Dell Latitude XFR D630 vs. Panasonic Toughbook CF-30

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.