Earlier this year, I got to check out the new Panasonic Toughbook 56 at the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier in New York City. Today, Panasonic is announcing a couple new Toughbook computer tablet PC convertibles; the Toughbook 35 and Toughbook G3. In the feedback request email from the previous event, I had suggested some kind of toughness demo where the press people could watch and video record something happening to the Toughbook like having it dropped or dunked in water to show us in real life how much more durable it is than regular computers.
This time, they absolutely delivered on the Toughness demos!
First of all, a Toughbook G3 was strapped to a metal stand and we were allowed to punch it in its face as hard as we could (while wearing a boxing glove to protect our hands). The metal stand and Toughbook G3 fell violently to the floor when punched and it had a “Punch Meter” program running on its screen that showed a 0-1000 score of how hard you punched it. I scored 898 and the Toughbook G3 was unphased. I don’t know how hard you’d have to punch it to break it, and my arm strength has dwindled significantly since I was 18 and could punch through concrete bricks during karate class, but I absolutely would not expect an iPad or any kind of consumer computer screen to handle that kind of impact.
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Then we got to take both the Toughbook 35 and Toughbook G3 to the rooftop terrace where the weather was not very good. It was certainly a rainy day, but that happened to be another great “toughness test” for the Toughbooks. If that wasn’t enough, there was a rooftop fountain waterfall that we could sit the Toughbooks in and let water flow all over them. Again the Toughbooks were unphased and stood up to the rain with no problems at all.
Both the Toughbook 34 and Toughbook G3 share a lot of similar specs. Both can have Intel Core Ultra 5 33H or Intel Core Ultra X7 368H, up to 64Gb of RAM, up to 2Tb user replaceable SSD, and Windows 11 Pro or Windows IoT. The Toughbook 34 has two bays for 40Wh hot swapable batteries, while the Toughbook G3 only has room for one battery, but you can choose a lightweight 35Wh battery, 70Wh battery, or 99Wh battery to install there. (The larger batteries will have a thicker bump protruding from the back there.) Both also have 5G networking options so you can have wide area wireless internet if desired.
The stylus has a bungee cord tether to keep it from falling and getting lost. Tablet mode is great for walking around a worksite and still being able to get to your software programs.
I know consumer tech reviewers hate thick bezels and hardware buttons, but I love them. Programmable hardware buttons in the bezel of a tablet PC are so useful for quickly accessing the programs and functions that are important to your job.
Both the Toughbook 35 and G3 have a new sliding door cover for the barrel shaped power plug. Circular ports are way better than the rectangular USB-C ports, by the way, since there’s no rotational orientation at all required to make the connection. It’s a simple point and push interface.
The SSD module is super easy to remove and replace on the back of the Toughbook 34.
There are lots of latches, screws, and doors on the back of the Toughbooks for super easy maintenance and customization. Expansion bays and batteries can be swapped in the field by just about anyone with a screwdriver.
The front facing cameras and sensors enable Windows Hello biometric security and of course there’s another sliding door her for physical protection or privacy.
Here’s an example of some Panasonic Connect software that can be used for fleet management and device management. The Toughbooks can connect to the truck’s internal computer systems and pull data to a centralized cloud system for management and diagnostics.
Of course the Toughbook 35 and Toughbook G3 have plenty of weatherproof expansion ports on both the keyboard attachment and Tablet PC core.
The keyboard is standard Toughbook style with a relatively small inset trackpad and weatherproof rubber trackpad buttons.
With the keyboard attachment docked the Toughbooks are much heavier, but if you’re going to be carrying it around, I’d leave the keyboard in the truck and pop the Tablet PC section off for mobility.
TOUGHBOOK 34 Specs:
- General: 12.4″ fully rugged 2-in-1 tablet, modular design with 4 user-replaceable areas.
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 vPro 335 (Up to 4.6GHz, 12MB cache, 8 cores) or Intel Core Ultra X7 vPro 368H (Up to 5.0GHz, 18MB cache, 16 cores).
- Storage/Memory: 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB RAM (LPDDR5x 8533MHz); 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB NVMe with heater (OPAL encrypted).
- Display: 12.4″ 3:2 FHD+ (1920×1280) capacitive gloved touch + digitizer (2-1000 nit), IPS, direct bonding, AR treatment.
- Graphics: Intel Graphics (Ultra 5 models), Opt. Intel Arc B390 GPU (Ultra X7 models), Opt. Intel Arc Pro B390 GPU (Ultra X7 models).
