Though this model is rather heavy (its weight is 7.4 pounds), being designed in a briefcase-style with handle, the Toughbook 52 is not difficult to carry. The 15.4-inch widescreen display is perfect. It provides high-resolution (1920 x 1200) and good viewing angles. Still, in direct sunlight certain loss of color definition takes place, but, nevertheless, it is readable.
Keyboard, Ports, Card Slots, DVD Drive
Keyboard is what we definitely enjoy in this model, the keys are easy to press and, moreover, you won’t disturb people around as the keyboard is very quite. The letters on every key are large, that is why you are able to see them even in low-light. Hard plastic protects the FireWire and USB ports, modem, Ethernet, VGA, and serial jacks.The standard model of the Toughbook 52 is equipped with a DVD multi-drive, Intel's 4965AG Wi-Fi, SmartCard, ExpressCard, and PC Card slots.
Keyboard and Touchpad
In accordance with the semi-rugged specs, a magnesium-alloy chassis, a shock-mounted 120GB hard drive, and a spill-resistant keyboard, touchpad, and fingerprint reader represent the important features of the Toughbook 52.
Panasonic Toughbook 52 Endurance
The Toughbook 52 is designed to sustain drops and spills. Still, Panasonic does not make any test for MIL-STD-810F compliance, therefore it is hard to identify whether this model is able to withstand dust, dampness, or extreme vibration. But the durability tests, enduring our three-foot drop tests were taken perfectly: no shutting down or sustaining exterior damage were registered. There were no cases of system failure during our spill tests, the models had no problems with starting up after some hours. Moreover, all wireless devices and components went on working normally.
Great Processor Speed! And What About Battery Life?
Designed with a T7300 processor and just 1GB of memory, the Toughbook 52 was really great during our PCMark05 test; its score of 4,230 was better in comparison with the Dell Latitude ATG D630, which has a faster processor and 2GB of RAM. In the same way this model managed a strong MobileMark 2007 score of 186. A 3DMark03 score of 3,706 led all other systems in this roundup by a wide margin, due to its ATI X2300 M71-M graphics configuration. Besides, we tested the model with F.E.A.R. and the score was 104 fps on autodetect mode (albeit at a low 640 x 480-pixel resolution). The Toughbook 52 kept on working for 3 hours and 38 minutes on our battery rundown, this result is an average one for models of this kind and size.
Wireless Performance, Bluetooth, EV-DO Rev. A
Wireless scores were rather high at 18.1 and 15.6 Mbps at 15 and 50 feet from the access point. Additionally, we checked the Bluetooth and Verizon Wireless mobile broadband (EV-DO Rev. A). The model managed to connect to Verizon Wireless' NationalAccess-BroadbandAccess network easily, simply with one button click. Besides, the upload speeds (264 Kbps) was also rather high.
Panasonic Toughbook 52: Great Enough?
A semi-rugged model with a wonderful, bright widescreen display, a comfortable selection of ports and wireless connectivity options prove that the Toughbook 52 represents a perfect choice for field service personnel and ill-fated ever running users.