Toughbook Suggestions

[mattroberts]

I am currently looking to purchase a toughbook, something like the GETAC V200- Fully Rugged CORE I7 2.0 Ghz 8Gb 500 GB but was trying to find something a bit more affordable. I will be running Titan on it for lighting shows. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Jivemaster]

Toughbook is a Pansonic trade mark, it's a niche product and carries a niche price.

 

Be very aware that often toughbooks come without OS and may come without Hard Drive -which means that you have to buy the hard drive and then you have to pay Panasonic "spares" price for the gel lined HD caddy.

 

Start by looking at the operating system and version that your software needs, and choosing your laptop from there.

[paulears]

There's a seller on Ebay specialises in recon tough books and I've had 3 of varying specs and they're absolutely bomb proof, and water proof and stage crew proof. I think I paid £169 for the last one, in virtually new condition but of course fairly old.

 

 

This ebay seller

[Jivemaster]

"Toughbook" always finds Panasonic Toughbooks on Ebay, varying price, completeness and model and memory. Be very wary of one that "needs a HD" the drive is cheap but the caddy probably costs £50 -100. which suddenly changes the deal.

 

Be very sure that whichever you chose has a suitable OS for your application, and has enough of the right connectors for your needs.

[cedd]

Had a visitor to work yesterday who had a Dell ruggedised laptop. Looked pretty good although I didn’t get up close to it. It’s anotber option to look in to though.

[alasdair_f]

Dell have just announced a new set of toughened laptops - Ars Technica Article, however I've no experience with them and they don't come cheap!

[Tom_M]

At the day job we have moved from the Panasonic ToughBooks to the Dell ToughNotes and had no problems with them in the hands of our users. The Dell laptops are roughly half the price of a new Toughbook for the same spec. Our users take them all over the word and use them in some very "interesting" locations. We have had one back that spent about a week about a metre under water. We just cleaned it off and left it somewhere warm for a day or so just to be safe and it's still working perfectly.