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Panasonic's Toughbook H1 Field appears to be a revised version of the company's original, medically oriented Toughbook H1 (right), which has now been renamed the Toughbook H1 Medical. As such, it's a derivation of Intel's MCA (mobile clinical assistant) reference platform, which specified sealed buttons and ports, an integrated fingerprint reader, and a two megapixel camera.
Whereas the first Toughbook H1 was related to withstand three-foot drops, the H1 Field is claimed to endure six foot drops, and it meets both MIL-STD-810G and IP65 standards, the company says. The original H1 featured a shock-mounted 80GB hard disk drive, but the H1 Field now employs an even more durable 64GB SSD, according to Panasonic.
As before, the device uses Intel's 1.86GHz Atom Z540 processor, with the SCH US15W northbridge/southbridge chip. However, RAM has now been doubled to 2GB, Panasonic says.
The MCA-inspired design omits USB ports and does not include slots for removable flash storage, the original rationale being that apertures in the case could harbor germs or attract liquids. The H1 Field's only wired interface, therefore, is the docking station connector pictured above. (An "Elite" version of the device does include both insertable and contactless smartcard readers, however.)
Presumably, the H1 Field is compatible with the docking station pictured below. Previously announced for the H1, the docking station was said to include three USB ports, 10/100 Ethernet, a serial port, and a twin battery charger.
On its own, the H1 Field offers plenty of wireless connectivity. Panasonic says the device has 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networking, Bluetooth 2.1, a 1D/2D capable barcode reader, and an availablecellular modem employing Qualcomm's Gobi chipset. The latter allows users to connect to HSPA (high-speed packet access) networks, generally found in Europe, and EVDO (evolution data optimized) networks, generally found in the U.S., according to Qualcomm.
Panasonic says the Toughbook H1 Field's touchscreen display has 1024 x 768 pixel resolution and is viewable both indoors and out. The screen is operable with or without a stylus, and is supplemented by six user-defined programmable buttons, the company adds.
According to Panasonic, the H1 Field employs twin 2750mAh batteries, allowing for hot-swapping. With both batteries in place, the tablet has a claimed operating life of six hours.
Kyp Walls, director of product management for Panasonic, stated, "The Toughbook H1 Field was designed based on extensive customer input to ensure it had the right mix of form factor, features and durability to maximize worker productivity and value. With so many features that exceed the performance capabilities of competitive products, we believe the Toughbook H1 Field is best positioned to meet the computing needs of highly mobile workers."
Features and specifications listed by Panasonic for the Toughbook H1 Field include:
More information on the Toughbook H1 Field may be found on the Panasonic website, here.
