14 DAY TRIAL // Back at CES 2013, Panasonic pulled the veil off a massive 20-inch slate dubbed the Toughpad 4K UT-MB4. According to the producer, it’s the first 20-inch 4K tablet in the world.
Now the company has added price and availability dates for the impressive slate. So let’s see what we have here. First off, in terms of display, we’re going to be dealing with an impressive resolution of 2840 x 2560 pixels, a 15:10 aspect ratio, and wide viewing angles on an IPS Alpha LCD screen.
The beautiful screen will help deliver the most stunning and crisp visuals, allowing creative professionals active in fields such as video production, architecture, design, or photography to work on the go, outside of the office.
The President of Panasonic System Communications Company of North America, Rance Poehler, explained the necessity of such a big slate.
“In our highly connected and visual world, having access to the best quality, most detailed visual information available can be a critical component of success in many field.”
“By delivering an unsurpassed level of image quality, running on an Intel vPro processor and using Microsoft’s most advanced operating system, the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 tablet allows decision makers in various visual fields to view, share, manage and interpret information to drive their innovation.”
Panasonic is slipping an Intel Core i5 vPro processor inside with NVIDIA GeForce 745M GPU, so even the most demanding rendering programs should work extremely smooth on the slate.
There’s also a 1280 x 720 pixel front camera onboard. Designed for creative use, the tablet bundles a smart stylus, as well.
The slate is not only powerful but it also looks great. It’s enclosed in a reinforced glass fiber and sports a magnesium alloy frame. The manufacturing company claims it’s impossible to damage the tablet, saying that it can survive a 30-inch drop to its back while operating.
Windows 8.1 Pro is the default operating system on board. Panasonic also offers Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0, SDXC card slot, smart card reader, and docking connector. The only problem with this impressive slate seems to be that battery life is extremely short, estimated to provide only 2 hours per charge.
Those interested should know that the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 will be available for purchase starting January, 2014 and it won’t come cheap. Professionals will be able to grab theirs for $5,999 / €4,474 a pop.
