Panasonic Toughbook CF-W5 Preview I 
Panasonic has been making notebooks for a long time, but despite this you may not have come across the ToughBook brand before. The reason for this is that Panasonic models tend to attract a certain type of buyer, a buyer that is more concerned with durability than design and performance. To get an idea of who the ToughBooks appeal to, next time you see a BT engineer working on a junction box in the street, take a look over his shoulder and it's a near certainty that he'll be working on a ToughBook. As the name suggests, ToughBooks are built to be, well, a bit tougher than your average notebook. In fact the fully rugged units sported by field engineers are built to withstand impact, water, dust ingress and just about any other environmental hazard that mobile computers might be subjected to. But not everyone wants to carry around a large, heavy, metal clad notebook, no matter how strong it might be. With this in mind, Panasonic created semi-rugged ToughBooks. Being a semi-rugged notebook, the CF-W5 can’t survive a drop of one metre like the CF-29 and CF-18. However, Panasonic will guarantee that it can withstand a drop of 30cm, which is more than you’ll get with most other notebooks. The great thing is that Panasonic hasn’t had to make the CF-W5 any larger or heavier to make it that little bit more robust. The CF-W5 can also withstand up to 120kg of pressure - so you could stack things on top of it, or use it as a seat cushion if you really wanted to. The first thing you’ll notice when you pick up Panasonic’s new Toughbook CF-W5 will likely be its matte-silver finish, super-light weight, and pop-up optical drive. You won’t, however, need to pay much attention to the battery meter, since this system lasts a staggering eight hours on a charge. Throw in a durable design and an optional Verizon Wireless EV-DO card for anytime, anywhere connectivity and you have a pricey but highly recommended ultraportable.
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