YugaTech | Philippines, Technology News & Reviews

It’s the battle of the fully ruggedized notebook and Dell is calling on Panasonic for the toughest laptops in the world. Meet Dell Latitude XFR D630 and the Panasonic Toughbook CF-30 — both a mouthful and vying for the most indestructible, anywhere, anytime commercial notebooks.

Dell Latitude XFR D630
At 8.9 lbs or just over 4 kgs., this massive and bulky notebook made of magnesium alloy chassis can handle extreme humidity, temperatures of between -20 to 140 degrees Celsius, and completed sealed and air-tight. With a 14.1″ screen, it runs an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM and an 80GB shock-proof, solid-state drive.

For connectivity, it has WiFi, bluetooth and mobile broadband (EVDO) options plus smartcard and PCMCIA slots. Price starts at around $3,900.

The reigning king on the toughbook category is Panasonic’s ToughBook CF-30 clamshell notebook. This rig claims 1,000 Nit LCD for best viewing under sunlight (Nit: a unit of luminance also called candela per square meter).

This fully-rugged mobile PC is encased in a magnesium alloy with an 80GB shock-mounted, removable hard drive in stainless steel case, 13.3″ screen, Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66GHz, expandable to 4GB DDR2 RAM, GPS, EV-DO, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, and up to 7 hours of battery life.

Security features are top-notch too - finger-print scanner, smartcard reader, password for HDD lock and cable lock slot. It’s resistant to dust or water so you can still use it even during a downpour (you can’t bring it underwater though). Costs a whooping $6,500.

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