Whether it is due to hardware failures or accidental damage, every few years one needs to buy a new laptop. Since people are becoming more mobile and email management is just about requirements for almost all fields of employment, rugged notebooks are gaining popularity. While our usage for technology has changed, our decision-making skills have not. Please do yourself a favor and read about these Five Mistakes that you need to avoid while buying a rugged notebook.
Not Researching
‘Rolling into the electronics store, and expecting the sales staff to assist in finding the rugged laptop you’ve been dreaming of,’ may be the worst mistake anyone can make while buying these machines. If the store manager has ordered a huge shipment of a specific model, then you will find sales staff pushing that brand. Instead, go online and do some research.
The Toughness
Different manufacturers describe their rugged laptops as ultra-rugged, rugged, semi-rugged, business-rugged, vehicle-rugged, etc. They do supply ruggedness specifications to help you figure out how much abuse a product can take without breaking. A notebook should not break if it falls off a desk, which means at least from a height of 2½ feet in open position. If the notebook is used while walking around on the job, then it should be able to survive at least a 1½ meter fall, such as Panasonic Toughbook CF-20.
Temperature Endurance
As far as temperature is concerned, the notebook should be able to handle the heat or cold you’d be willing to bear. It can be as low as -40o or as high as 120o Fahrenheit. If it’s in a commercial freezer or an arctic setting, then it must maintain peak performance in those low temperatures as well. Vibration, unusual humidity, altitude, and salt fog can be a big issue for vehicle-mounted laptops, so testing must be conducted by the brand to ascertain that the product will survive on the job.
The best models provide details on:
-The types of tests conducted,
-The conditions of testing,
-The results of theses tests and
-Meaning of these results for the laptop
2.Ignoring Outdoor Readable Technology
Rugged handheld device and the need for a sun display are inseparable. If you’re looking for an outdoor use of this notebook, you need to know about display technologies a bit. As most standard notebooks have transmissive LCDs, they are very bright indoors due to the fact that their backlights evenly illuminate the screen. Unless they are specially treated, they wash-out and become unreadable outdoors. Avoid not paying enough attention to this feature and try to find specially treated transmissive displays that provide high enough contrast to make the displays readable outdoors. Over the years advances in outdoor viewability are made such as Panasonic’s CircuLumin technology that relies on the use of special polarizers and anti-reflective coatings to standard transmissive displays with strong backlights.
3.Extended Warranties
Many new brands offer extended warranties, which can be useless in all except two situations:
-While travelling with your laptop accidental damage and theft is covered by the warranty
-Extended tech support for a new notebook
Other than these two options, the extended warranty can be a marketing gimmick.
4.Focusing Too Much on RAM
Just as many manufacturers install a hard drive with an overabundant amount of storage space to sell laptops, many will do the same by overloading systems with RAM with outdated processors and motherboards.
The truth is, very few people need machines with more than 8GB of RAM. Which is why you need to look beyond RAM and pay attention to specification about – Mobile Computing Platform, Operating System, Graphic Chip, Camera (Front, Rear), Touchscreen, Bluetooth, WLAN, Mobile Broadband, Configuration Port and Battery Operating Time.
5.Ignoring Battery Life
Occupying the 11 to 14-inch space, rugged laptops can genuinely claim excellent portability with minimal performance sacrifice. Since all these devices are going through a transition, you can’t afford average battery life of fewer than three hours. If your work demands you to compute without worrying about losing power, go for Panasonic Toughbook CF-20. The device features up to 20-hour hot swappable battery, which also charges very quickly.
