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Abby Sunderland – A Tough Girl Survived the Rough Seas

Kyp Walls — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:20:47 +0000

We have been closely following teenager Abby Sunderland’s attempt to sail solo around the world. She made it halfway through her journey, when the Indian Ocean’s rough seas halted her travels.

The Toughbook team is relieved to learn that Abby has been found and is well and in good health. We wish Abby a quick and safe return home. We commend her on her passion and commitment to following her dream.

Photo credit: Richard Hartog / Associated Press

Girl Talk Gets Rough with Toughbook Laptops

Kyp Walls — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:58:11 +0000

I have worked with Toughbook devices for nearly 11 years and have seen them deployed in some pretty sensational situations; summiting on Everest or in the hands of the youngest girl to attempt to circumnavigate the globe. Even so, it still surprised me when I first heard about Girl Talk (real name Gregg Michael Gillis) – a musician specializing in mashups and digital sampling – and how he was using his Toughbook computer. Known for his raucous live shows, Girl Talk uses a Panasonic Toughbook 30 and Toughbook 74 on stage to recreate his signature sound (which you can sample here). A key component of his shows is to invite the crowd onto the stage to surround him for a sweaty, potentially dangerous, dance party. With the crowd right on top of him, the laptop is subjected to heavy vibrations, bumps, drinks and sweat: an environment he discovered standard laptops could not survive. Witness his abusive relationship with his Toughbook laptop in this fan-made performance video.

Don’t want to take my word for it?

Here’s Girl Talk himself on the durability of his Toughbook computers:

“I used to break at least two laptops a year before I started using Toughbook computers. They are very difficult to break. I carry my Toughbook in my book bag usually. I was standing in the back of an icy pick-up truck after a show and I fell, landed on the ground, directly on my back, basically crushing the laptop with body onto concrete. There was no visible damage at all, and it still runs like a champ.”

Announcing the Panasonic Toughbook H1 Field

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:41:13 +0000

Earlier this month we launched a new product offering called the Toughbook H1 Field, the world’s most rugged handheld tablet computer. It was developed to enable extreme mobility and productivity for field sales personnel, first responders, supervisors, inspectors, maintenance workers and other highly mobile professionals. Certified to meet IP65 and MIL-STD-810G – with a six foot drop rating – the Toughbook H1 Field offers the durability expected of Toughbook mobile computers, so users have the confidence to work in the most demanding conditions.

While ChannelWeb, PC Magazine, and WIRED Gadget Lab all covered the announcement with zeal, our favorite post introducing the Toughbook H1 Field has to be from Devin Coldewey of CrunchGear who places you in the role of Gordon Freeman; your lab is self destructing and soldiers are attempting to kill you. You need a tablet computer as part of your defense and before you is an iPad and the H1 Field. What do you do? Check out Devin’s suggestion in his post.

Our customers have a different set of critical needs, but it’s fun to pretend to be Gordon Freeman for a day!

Medical Team Uses Toughbook H1 in Disaster Relief Efforts

Greg Davidson — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:20:44 +0000

Within 48 hours of last week’s earthquake in Haiti two 747s arrived in Port-au-Prince from Israel bringing a model medical disaster response solution. On the grounds of an abandoned steel factory, a temporary field hospital – equipped with electronic medical records, digital radiology, an operating room, ICU and neonatal intensive care – was set up to assist victims of the quake. NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams stated that the Israeli medical team was using the best field medicine available. The report shows the Panasonic Toughbook H1 being used as part of the Israeli’s disaster response solution.

People wishing to donate to the Haitian relief effort can go to http://www.redcross.org/

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sky News Business in Australia Reports on The Toughbook H1

Greg Davidson — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:45:04 +0000

The Sky News Business channel in Australia recently reported on the Panasonic Toughbook H1 mobile clinical assistant (MCA). We thought you’d enjoy the video.

Tiger Tests Toughbook 30 for Forbes Story

Kyp Walls — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:46:37 +0000

Late yesterday afternoon, Brian Caulfield from Forbes.com posted a great article about our Toughbook 30. Brian took the time to examine the business case for rugged notebooks. In particular, he highlighted the importance of device reliability and mentioned the role that core manufacturing plays in achieving low failure rates. He also took the time to talk with some of our customers – ArborMetrics Solutions and Morris Materials Handling – about the role Toughbook computers play in their mobile workforce.

In addition to his write-up, Brian did basic tests, showing the 30 met all of the drop and spill claims you would expect of a truly rugged device. Then, he took the Toughbook 30 tests to the extreme, taking the device to Six Flag Discovery Kingdom, in Vallejo, CA and introducing it to a few friends from the animal kingdom. First he introduced the 30 to Nalin, a tiger cub, who proceeded to pounce, drop, chew and lick the laptop. If that wasn’t enough, he gave the 30 to Liz, a 10,000-pound elephant who stepped on the device and threw it on the concrete multiple times.

Since the animals weren’t able to break the notebook, he took it to Jackson Arms – a shooting range in South San Francisco – and shot it with a .22 caliber pistol. Much to Brian’s surprise the notebook survived. Granted, the screen was cracked, but it booted up, and logged on to Windows. The next round, a .45 caliber, ended the Toughbook 30’s life.

Brian filmed his experience and also posted a slide show from both locations.

Not surprisingly, the competition was unable to provide Brian with its rugged unit for testing. Brian notes, “Dell declined to loan us a rugged laptop to shoot, saying they didn’t have the ‘inventory excess to participate this time around.’”

There are other examples of competitors being hesitant to have their rugged claims put to the test; one of my favorite examples comes from Ed Moltzen of CRN.

It’s our understanding that our competitors are only comfortable having their rugged claims tested in controlled environments. Although laboratory testing of products is important, it’s the real-world experience that is critical, and we are confident in how our products perform in the real world.

Forbes Video:

KGO TV of San Francisco aired a story about the Forbes.com article on Thursday (6.25). Click the image below to go to their video: