Rugged Laptop for Tough Terrain

Panasonic's Toughbook is as tough as they make them these days. It has
survived bullets in the Iraq war and has been to Mt. Everest. The world's
toughest and lightest laptop has also been launched in India in late August.

Early in the Iraq war, as bullets poured in from all directions, a US
soldier, in a reflex action, held up his Toughbook 72 laptop with a hard
magnesium shell and steel-reinforced innards. The rugged tough book took a
bullet, which got lodged in its hard drive. As a result, more than 5,000 of
these are in use in Iraq.

On May 31, 2005 Australian Rex Pemberton became the youngest Australian to
scale the world's tallest mountain. During his ascent Rex used his Toughbook
to type his daily dairy, read emails, store digital photos and video footage
taken on the climb, even at freezing temperatures of —30oC.

There
are other fully rugged models that are completely sealed from the elements and
hold up even when run over by a truck. These often cost more than $3,000, while
the current average price of a notebook is $1,580.

The tough laptop is a result of a magnesium alloy casing, which is 20 times
stronger than ABS plastic and 5 times stronger than Titanium. The hard drive is
shock mounted in a metal casing with sponge and polymer compounds. The fanless
design of the product prevents it from water and dust.

Jasmine Kaur, New
Delhi