Affordable Panasonic Rugged Notebook Computer Without Compromise; Award-Winning Panasonic Toughbook(R) 51 Now at Cost-Effective Pricing

The June issue of Laptop Magazine said, "The system survived threedrops from 30 inches onto a concrete floor without any damage. Trythat with your run-of-the-mill notebook....actually don't," and wenton to say, "the clear and bright 15-inch UXGA screen is one of thebest we've seen and battery runtime was an excellent 5 hours and 20minutes." Mobile magazine gave the 51 a Mobile Choice Award achievingfour and half stars out of five, calling it, "Best for the RuggedIndividualists with a Heart of Silicon." Presentations magazine'sprestigious Standing Ovation award was also bestowed on the Toughbook51 with the accolade, "Built to handle the hazards of travel andeveryday use...a capable road warrior presentation companion that'seasy on the shoulder."

The Toughbook 51 offers today's mobile professional afull-featured, presentation-class rugged notebook PC with a legendaryheritage of reliability through durability. Industry analyst firmTechnology Business Research, TBR, recently commented, "Panasonic'sbrand of rugged notebooks, the 'Toughbook', continues to benefit fromthe company's brand superiority, well-established customerrelationships and a lack of substantial competition. The brand alsobenefits from a gradual shift of 'white-collar' corporate customerstoward ruggedized notebooks, as well as a global security climate thatcontinues to demand ruggedized products."

The Toughbook 51 is based on Intel Corporation's revolutionary newCentrino(TM) mobile technology platform, and includes the IntelPentium(R) M processor 740 at 1.73GHz, a full magnesium-alloy case, aninternally shock-and-drop resistant 40GB removable hard drive, 1GBEthernet NIC 10/100/1000 support, Intel Pro/Wireless 802.11a/b/gconnectivity and a 15-inch UXGA (1600x1200 pixel) TFT active-matrixcolor display mounted in a shock-and-vibration hardened encasement.

Rance Poehler, president of Panasonic Computer Solutions Company,recently commented, "The Toughbook 51's hard-drive implementationsignificantly expands the definition of the term 'ruggedized'computer. With the 51 we have expanded the ruggedization process outof the box and applied it to specific individual components which arelikely to be repeatedly removed and reinstalled," he said.

"The Toughbook 51 was specifically designed for customers withcritical data-security requirements such as government employees whoare required to pull their hard drives whenever they leave theircomputers unattended," he said. "They -- and we -- were rightlyconcerned about what might happen when a bare drive is accidentallydropped or subjected to some other shock. Our response to thoseconcerns is the Toughbook's proprietary hard drive, which canwithstand a three-foot drop to a solid surface.

"Some of our competitors may have hard drives that will take thatkind of impact when they're safely tucked up in the computer case, butnone of them have a bare drive that can survive that kind of abuse.

"The only core manufacturer in the rugged computer market,Panasonic designs and manufacturers such durability optimizedToughbook components as cases, display screens, system boards, andadvanced heat-transfer systems," further notes Poehler.

The Toughbook CF-51 LCMDDBM is powered by an Intel Pentium(R) Mprocessor 740 running at 1.73GHz, a 400MHZ front-side bus and 2GMB L2cache. It ships standard with 256MB of DDR RAM (expandable to 2GB), a15-inch TFT active-matrix UXGA display with 64MB VRAM, a 40GB hardenedhard drive, a DVD/CD-RW combo drive which can be user-replaced with asecond battery for extended runtime of up to seven hours, a modularfloppy drive, wired, wireless and analog modem support, and Windows(R)XP Professional Service Pack 2. The Toughbook 51 is also availablewith a Smart Card reader. Panasonic's Toughbook 51 has a limited 3year parts and labor warranty.
Toughbook CF-51LCMDDBM
Intel Pentium(R) M processor 740 1.73GHz, 15" UXGA, 256MB RAM,
40GB HDD, 64MB VRAM, 56K, 1 gig Ethernet NIC 10/100/1000,
Intel 802.11a+b+g, COMBO drive, FDD, Windows(R) XP SP2
Estimated street price $1,499

Panasonic Computer Solutions Company

Panasonic Computer Solutions Company is the leading provider ofruggedized notebook PCs for mobile professionals in the USA. Thecompany is a unit of Panasonic Corporation of North America, theprincipal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric IndustrialCo., Ltd. of Japan (NYSE: MC), which recorded annual sales of $71.30billion in its most recently reported fiscal year. Matsushita Electricis one of the only manufacturers today that directly controls theprocess of design, manufacture and quality assurance of its notebookPCs. Many key components, including LCD panels, Lithium-Ion batteries,DVD and CD-ROM drives, and board-level electronics are the products ofits divisions. The products, people and business of Panasonic ComputerSolutions Company are entirely dedicated to the needs of theprofessional user, including Fortune 1000 business and governmentprofessionals. Panasonic also supplies mobile computing solutions toover 4,000 police departments in the United States.

Note to Editors:

Intel, Intel Centrino and Pentium are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the UnitedStates and other countries. All other brand and company/product namesare trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.All specifications are subject to change without notice.

Information on Panasonic's full line of notebook PCs for themobile professional can be obtained by calling 800 662 3537 or athttp://www.panasonic.com/toughbook