Panasonic Toughbook Laptop Review and Performance Rating

Panasonic Toughbook:

The Toughbook Y2 model is an excellent piece of mobile engineering technology, featuring a 14-inch screen and more than six hours of battery life inside a very portable 3.4 pound package. If you can afford the price tag, you'll be rewarded with one of the best ultraportables yet.

The Toughbook Y2's case is made of magnesium-alloy that's incredibly light. Even the AC adapter is small and light. The lid on this notebook has a raised center panel, which reinforces the protection of the LCD screen and the hard drive is shock-mounted for additional protection.

The Y2 makes an excellent all-around traveler. Frequent flyers will love the exceptional battery life, which tops out at around six hours. It is wide and well balanced enough to sit on your lap as you pound away at the keys. And, unlike many ultraportable models, the Y2 stays very cool even after several hours of use.

Also unusual in a notebook this light is the large, bright LCD. The Y2 has about ten levels of brightness that the user can adjust by using hot keys. The native resolution of 1400x1050 may be a bit small for doing text work, but you can back it down to a more comfortable 1024x768.

The Y2's multimedia capabilities are similar to most models in this classification. The stereo speakers are well positioned on either corner of the keyboard facing the user and the sound quality is standard as in most ultraportable laptops. DVD playback is acceptable using the integrated graphics. A VGA connector is included for plugging into an external monitor or projector and Panasonic also included a Secure Digital memory card slot for speedy back-ups.

While it is an expensive unit, the Panasonic Toughbook Y2 succeeds in cramming a lot of computer features into a very portable and durable design.