Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 convertible fully rugged laptop launches in Australia

Panasonic has announced that its next gen Toughbook CF-33 will be available in Australia starting August. The fully rugged laptop is a 2-in-1 detachable hybrid and the first of its kind. It’s also an improvement over the best-selling CF-31 in terms of battery and compactness.

Panasonic first unveiled its latest rugged machine at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2017), where it wowed the attendees with its innovative features. The CF-33 is a great solution to a wide range of occupational needs, especially those in the field of defence, transportation, logistics, maintenance and emergency services. It’s equipped with a detachable keyboard for full functionality and flexibility, but it can also be used solely as a tablet for on-the-go work.

The new Toughbook sports a 12-inch Quad High Definition display that is responsive to gloved and wet hands. The panel also has an anti-reflection feature and is readable in broad daylight. Compared to the popular CF-31, Panasonic’s latest rugged laptop is 37 percent thinner and 26 percent lighter despite getting a boost in battery life, which lasts 10 hours and extends up to 20 hours with its hot swap feature.

“The CF-33 has been purpose-built through customer feedback across the most demanding industries to provide the very latest in rugged all-weather design and powerful processing technology,” said Panasonic Australia mobile solutions general manager Marc Amelung. “We pride ourselves on providing businesses with unparalleled rugged mobile solutions to improve productivity and, ultimately, save them money. The Toughbook CF-33 can be taken anywhere the mission goes, whether it is in-vehicle, out in the field or at HQ.”

Panasonic’s fully rugged laptop comes with Windows 10 Pro and an Intel Core i5-7300U vPro processor. A Windows 7 Professional downgrade is also available, but it’s configured with a 6th gen Intel chip. The Windows 10 Pro variant packs up to 16 GB RAM and up to 512 GB SSD.

The Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 will be available to purchase starting August. It comes with a suggested retail price of $6,499.

Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 2-in-1 rugged laptop specs and features

Mobile computing platform: Intel Core i5-7300U vPro processor | 2.6 GHz | Up to 3.5 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost | 3 MB Cache
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
RAM: 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM (up to 16 GB)
Graphic chip: Intel HD Graphics 620 (built-in CPU)
Web camera (optional): 2 MP (1,920 x 1,080) | 30 FPS video with IR for Windows Hello
Storage: 256 GB solid state drive (serial ATA)
Display: 12-inch QHD (2,160 x 1,440) display with daylight readability, glove touch, rain touch and anti-reflection capabilities | 10-finger capacitive multi-touchscreen with digitiser
Bluetooth: Version 4.1 Class 1
WLAN Intel: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
Mobile broadband: Optional 4G LTE with Australian Band 28 support, Cat 6 antenna, integrated 12-channel GPS and Dual Pass-through
Dedicated GPS: Optional u-blox NEO-M8N with GPS/GLONASS/SBAS support
LAN: IEEE 802.3 10Base-T | IEEE 802.3u 100BASE-TX | IEEE 802.3ab 1000BASE-T
Sound: Intel High Definition Audio subsystem support | Stereo speakers
Detachable tablet interface: USB 3.0 x 1 | HDMI x 1 | Headset x 1 | Nano SIM x 1 | Dual Pass-through antenna x 1
Keyboard base interface: USB 3.0 x 2 | USB 2.0 x 1 | Serial x 1 | Dual Pass-through antenna x 1 | VGA Port x 1 | HDMI x 1
Configuration port: Optional Smart Card Reader x 1 | Optional contactless smart card reader x 1 | Optional True Serial x 1 / Barcode reader x 1 / Second USB 2.0 x 1
AC adapter power: Input: 100 V - 240 V AC, 50 Hz / 60 Hz | Output: 15.6V DC, 7.05A
Battery pack(s): Lithium ion 11.1 V, 1,990 mAh x 2 with hot swap support as standard
Operating time: 10 hours or 20 hours with optional large batteries (MobileMark 2014)
Security features: TPM (TCG V2.0 compliant) replaces V1.2
Physical dimensions (tablet with keyboard base): 313 mm (W) x 288.4 mm (H) x 46.1 mm (D)
Physical dimensions (tablet only): 308 mm (W) x 243.6 mm (H) x 21.6 mm (D)
Weight (tablet with keyboard base): 2.54 kg
Weight (tablet only): 1.36 kg
Operating temperature: -10 degrees - 50 degrees Celsius
Accessories: Desktop port replicator: CF-VEB331U | Battery pack: CF-VZSU1AW (standard), CF-VZSU1BW (large) | Four-bay battery charger: CF-VCB331U
Ruggedness: IP65 dust and water resistant | Gravity drop resistance test: 4 ft | MIL-STD-810G certified (shock, vibration, rain, dust, sand, altitude, freeze/thaw, high/low temperature, temperature shock, humidity)