Trusted Reviews has published a tour of the place where Panasonic puts their ToughBooks to the test, the Panasonic factory in Kobe, Japan. There they put the ToughBook through it’s paces.
The ToughBooks differ from most other notebooks by being, well, tough. Panasonic has built a reputation for itself by creating notebooks that can function in the most inhospitable environments.
Ever since I’ve been reviewing ToughBooks I’ve heard stories about the rigorous testing regime that goes on at Panasonic’s R&D facility in Osaka and at the ToughBook factory in Kobe. I never really doubted those reports, since the end products certainly lived up to the hype, but even so, there’s nothing quite like seeing something first hand. I therefore jumped at the chance to nip over to Japan and see Panasonic’s setup in person.
Panasonic manufactures all of its notebooks (bar the CF-51) at its plant in Kobe, Japan. Unlike the vast majority of notebook vendors, Panasonic doesn’t buy base hardware from manufacturers in Taiwan. Instead each ToughBook is created from scratch at the Kobe plant, allowing Panasonic to maintain its exacting quality control. It’s this quality control that makes the ToughBooks harder than your average notebook. In fact, I was slightly shocked to find out that between the R&D and Q/A departments, over 1,000 ToughBooks are damaged every year in Panasonic’s quest for the near indestructible notebook!