14 DAY TRIAL // Back in April, Intel reaffirmed its plans of continuing to target the ever-growing educational market, with the introduction of a reference tablet design, destined to act as an incentive to device manufacturers.
And by the looks of it, Panasonic is one of the first adopters to make use of the Intel blueprint and launch an actual product along these lines.
The Panasonic 3E is actually a 2-in-1 machine, meaning that the device is a tablet coming with a keyboard dock, allowing adopters to use it as a lappy as well.
With the new product, Panasonic is targeting schools with students starting from Kindergarten and up to the 12th grade.
In terms of specifications, users will find all they need on board. That being said, the Panasonic 3E isn't boasting any stellar specifications, but it’s enough to get the job done at least while educational activities and homework are concerned.
The Panasonic 3E arrives with a 10-inch IPS display offering 1366 x 768 pixel resolution. Like Intel’s reference design, the laptop bundles an Atom Z3740D quad-core processor fitted with 2GB of RAM and backed up by 32GB Of internal storage.
Like most educational devices that arrive on the market, the laptop is rugged, meaning it boasts an IP51 dust- and water-resistant case and will be able to survive a drop from up to 2.3 ft / 70 cm.
The specification list is completed by the microSD card slot (allowing for memory expansion), micro HDMI port, USB 3.0 port, USB 2.0 port, keyboard dock, 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, Intel Wireless Display.
The tablet runs Windows 8.1 Pro for Education 32-bit out of the box, and as you might expect, it comes equipped with education-dedicated Intel software.
Panasonic also throws a capacitive stylus into the mix, so students and teachers will feel like writing on a regular notebook.
The 2-in-1’s dock is quite versatile, and users will be able to arrange the screen in such a manner that it faces away from the keyboard, a mode more suited for presentations and such.
The laptop’s battery should be good enough to provide up to 8 hours of life, and to top everything, Panasonic offers 4G and GPS options.
Anyway, Panasonic is pricing the device starting at $499 / €365 in an effort to promote digital literacy. The company is also willing to offer deep discounts for those schools entering the recently launched Panasonic Education Pricing program.
