Originally posted on June 25, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
Panasonic’s impressive Toughbook series will now also join the UMPC market with the announcement of the release of the Toughbook U1.
The new device weighs just 2.3 pounds and considered to be tougher than the Toughbook 19. The cool thing here is that it even goes beyond Mil-Spec tests–military standard specifications that certify a product can work even when subject to extreme conditions.
The U1 can withstand being dropped from a height of four feet and can operate even in extreme temperature conditions because it uses an SSD. It also has a QWERTY keyboard that is best used for thumb typing. It will also come equipped with a bevy of nifty features like a barcode scanner, fingerprint reader, webcam, among others. It will be powered by an Intel Atom processor.
The U1 is actually one of the best spec-ed UMPC’s on the market. The only thing where it loses (and I mean LOSE) is in the price department. At $2499, I’d rather get the Alienware laptop of my dreams with change enough to buy me several games.