A threat to the iPad? Hardly. But for right now, the Toughbook’s the only game in town if you want a rugged tablet, which makes it worth a look for industrial and military types.
