We mentioned it before, and were initially upset it wasn't a revised Speak&Spell...but now Panasonic's H1 Toughbook for clinical use is out, and its specs list is impressive. It's water-, dust- and drop-proof from 1 metre, has a smooth-surface and with sealed buttons for hygiene, and is fanless. It's got a six-hour battery life, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, an in-built RFID reader, 2-megapixel camera with auto-focus and dual LED lighting, barcode reader, smart-card and fingerprint readers and optional GPS. Specifically it's designed to manage patient notes and collect information to simplify and speed up hospital procedures. But with that amazing array of functions, I'd kinda like it as my main laptop. [Medgadget]

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Pansonic's line of Toughbook laptops is already pretty extensive, but it's getting more so: Panasonic's just come up with the 8-series of "business-rugged" notebooks. The F8, T8 and W8 all come with a Gobi 3G mobile broadband system built in for roaming internet access. The F8 is being called the "world's lightest 3G-ready notebook with a 14.1 inch wide display and an internal optical drive," weighs 1.7 kg and has spill-resistant keyboard and integrated handle. The W8 is an ultraportable with 12.1-inch screen, 7-hour battery, and the T8 is similar but with tablet PC options. All are designed to withstand more than the usual share of knocks and bangs, and rugged businesspersons will be pleased to note they're out November for $US2,100 for the W8 and T8 and $US2,500 for the F8. Extensive press release below.

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Panasonic may have "announced" the ToughBook CF-U1 back in March, but it's only now getting around talking speeds, feeds and wallet drain. Even though it uses Intel's "low cost" 1.33GHz Atom Z520 processor, the little ruggedised UMPC will arrive in August (or later, if the rumoured Atom delay is true) at a starting price of US$2,500. Obviously, it's geared towards customers who need a super serious, military-grade resistance to the elements. It runs Vista (with XP downgrade option) from a removable 16GB or 32GB SSD, packs tons of wireless options, weighs 1kg. with two batteries, and runs for 9 hours. If you can get over the teensy 5.6" screen, you got yourself the perfect PC for spelunking, fly fishing or whatever it is you call "extreme." (See more details below.)

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Panasonic's newest Toughbook Y7, T7 and W7 are designed to combat the Homer in you: that is, they're for people who work with sensitive data yet are prone to dropping laptops, spilling drinks and generally messing stuff up. Forget accelerometers, the hard drives in this can take a serious hit at 2.5 feet and on 26 different axes. The LCDs, typically shatter-prone glass, can survive a one-foot drop without cracking. As far as proofing against the inevitable beverage malfunction, the Toughbook can take over six ounces of liquid continuously, meaning if you spill half a can of soda on that sucker, you can pour an equal amount of water through there to flush out the bad stuff. Just pour slow: if the drain backs up, you can still cause damage. Here's how the three different systems fall into place:

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Panasonic's Toughbook line got a widescreen upgrade this morning. The new semi-rugged CF-52 has a 15.4-inch WUXGA screen along with a shock-mounted hard drive, spill resistant keyboard, and a magnesium alloy shell. The notebook also comes with the option of embedded EV-DO or UMTS/HSDPA (nice way to stay connected if you're always on the go). The standard version will start at $1,649 while the optimized version will go for $2,499. Full specs after the jump.

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