Why should one buy Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1?

Toughbook laptops and Toughpad tablets from Panasonic are well-known in the ruggedized portable computer industry, and we’ve tested a number of them over the years. The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 is the company’s first Windows 8 Pro tablet, and it comes at a premium, as do all ruggedized gadgets.

Design

We’re not going to dispute Panasonic’s claim that the 10.1-inch Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 is “the world’s thinnest and lightest fully-rugged Windows 8 tablet.” However, you’d be mistaken if you thought the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 was any thinner or lighter than a standard Windows 8 tablet, or that it could endure a lot of abuse.

Even when compared to Microsoft’s Surface Pro, which is hardly sleek at 27.46cm by 17.3 cm by 1.35cm, it’s a hefty gadget measuring 26.92cm wide by 18.8cm deep by 2.03cm thick (10.8in. x 7.4in. x 0.8in). (10.8in. x 6.8in. x 0.53in.). The Toughpad also weights more than the Surface Pro, at 1.13kg (2.5lb) against 903g (1.99lb).

Why should one buy Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1?

The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 is developed for usage outside and in tough settings, and is aimed towards field workers, mobile professionals, and the ‘hard hat’ community. It has a magnesium alloy chassis with reinforced corner guards and coverings for the ports and slots to achieve this. This, along with other ruggedized build components, gives the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 military-grade (MIL-STD 810G) drop resistance of 120cm (4 feet) and an IP65 dust and water resistance classification. The tablet is dust-resistant (score of 6 out of 6), however it can only tolerate ‘water jets’ (score of 5 out of 8).

Overall, the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 can withstand moderately poor weather and accidental drops from roughly waist height. You shouldn’t expect it to withstand being ran over by a truck or a full-immersion soaking, for example.

The 10.1-inch LED-backlit IPS-alpha panel on the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 has a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels (224ppi). It’s a 10-point capacitive multi-touch screen with stylus compatibility; the pen is housed in an easily accessible housing on the left side of the device.

Features

The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 features a Core i5-3437U processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4GB of DDR3 RAM (with an 8GB option), and 128GB of Toshiba solid-state storage, similar to the Surface Pro (with a 256GB option). Windows 8 Pro is the operating system.

Dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth (4.0) were available on our evaluation sample, with 3G mobile broadband (Gobi 3000, up to 14.4Mbps) as an option (mobile broadband is not available on the Surface Pro).

The removable battery is located on the back of the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1; our review model contained the regular 6-cell 45Wh unit, which is said to provide an 8-hour battery life (see benchmarks below). The anticipated battery life is doubled to 16 hours with the addition of an optional high-capacity 9-cell battery that protrudes a little from the back surface. On the back, you’ll find the housing for the optional 3-megapixel camera, the fan intake, and screw-down covers for the SSD compartment and SIM card slot.