Panasonic Toughbook W4 Review

Laptop Magazine reviews the Toughbook W4, and ultraportable machine that should stand up to most day-to-day abuse.

The deep texture of the lid not only creates a cool, unique look, but it also adds strength, protecting the display from any force applied to the top of the Toughbook W4. Other ruggedized features include a removable, shock-mounted 40GB hard drive, a locking optical drive latch, sealed modem and Ethernet jacks, and a strong, yet lightweight magnesium-alloy shell.

Aesthetically, we like the placement of the lid’s hinge at the front bottom of the screen, which causes the display to recede slightly behind the base as you open it. This creates a lower profile ideal for a coach class seat tray. The subtly ridged texture of the palm rest is a nice touch, but the circular touchpad takes some getting used to.

I personally don’t like that the optical drive is positioned to open up inside the laptop, as I like being able to switch CD’s even when the lid is closed. That is not an option for the W4, which you’d need to open the machine to switch disks.

In the end they give the machine a 4 out of a possible 5, and the one they tested is worth a not so light on the pocket-book $2,149 USD.

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