Toughening Up
Located in the city of Kobe and at an half hour’s drive from the Shin-Kobe Shikansen train station, Panasonic’s Toughbook factory isn’t anywhere near the walking beef steaks, so unfortunately, we didn't quite get the chance to snap a picture of the famous cows. Located right smack in an industrial district surrounded by other factories, the Toughbook factory seems pretty unassuming and normal, and not the high tech gizmo wonder that we were expecting.
In fact, our first impression turned out to be pretty much correct, as the interior harkens back to something from the 80s. But don’t let the slightly drab facade fool you. Behind the walls lie machines that are capable of churning out notebooks featuring the latest technology. Before we could enter the factory however, we had to swap out our shoes for electrostatic slippers, to prevent any accidental electrical discharge, which in a worst case scenario, may destroy valuable electronic circuits strewn all over the factory (and leave us with a debt we could probably never pay off in our lifetimes).
Just prior to the tour, we got a look at some of the Toughbook models produced in the factory. There are technically four types of rugged notebooks that Panasonic makes, the first being the fully rugged notebooks, the semi-rugged (but still really tough), the business rugged models (like the ) and the ultra mobile rugged types that feature a tablet design.
The business rugged Panasonic Toughbooks lined up and ready for our inspection! Note, if you're wondering why they are labelled "Let's Note" and not Toughbook is because that's how Panasonic's Toughbooks are branded in Japan. Globally, they are known by the familiar name of Toughbooks.
Here are your fully rugged models, the Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 and CF-30.
The ultra-mobile rugged Toughbook, the CF-U1.
Inside the Factory
Two years ago, on our last visit to the Kobe factory, we were told that Panasonic would be expanding the factory if needed, by using the third floor for additional manufacturing space. Well, it seems like the global economic downturn in 2009 did hit Panasonic somewhat, as we didn’t see any signs or mentions of a third floor expansion. That said, from our brief time at the factory, the second floor area seemed slightly more packed with more notebooks being made in the same work space.
Panasonic designs their own circuit boards which are built in the machines you see below. They state that their designs offer additional power savings over the usual circuit boards. We were told they work very closely with Intel, so don’t expect to see any AMD based Toughbooks anytime soon.
The circuit boards are manufactured here in these machines.
Once the components are ready, they are then assembled by hand over in the production line.
The various components are then assembled by hand and inspected closely to ensure that there are no defects. Once the components are fully assembled, Panasonic then puts the notebooks through a software test to make sure all components are properly integrated. Each batch, some notebooks are randomly selected for further testing to ensure the Toughbooks really stay true to their name of being tough. Over in the next page, we detail more about Panasonic's testing procedures.
Testing the Toughbooks
This room is where Panasonic tests their Toughbooks.
Depending on the model of the notebook, there are certain rigorous tests that Panasonic has mandated for the respective models. To accomplish them, the hallway pictured above with various purpose-built machines is where the respective notebooks get sent to. Some of these machines test how the notebooks operate in high and low temperatures, while others test the notebook for dust resistance. One of the more visually impressive tests (and one where we were allowed to take pictures of) is the water resistance test. While the standard is to test for 3 minutes, Panasonic puts their rugged notebooks under 1.8 litres of water per minute for 15 minutes and you'll find the notebooks still working with nary a short circuit.
Most notebooks probably won't even survive less than 10 seconds under such a test, but Panasonic's Toughbooks are tested for up to 15 minutes.
Though the picture looks like there's ice on the notebooks, this enclosed test space is for dust testing. The notebooks looked really, really icky.
If you have accidentally dropped your gadgets before , be it your phone or notebook, the next test is really not for the faint of heart. The drop test drops the notebook from 26 different positions at a height of 90cm. From what we could see of the wooden block on the floor, the Toughbooks have done their fair share of damage but are still more then capable of surviving the procedure. Still, we couldn't help but wince every time we heard the loud crashing sound that follows each time a drop test was conducted. Ouch!
Moments before hitting the ground with a bang.
For a less strenuous test, we were brought to Panasonic’s own Anechoic Chamber that’s located right next to their factory. The chamber is used for testing the wireless emissions made from the notebook to ensure no stray signals are being emitted from the notebook. While it might sound a tad boring, it’s an important test because health regulations are in place to ensure no harmful signal leakage occurs to keep their prospective notebook users safe.
The anechoic chamber as seen from afar.
Inside Panasonic's Anechoic Chamber.
Inside a Toughbook
Now, if you’re wondering what makes a Toughbook so tough yet still light enough to be portable, it’s mainly due to what’s used to the build the notebooks. The Toughbooks use a magnesium alloy for the chassis and the internals, giving the Toughbook a sturdy frame without adding a lot of weight.
Here's a snap of part of the magnesium alloy chassis used in a Toughbook.
Data is a very important commodity and having your delicate hard disk drive (HDD) destroyed the moment it drops to the floor even though it’s protected by a strong magnesium alloy frame doesn’t make any sense. So here’s where having two different shock absorber sponges protecting your HDD comes into play. Unlike other notebooks though, Panasonic does not rely on a motion sensor to lock the HDD's read/write head. They believe this low tech solution to be much more effective in protecting the HDD.
Here you can notice some of the sponge material used in the drive cage to protect the notebook's HDD.
To keep the notebooks light, Panasonic has also remodelled the internals. You’ll note that the unit doesn’t weigh a lot and it's not just because of the materials used for its chassis. Panasonic has also reduced the weight of the optical drive that differs from the usual tray or slot loaded versions often seen on other notebooks. They've also managed to trim down on much of the weight of typical LCD panels, leading to further weight savings. These internal tweaks and self-made parts ensure greater efficiency in achieving Panasonic's goals for their Toughbook series as opposed to readily available parts integrated by some OEM notebooks.
Note the reduced weight ODD unit used on some of the Toughbook models as opposed to a standard drive beneath it.
Note the weight savings of the LCD unit as Panasonic used a different mounting and backing to achieve this.
And that's how folks, you build a Toughbook that can survive a test like this one:-
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