Panasonic ToughBook CF-30 Rugged Notebook Review

I own one of these and the first thing people usually say when they see it is: What is it? The second question is usually: How much did it cost? The answer to that is so potentially embarrassing it is best to change the subject immediately.

This is a monstrously expensive gadget. For one of these you could buy ten netbooks, throwing one away every time it gets broken. However it is not as monstrously heavy as you might think; at 3.8 kilos it is only three times heavier than, for example, the Asus EEE 1000.

However weight and cost are not what this fantastic machine is about. This is a computer for people whose CV is headed with NASA motto "Failure is not an Option". If that's the sort of work you do and those are the demands you make on a computer, this is the one for you. The battery really does keep going for seven hours so if you carry a spare you can survive a 14 hour working day without looking for mains power. You really can read the screen in any conditions and the keyboard is good as well. The build quality and robustness really do inspire confidence that it will survive anything. The only component that lets it down is the trackpad which is very small and laborious to use; carry a mouse.

The best kept secret about this laptop is that you can buy it direct from Panasonic's depot in Cardiff along with all the spares, most of which are substantially less expensive from this source than so-called dealers. Panasonic have an entire department dedicated to selling and servicing this product so don't waste time and money buying anywhere else.

This computer is the real deal, built for road warriors not road wimps. Worth buying? Yes.