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Panasonic ToughBook Testing Facility Tour

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the bruised-but-not-beaten dept.

An anonymous reader writes "ToughBooks are considered by some to be the most resilient of all notebooks. So how does Panasonic ensure that their line of indestructible portables are just that? In a recent tour of the Kobe plant in Japan it was discovered that 1000's of ToughBooks are destroyed each year in pursuit of the most rugged systems. Soaking, electric shock, heating and electromagnetic radiation are among the many methods of torture used."

5 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Matsushita Versus Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Panasonic is just one brand in the consumer-electronics empire of Matsushita. For decades, Panasonic quality was considered inferior to Sony quality, but at the moment, Panasonic quality is nearly identical to Sony quality. Moreover, Sony products cost 30% more than Panasonic products.

    Why would anyone want to pay 30% more for an equivalent product?

    Why does Sony charge so much money even though nearly 100% of its products is now assembled in low-wage China? Panasonic still tries to build its products in high-wage Japan.

  2. Watch it though.... by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Getting on an airplane with one of These
    can panic the TSA morons quite fast.

    The thing looks like a bomb from the TV show 24.

    At minimum you look like a spy or someone who is not doing good things.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  3. Pretty Tough... by Wes+Janson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Saw one take a dive off of the top of a moving patrol car, onto asphalt (moral of the story: don't leave laptops on top of cruisers). Popped a few things out the side, but everything slid back into place, and it booted right up. Dunno about long-term abuse, but I found that test pretty impressive. For organizations such as those, I can easily see how the extra cost for a Toughbook would be worth it. You'd make it back within a few months with the amount saved by not having to replace components and entire units all the time.

  4. Re:They cost about $4000 by solevita · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Their high price is the biggest problem with them, the second problem is their toughness. Sounds strange? Well, I had to use one of the bastards last summer. I was working for my university who had spend a few grand on a toughbook years a go. Of course, now it was too slow to run anything I wanted use, but there was no way the university was getting rid of it; it had cost a fortune and it hadn't broken. That made it useless.

    If you want to use a laptop in a field over summer, buy the cheapest you can find and keep buying them every year. 5 years later you'll have spent less money (even if you break a couple and need to go buy some replacements) and you won't be stuck with an outdated, but perfectly functioning, computer.

    Toughbooks, I hate them.

  5. Re:Instead of a Toughbook... by JPribe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm going to guess you have never used a Toughbook. Swapping the HDD is as easy as swapping the battery. We have about 300 of these at work, spares on the shelf. If the screen dies on you then you go in, pull the HDD and battery, turn in the old shell and get a new one. (CF-29 in an industrial environment: all of our tech data is on the toughbooks, and work is updated live via a scheduled wireless database sync.)

    --

    Why go fast when you can go anywhere? O|||||||O