Today Panasonic is unveiling its new business tablet meant for clinicians and medical personnel to use in office and around the hospital. Last week in San Francisco we got a chance to check out the C1 Business Rugged Toughbook. The 12.1″ computer can be used as a standard laptop or converted into a touch tablet for use with a pen or directly with your fingers. The 1280×800 WXGA screen is multi-touch sensitive, so you can use finger gestures to intuitively manipulate images and other documents. Some of the interesting features of the C1 Toughbook include a handstrap on the back of the unit which makes holding it easy in tablet mode, a round touchpad which can be used like an iPod scroll wheel, and space for two hot swappable batteries. The hard drive is easy to pop out as well, so you can take all the sensitive data with you while grabbing a sandwich at the cafeteria without bringing the whole machine.
The strangest thing about the laptop is its unusual proportion between size and weight. Basically, it looks larger than it weighs. Because it is a rugged laptop, which means it can be dropped on concrete and have water splashed at it, it has some empty space within to cushion any blows and channels to direct liquids into a port hole on the bottom. And so it’s considerably fatter in depth than other machines in this range. But when you hold it, it’s impressively light and comfortable. That’s because at 3.2 lbs (3.7 lbs with two batteries), it’s the lightest 12.1″ convertible laptop on the market.
We asked Kyp Walls of Panasonic to give a quick tour of the device to our readers:
Full feature list of the Panasonic C1 Toughbook, under the fold:
Genuine Windows 7® (with XP downgrade option) Intel® Core™ i5-520 processor (2.4GHz) 250GB shock-mounted flex-connect hard drive with quick-release 2GB RAM (DDR3-800), expandable to 6GB Choice of two 12.1” WXGA (1280 x 800) displays with LED backlighting Multi-touch + digitizer screen allowing input via finger, gestures and electronic stylus
penGloved multi-touch screen allowing input via finger and gestures (available Fall 2010) Anti-glare screen treatment 6 backlit tablet buttons (5 user-definable) Hot-swappable twin batteries 5 hour battery life (with one battery); 10 hour battery life (with two batteries) 3.2 lbs (with one battery); 3.7 lbs (with two batteries) Optional webcam Built-in dual array microphone Business-rugged 30” operating drop (to base only) 26 sides 12” drop (non-operating) 225 lb pressurized vibration Magnesium alloy case Spill-resistant keyboard (protects against 6 ounces spills) Triple hinge design with screen rotation lock Ergonomic strap and dome hand support 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) Security Features: Fingerprint reader SmartCard reader 11.8” (H) x 8.9” (W) x 1.2-1.7” (D) Optional desktop dock with DVD multi-drive Optional 4-bay battery charger
Press release: PANASONIC INTRODUCES THE TOUGHBOOK® C1 – WORLD’S LIGHTEST 12.1″ CONVERTIBLE TABLET PC…