1. Overview
First up, let's understand what a rugged laptop is. A rugged laptop will allow a mobile professionals to work in any environment in more 'extreme' conditions than usual. They tend to be heavier than a standard laptop and usually come with extra batteries or high viewable displays catered to indoor and outdoor viewing.
1. Panasonic Toughbook 29
The first model we want to look at is the Panasonic Toughbook 29. This laptop is a fast processing machine and weighs just 7.9 pounds. Ithas a 13.3 inch outdoor readable TFT LCD. It also has moisture and dust resistant LCD, touchpad and keyboard. You also get a shock resistant hard drive encased in an attractive stainless steel case. This is about as rugged a laptop as they come.
The Panasonic Toughbook 29
2. Rocky Notebook
This aptly named laptop is certified to military and industrial ruggedization standards! You can be sure that the chassis and the components are extremely well protected when you're out using it. Incorporating a removable hard drive and floppy drive, this unti comes in at a hefty 10.8 pounds.
3. HP nr3610
The HP nr3610 is another rugged laptop to look at. It weighs 8.2 lbs and has a neat 12.1 inch TFT display. All the standard laptop components are here, including wireless LAN and bluetooth. Like the Rocky model, it also meets military standards for ruggedness. Plus it has a nice waterproof keyboard which has NiteVue® technology to help it glow-in-the-dark!
The Hewlett-Packard nr3610
4. Getac A790
Ok, the Getac A790 is also a nice rugged laptop to look at. You get the very latest Wi-Fi and GPS options in this unit. You also get a chassis made of die-cast magnesium to protect against any form of rain and dust. An optional sunlight readable LCD is also available for you to read more easily if you're out in the sun a lot.
5. Durabook - N15RI
Another aptly named rugged laptop is the Durabook - N15RI. It has a case made of a magnesium alloy, allow with a bottom portion made of special protective plastic alloy. For ruggedness, you get an anti-shock mounting of components, plus spill-resistant touchpad, keyboard and scroll buttons. And like most of the other models on this list, need we mention it is built to meet military standards for ruggedness?
6. Rough Rider Junior
Rough Rider Junior - what a name. This mini-laptop weighs in at 6.2 pounds and is both both dust and water proof. Add in a touchscreen display and optional sunlight readability, and we pretty much have a winner here. You can also work in extreme cold weather (up to -4°F) with this baby.
7. GoBook III
The GoBook III has been built to meet military ruggedness standards. The built-in GPS and seamless roaming option means you can stay connected anywhere. It also features a ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card and a pretty powerful Intel Centrino Pentium M 1.8GHz processor. A nice unit on the whole.
Conclusion
I hope the above has given you some insight into the top rugged laptop models out in the market. If you tend to bring your laptop out to harsh environments like the park or the beach, then I think a rugged laptop is certainly something you should consider. Consider the above models if you're out shopping, and you will probably be happy with your purchase. So good luck and happy shopping!
