Panasonic Toughbook - opinions

Looking at getting a replacement laptop and have noticed a lot of toughbooks available second hand. Does anyone have any experience/opinion of these. I will be using it for on site programming of c-bus and alarm systems.

 

our experience is they are slow and underpowered and not worth the money over a standard laptop. We have used them in an industrial automation role for configuring PLC's etc.

The cost of laptops has dropped considerably and they are able to easily do the job for toolkit and other C-bus software.

Mick

 

I completely agree with Mick.

The Panasonic Toughbooks are really only useful if you require a rugged, or semi-rugged laptop. They are incredibly expensive, even second-hand, and as Mick said, they have very low specifications compared to what else is on the market, and at a MUCH higher cost.

If you need a laptop that can withstand water, dust, mud, shocks, scratches, scrapes, and just generally a laptop that can be abused and still survive intact, then they are fantastic, especially in certain roles. Plus most of them have touch screens which are great when the software they are running is suited to that.

But for general, everyday use, they suck. Their options are limited, they can't be easily upgraded, they are slow, they are very bulky, and if you do somehow damage one, parts are insanely expensive.

So in short, unless you absolutely NEED the ruggedisation, go spend your money on something that will be 5 times faster, and alot cheaper, and leaves your options open in the future.

(I will admit though, the Toughbooks do have a certain "cool" factor)