The editor sent us a list of tests he wanted to put the 31 through, including placing the device in an oven, covering it in ice, dropping it three feet to a hard surface, dropping objects onto the screen and strapping it to an ATV for a little off-roading.

We agreed, suggested a few more extreme tests and waited for the results.

After testing ruggedized laptops from Dell, HP, Lenovo and Panasonic, Inc. selected its “Best Rugged Laptop”. Can you guess who won? The Toughbook 31, of course.

Having brought to market the first reasonably priced, standard form-factor, rugged PC back in 1995, we have a lot of expertise in this mobile computer space. It is, in fact, our only focus. Combining our commitment to quality with a market specific focus results in the development of products that our customers rely on, even in the most demanding of conditions.

To be fair, only the Dell Latitude E6400 XFR was a direct competitor to the fully-rugged Toughbook 31. The HP and Lenovo fall into the business-rugged category.

HP and Lenovo, if you are listening, we’re happy to put our Toughbook C1 or F9 up against any of your business-rugged devices!  How about we test drop and spill resistance – the two most common causes of failure?  We can also compare battery life, weight, ergonomics and performance.  We think we’ll hold up very nicely.  Do you have that same confidence?  You know where to find us.

The Panasonic Computer Solutions Company team received the Tech Innovator of the Year Award while the Toughbook H1 received a Tech Innovator Award in the “PCs –Portables/Ultraportables/Netbooks” category. Everything Channel’s Tech Innovator listing celebrates technology vendors that have introduced new solutions that drive advances throughout the technology channel, and PCSC President Rance Poehler and I were both on hand to accept these prestigious awards last week.

Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita built the company around the idea that we should create products for the way our customers will use them, not for the way we want them to be used. We still employ this practice and it drives a level of innovation that benefits our customers and our channel partners. This philosophy is at the core of what sets the Toughbook brand apart from others and helped us earn this recognition. We appreciate CRN honoring our team who will continue to produce industry-leading solutions for years to come.

You can find CRN’s review of the Toughbook H1 here. If you’d rather watch than read, check out  this Sky Business H1 feature; it focuses on how the H1 was built to improve workflow and ease clinical loads for doctors and nurses, all while helping healthcare organizations maximize efficiency and reduce errors.

The TP3 event gives us the opportunity to meet with our reseller partners face to face and get immediate feedback on our channel program; we can find out what is working and what is not. We did that this year through numerous vertical breakout sessions, keynote speeches and one-on-one meetings.

We made some key changes to our channel program in order streamline the sales process. An important change was to our “Rules of Engagement.” Previously, a solution provider had to complete a few requirements before gaining access to special pricing. Beginning this month, special pricing advantages for resellers that bring business to us will be available from the very beginning of the sales process.

Additionally, we introduced an extended lease program that does not require any payments until January 2010 and have special pricing on the Toughbook 30 and 52 models until September 30. Programs like these help our partners get their foot in the door when a customer balks at a new mobile computer deployment due to immediate costs. These changes will help our partners make a strong finish this year.

Finally, at the event, we also honored our 2008 Resellers of the Year. The companies below had an outstanding year, both in revenue growth and in developing new market opportunities for reliable mobile computing.

2008 Panasonic Toughbook Reseller of Year award winners include:

• Enterprise Sector: TransCOR Information Technologies, Georgetown, MA
• Government Sector: CDW-G, Vernon Hills, Il
• Healthcare Sector: Atlanta Computer Sales, Atlanta, GA
• Arbitrator Mobile Video Partner: Insight Enterprises, Tempe, AZ
• Wireless Partner of the Year: Feeney Wireless, Eugene, OR
• Reseller of the Year: Software House International, Piscataway, N.J.
• Best New Reseller: CompuCom Systems, Dallas, TX

According to JEMS, whose product review team selects the winners, its Hot Products represent “the most innovative, functional and potentially life-saving products to come onto the (EMS) market in the past six months.”

JEMS’ reviewers found that the fully-rugged mobile clinical assistant (MCA) “truly meets the demands and ever-changing needs of EMS providers” through its long battery life, integrated Gobi technology, dual hot-swappable batteries and a daylight-viewable screen.  These advances are “critical to maximizing EMS responders’ efficiency and productivity while protecting vital patient data.”

You can find the Toughbook H1 and other Hot Products winners profiled in the June 2009 issue of JEMS Magazine.

Announced in November of 2008, our fully-rugged Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) is based on the Intel® MCA Reference Architecture and aimed at healthcare professionals.