Despite the best efforts of Microsoft and its hardware partners over the past decade, pen-operated tablet PCs – particularly slate-style devices – never really took off outside niche verticals like health and insurance.
Even convertible tablets – laptops with touch screens that fold down on top of the keyboard to turn the devices into a slate-style PCs – never really made much headway though I personally used a convertible X- Series ThinkPad for several years.
But most buyers were unwilling to pay the price premium demanded for a convertible tablet, or to accept the additional bulk and weight associated with the ‘twist-and-fold’ hinges that most relied to switch between slate and conventional laptop modes.
Potential buyers also worried about the durability of convertibles which, not surprisingly, seemed to be particularly prone to being dropped when held in one hand with a pen stylus in the other.
Now Panasonic Computer, best known for its Toughbook family of fully rugged and ‘business-rugged’ machines, believes it has developed the first ‘no compromise’ convertible tablet.
Panasonic claims the Toughbook C1, launched this week, is the world’s lightest 12.1″ convertible tablet PC weighing 3.2 pounds with one battery and 3.7 lbs with two. The batteries themselves are hot-swappable, slide into bays at the back of the machine and power the device for up to 10 hours.
Panasonic has managed to keep the weight down by developing an innovative lightweight triple hinge system – one set for opening and closing the screen and another set for rotating the screen into slate mode.
The company claims the design also significantly reduces hinge failures, one of the main drawbacks of current generation convertibles, by separating the twist and fold actions typically undertaken by a single bulky hinge. The C1 also features an ergonomic strap and dome hand support on the bottom of the machine that I found makes it easier and more comfortable to hold the device in slate mode.
Other features designed to protect the system include a spill resistant keyboard and shock mounted hard drive (250Gb) – features which have helped previous Toughbook models to achieve annualised failure rates well below the competition. It can withstand a 30-inch drop on its base.
The C1 is also one of the first laptops to support multi-touch and digitizers, enabling input using a finger, gesture or an electronic pen stylus for handwriting recognition and greater precision.
Basic features include a 2.4Ghz Intel Core i5-520 processor, 2Gb of Ram expandable up to 6Gb and Qualcomm’s Gobi2000 mobile broadband chipset.
Panasonic’s Toughbook machines have never been the cheapest, but the Japanese company claims it has eliminated the convertible premium with this machine which will cost from $2,500 when it goes on sale in June – the same price as a similarly configured Toughbook laptop.
