Tablet PCs come in multiple shapes and sizes, but there is a certain type of such tablets, the rugged variety that is, which excels at protecting the hardware within, a useful feature for the industrial sector, and Panasonic has just revealed the existence of the Toughbook 31 and 19 series of such electronics.

Though media slates have managed to create their own market segment, convertible tablets still sell because they have the physical keyboard as an advantage.

Convertible tablet PCs also shine through the fact that their capabilities, overall, are closer to those of a full-featured PC.

Within this market segment lies another niche, known as rugged tablet PC market, and Toshiba has just released two of them, the 31 and 19 Series Toughbook models.

As their name implies, they are meant to safeguard the technology inside of them from the hazardous conditions when in the field or factories, among other things.

Measuring 12.1 inches and 10.4 inches in diagonal, respectively, the Toughbook 31 and 19 are fairly similar in terms of hardware, with the exception of the CPUs.

Specifically, the 31 runs on an Intel Core i5 CPU of 2.4 GHz, whereas the 19 settles for a 1.2GHz chip.

Other then that, they feature the Intel QM57 Express chipset, up 2GB (or up to 6 GB) of DDR3 SDRAM and displays with a native resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels.

Other specifications include Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, four USB ports, a HDMI output, Bluetooth 2.1 and a SD card slot.

As for their casings, they are not only dustproof and waterproof, but also confer a significant level of drop resistance upon the hardware within.

Set to start shipping in Japan around the middle of the ongoing month, the Panasonic 31 Series and 19 Series Toughbook rugged convertible tablet PCs will be pre-loaded with Windows 7 Professional. Unfortunately, pricing details have not been disclosed.