Panasonic, a company which isn’t really involved in competing with the mainstream ‘PC’ industry has long offered the range of durable, go anywhere laptop in the form of the Toughbook – but this week, Panasonic has refreshed the Toughbook 20, which is the 2-in-1 offering from the company.
New, updated model
The first Toughbook 20 launched around two years ago and it had a 8.5 hour battery life, which for most laptops is pretty impresive, but not so good for the target market for the Toughbook, which is telecoms providers, mobile phone operators, building sites and more outdoor related work where the access to a power outlet is not as easy. So with the updated model for 2018, the Toughbook now has a 17 hour battery life, providing you install an additional extra battery underneath the keyboard.
The extra battery now also functions as whats called a ‘bridge battery’ which basically means you can go between charges and or swap out one of the batteries, without turning the machine on and off in the process, which should help productivity where it matters.
Specs
As the Toughbook range is targeted at service providers, don’t expect this to have a handful of USB-C ports, like a modern MacBook. This thing is loaded with ports, slots and keyboard accessories.
In the screen part, which detaches there are:
- USB 3.0 ports
- HDMI
- Etherent
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- microSD
- SIM card slot
In the lower keyboard section, there are:
- USB 3.0
- USB 2.0
- HDMI
- VGA
- Etherent
- 9-pin USB serial port
- Full size SD card slot
Availability and price
The Panasonic Toughbook is available now, starting at $3,100
