14 DAY TRIAL // Though not exactly directly related, media slates and rugged tablets seem to have become somewhat intertwined. After the tablet market finally got on its feet, interest in any sort of slates, convertible or otherwise, grew significantly. This gave companies like Panasonic, which already had a line of rugged convertible tablets on sale, an extra reason to ramp up R&D efforts in this field. This led to the creation of the Toughbook 31, as well as some upgrades to existing models.
With Intel's Core Series of mobile CPUs, a new level of performance was unlocked with no noticeable impact on power consumption. Panasonic decided it was time to take advantage of the new CPUs, which is why it has offered the 2GHz Intel Core i5-540M as part of the Toughbook 19 rugged convertible tablet. The other special feature available as an option is high-speed wireless access by means of the Gobi 2000 wireless module or WiMAX.
"The rugged Toughbook 19 convertible tablet is a proven solution, validated by years of success in the field," said Kyp Walls, director of product management, Panasonic Solutions Company. "With the new Intel processor, our users will benefit from the combination of great performance, easy remote access and security without sacrificing battery life while on the move. In addition, offering optional Gobi2000 and WiMAX will improve the mobile connectivity experience for our customers."
Other specifications of the magnesium alloy-protected rugged convertible tablet include 2GB DDR3, touch/dual touch input, a 160GB HDD/128GB SSD, WiFI, Bluetooth, a 10.4-inch LED display with a 2-1,000 nit LCD brightness and a battery life of up to nine hours. To these are added the obvious high impact resistance and spill resistance. Finally, the Panasonic Toughbook 19 is already shipping, though it probably can't be seen as very affordable with its price of $3,399.