Today, Panasonic is introducing its second-gen TOUGHBOOK 33, its detachable PC with a 12-inch 3:2 display. Given the form factor, you"d be forgiven for drawing some parallels with Microsoft"s Surface Book, but obviously, this is designed for the rugged market. