14 DAY TRIAL // Japanese company Matsushita Corporation, owner of the well-known Panasonic brand, has reportedly updated its famous Panasonic ToughBook model with Intel’s new Ivy bridge CPU.
The notebook's specifications apparently remained the same, but the use of the new mobile processor will result in a slight increase in performance, next to a significant decrease in power consumption.
The ToughBook CF-53 comes with Microsoft’s Windows 7 Professional 32 Bit operating system and a standard 4 GB or DDR3 random access memory.
It has a 14” inch LED High definition screen with a resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels. There is also an optional model that comes with a touch screen technology called Panasonic CircuLumin.
Only the keyboard is water resistant in this model and the case is made of a magnesium alloy that is vibration and shock resistant.
The battery autonomy is around 10 hours, but since the new version has an Intel Ivy Bridge processor, we can expect an increase in battery life.
On the connectivity side, the ToughBook CF-53 comes with a/b/g/n wireless capabilities and Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR (Class 1). Optionally, beginning with the summer of 2011,a LTE 4G module is available.
Other connectivity options include a HDMI port, a VGA connector, the usual two HD audio jacks, along with three USB 2.0 ports and a single USB 3.0 port.
It’s a pity that Panasonic provided only one USB 3.0 port on the ToughBook CF-53, but there is an ExpressCard slot available, so the USB 3.0 or any other connectivity can be further expanded.
It sports the same 1.3 mega pixel camera and the usual microphone is also available.
A DVD Writer unit is also installed and a second LAN or a rugged USB are optional.
The hard drive seems to have been updated to a 500 GB model with a faster rotation speed of 7200 rpm.
The whole device can stand an "easy" drop from a height of 76 centimeters when it’s off, but Panasonic won’t guarantee that the laptop won’t get broken.
Pricing stands at 2,015 USD for the standard model. That’s around 1,530 EUR for the European customers.