Desktops and Notebooks: Panasonic Toughbook S9, Rugged Tablet Go On Display

Among the tech products making an appearance at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2010 in Orlando, Fla., Panasonic displayed its recently released Toughbook S9, a 12.1-inch "business rugged" laptop designed to resist 220 pounds of compression and falls of up to 30 inches. Panasonic's Toughbook line has long been known for its, well, toughness. But the company also seems determined to shave off a few ounces from the traditionally weightier devices: The S9 tips the scales at 3 pounds with a standard battery in place, which isn't too shabby for a device reinforced with a magnesium alloy case and spill-resistant keyboard. Panasonic also claims the laptop's battery life at 11 hours, which is also decent. Panasonic executives at the show said the S9 retails for $2,200. While it comes standard with Windows 7, Linux is also supported. Processor-wise, the S9 includes an Intel Core i5 and 2GB of RAM. Also note the distinctive circular touchpad, which is spill-resistant—because it would be too bad to have your laptop survive a fall off a conference table or crushing weight, only to have it doomed by a spilled can of Coke.