Panasonic CF-18 Toughbook Review

Pocket-lint reviews the Panasonic CF-18 Toughbook, a tablet that can handle being dropped in mud.

The armoured-body measures 271mm wide, by 216mm long by 49mm deep and weighs in at 2.1kg. To keep the weight down, the outer shell is constructed from a magnesium alloy, 20 times harder that standard ABS plastic.

All the standard ports are sealed with rubber-bung style plugs to prevent the dust and moisture from the outside, getting inside. The larger doors, that cover the 6.5hour battery, PCMCIA and SD slots and removable hard drive have a locking mechanisms that would sub-mariners envious and extra work has gone into the construction of the high stress areas of the tablets screen hinge and main release catch, both looking like they’ve been designed with roadies in mind.

In the end they gave the CF-18 a reasonable seven out of ten. If you need a specialized machine such as this, you might not have a choice, but be warned that the price is high, it lacks an optical drive, has a compressed keyboard configuration, and has some unresponsive tablet function buttons.

Related Posts: