Panasonic now has now launched four Toughpads in Australia. The latest is the new FZ-M1 Toughpad - the world's lightest rugged 7inch tablet, according to Pansonic. It's the first 7-inch Windows Toughpad to hit the Australian market.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new device is Panasonic's sales pitch, which pushes the $2699 tablet as not just a tool for jobs involving rough working conditions.
One customer using Panasonic's Toughpads in Australia is Wilson Security. Security patrols now use a fleet of the rugged 7-inch Android tablets. The tablet means patrols don't have to return to the control room at the end of a shift to write up reports, according to Panasonic. We were told Wilson is also looking at using an NFC reader to scan tags at client sites.
It's not a Toughpad launch without piling dirt on the product.
The tablet can also be disinfected with hospital grade cleaning chemicals, according to Panasonic.
Another feature - the FZ-M1 can be used with gloves.
Another key feature is an optional hot-swap bridge battery, making it possible to change batteries without turning off the tablet. Panasonic claims a battery life of eight hours and there is also an optional 16-hour battery.
The tablet weighs 540g, which is lighter than a larger tablet like the Microsoft Surface Pro 2, but certainly not the lightest on the market. By comparison, the consumer-grade Nexus 7 weighs up to 299g.
The tablet runs Intel's 4th generation Core i5 and doesn’t require a fan. It runs Windows 8.1 Pro.
Another key selling point of enterprise grade, rugged tablets like this one are the options: here they include GPS, a barcode reader, ethernet, serial port, NFC, smart card reader, UHF RFID and magnetic stripe reader.
Panasonic now has now launched four Toughpads in Australia. The latest is the new FZ-M1 Toughpad - the world's lightest rugged 7inch tablet, according to Pansonic. It's the first 7-inch Windows Toughpad to hit the Australian market.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new device is Panasonic's sales pitch, which pushes the $2699 tablet as not just a tool for jobs involving rough working conditions.