Panasonic has just announced the 14-inch Toughbook F9, a rugged business laptop that’s being touted as “the world’s lightest 14-inch laptop” at 3.6 pounds. It’s no performance lightweight though; they packed an Intel Core i5 VPro processor inside the Toughbook’s rugged frame.
Like the rest of Panasonic’s Toughbook line, the F9 is built to withstand more than the regular amount of beating. The frame has been tested to survive 30-inch drops on its base (while running), and 12-inch drops—about the height of a footstool—on any other angle. The keyboard is also sealed and protected from liquid spills, while the lid and base construction is built strong enough to withstand 220 pounds of pressure.
As for the spec, the F9 is set up to perform well enough for the road-weary businessman. For performance, the system sports a 2.93GHz Core-i5-520M vPro processor, 2GBs of DDR3 memory (up to 6GBs), a 320GB hard drive, and a built-in DVD drive. Graphics are served up on a 14.1-inch wide (1440 x 900) anti-glare screen, or ported out to a larger display (up to 1920 x 1200) via the VGA port.
Connectivity options include standard Wi-fi and Bluetooth 2.1, with the option of adding a Gobi2000 mobile broadband module for connecting it to a mobile 3G or WiMAX network. For taking it away from the wall socket, the battery’s listed to last up to 7 hours on a charge.
It’s available by July 1st, staring at $2,899. Aside from the Gobi2000 module, options also include a fingerprint reader and SmartCard reader for security.
Tags: Notebooks, Panasonic, Rugged, Toughbook
