Panasonic Solutions Company introduced its Toughbook S9 this week, calling it “the world’s lightest 12.1-inch laptop with an integrated DVD drive.”
Designed for use by “road warriors and mobile workers in a variety of markets,” according to Panasonic, the rugged laptop weighs just three pounds. The laptop features a spill-resistant keyboard design, and the lid and base of the notebook are both designed to withstand more than 220 pounds of pressure.
The notebook is engineered to survive a 30-inch drop while operating. “Despite its widescreen LED display, the Toughbook S9 successfully survives drops of 12 inches from any angle using the MIL-STD-810G drop procedure,” states the company in its press release.
The S9 is powered by the Intel Core i5-520M vPro processor.
The Toughbook S9 delivers up to 11 hours of battery life and comes with optional Gobi2000 mobile broadband from Qualcomm. In fact, the notebook offers a variety of embedded wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1. According to Panasonic, the Toughbook S9 will be certified on the Sprint and Verizon Wireless networks as well.
The notebook provides such data security features as a trusted platform module (TPM) security chip version 1.2, the Computrace theft protection agent in the BIOS, Intel Anti-Theft technology, a cable lock slot, password security, and an optional fingerprint reader.
Panasonic Toughbook S9 comes standard with the following:
- Genuine Windows 7 (with XP downgrade option)
- Intel Core i5-520M vPro Processor
- Turbo Boost up to 2.93 GHz
- 3 MB Intel Smart Cache
- 320 GB Shock-Mounted Flex-Connect Hard Drive
- 2 GB RAM (DDR3)–Expandable to 6 GB
- 12.1″ Widescreen WXGA (1280 x 800) LCD Display with LED Backlighting
- Standard MobileMark Battery
- DVD Super Multi-Drive
- HDMI and VGA Video Outputs
- Magnesium Alloy Case
- Spill-Resistant Keyboard/Touchpad
- Embedded Connectivity Optional Integrated WWAN / Gobi2000 Mobile Broadband (EV-DO and HSPA), Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200, 802.11a/b/g/n Bluetooth v2.1
- EDR (class 2) Gigabit Ethernet
- Optional Integrated Security Features, including Fingerprint Reader
The Panasonic Toughbook S9 is available in the United States at an estimated street price of $2,499 from authorized Panasonic resellers and distributors. It comes with standard three-year limited warranty.
