Announced: Panasonic CF-74 Toughbook

Panasonic has announced one of the first of their Toughbooks to sport an Intel Core Duo CPU and Centrino chipset, the Panasonic Toughbook CF-74 or Toughbook-74. While it’s on the heavy side for an ultraportable (barely under 6 pounds), the weight can be attributed towards the heavy duty Magnesium-Alloy case, the harddrive protection, the spill-resistant keyboard and touchpad, and the daylight-capable touchscreen LCD display.

It has a 13.3-inch display, which unfortunately is not widescreen (probably due to touchscreen costs). It will be available in April of 2006, and MobileWhack.com is reporting that it will start at around $3000. In addition to all of the other features, it has a battery life of up to 8 hours (yes, 8 hours), and it comes with a 3-year limited warranty. This is one of the few “semi-rugged” ultraportables around, beefed up to handle a lot more outdoor use than the typical notebook (as well as with a display that works well outdoors). Even though it has a touchscreen display, it comes with Microsoft Windows XP.

Source: MobileWhack.com