TrustedReviews has published one of the first reviews of the new 5.6-inch Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1, which represents a new direction in Panasonic’s line of “rugged” ultraportables.
The CF-U1 is based on an Intel Atom Z520 CPU running at 1.33GHz, and has either a 16 or 32GB Solid State Drive (SSD). In addition to being able to withstand drops of up to four feet, it has some weatherproofing to keep dust and water out. It also has a unique two-battery system to allow you to hotswap new batteries into the system without powering down (but still running off of battery power).
While it’s based on an Intel Atom, it’s definitely not a “netbook” – the price tag as well as features (weatherproofing, etc.) keep it out of that category.
TR points out that due to the fact that there are no moving parts (the keyboard is below the screen – it’s not a two-part machine with hinges, etc.), that this could be Panasonic’s most rugged device yet.
Read: TrustedReviews