- Audio: Integrated dual-array mic w/AI noise reduction, Waves MaxxAudio, Integrated 91db speakers.
- Cameras: 5MP infrared (Windows Hello support, privacy cover), 13MP rear camera (autofocus, camera flash LED).
- Keyboard/Input: IP55 2 button digitizer pen, 6 modes, 6 programmable buttons, On-screen QWERTY keyboard. Optional 87-key keyboards w/Copilot Key.
- Interface: USB-C Thunderbolt 4 x2, USB-A, Optional USB-A, Optional HDMI 4K, Ethernet RJ-45, Optional Serial, Audio In/Out, Dual SIM.
- Wireless: Optional 5G EM9291 (up to 3.5 Gbps), Optional dedicated GPS, Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE211 (up to 5.8Gbps), Bluetooth v5.4.
- Power: Li-Ion Battery x1 (9 hours, 18 hours w/2nd battery), 11.6V, 3495mAh. Hot Swap with optional 2nd battery.
- Security: Intel Hardware Shield, Secured-core PC, TPM v2.0, NIST BIOS compliant, Persistence technology, Local Platform Erase, Kensington slots, Encrypted OPAL SSD, Optional fingerprint reader, Optional insertable Smart Card reader, Optional contactless Smart Card reader.
- Durability: MIL-STD-810H, MIL-STD-461G, IP66, Optional C1D2, Magnesium alloy chassis, Handle/kickstand, User-removable parts.
- Dimensions/Weight: 12.1″ x 9.6″ x 1.0″ (2.9 lbs). With keyboard: 12.3″ x 11.4″ x 1.8″ (5.6 lbs).
- Warranty: 3-year limited warranty.
TOUGHBOOK G3 Specs
- General: 10.1″ AI-Powered Fully Rugged 2-in-1 tablet, modular design with 4 user-replaceable areas.
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 vPro 335 (Up to 4.6GHz, 12MB cache, 8 cores) or Intel Core Ultra X7 vPro 368H (Up to 5.0GHz, 18MB cache, 16 cores).
- Storage/Memory: 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB RAM (LPDDR5x 8533MHz); 512GB or 1TB or 2TB NVMe with heater (OPAL encrypted).
- Display: 10″ WUXGA (1920×1200) capacitive gloved touch + digitizer (2-1000 nit), IPS, direct bonding, AR treatment.
- Graphics: Intel Graphics (Ultra 5 models), Opt. Intel Arc B390 GPU (Ultra X7 models), Opt. Intel Arc Pro B390 GPU (Ultra X7 models).
- Audio: Integrated dual-array mic w/AI noise reduction, Waves MaxxAudio, Integrated 88db speakers.
- Cameras: 5.2MP infrared (Windows Hello support, privacy cover), 13MP rear camera (autofocus, triple LED flash).
- Keyboard/Input: IP55 2 button digitizer pen, 5 modes, 7 programmable buttons, On-screen QWERTY keyboard. Optional 81-key keyboards w/Copilot Key.
- Interface: USB-C Thunderbolt 4 x2, USB-A, Optional 2nd USB-A, Ethernet RJ-45, Optional Serial (True) Dongle, Optional MicroSDXC, Dual SIM.
- Wireless: Optional 5G EM9291 (up to 3.5 Gbps), Optional dedicated GPS, Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE211 (up to 5.8Gbps), Bluetooth v5.4.
- Power: Lite (8 hours), Standard (16 hours), Long Lite (23 hours). Optional bridge battery (1 min hot swap).
- Security: Intel Hardware Shield, Secured-core PC, TPM v2.0, NIST BIOS compliant, Persistence technology, Local Platform Erase, Kensington slots, Optional fingerprint reader, Optional insertable Smart Card CAC reader, Optional contactless Smart Card CAC reader.
- Durability: MIL-STD-810H, MIL-STD-461G, IP66, Optional C1D2, Magnesium alloy chassis, Handle/kickstand, User-removable parts.
- Dimensions/Weight: 11.0″ x 7.4″ x 1.1″ (2.7 lbs). With keyboard: 11.3″x9.3″x2.1″ (4.7 lbs).
- Warranty: 3-year limited warranty.
Panasonic says that these Toughbooks are “purpose built” computers, but I can’t think of anything that has ever been built without a purpose so that doesn’t mean much. The purposes that these are built for are absolutely important purposes; military use, police, emergency response, construction, contracting, energy and utilities, etc. Basically, the systems and services that keep society going are pretty dependent on these kind of reliable rugged computers that will work almost anywhere.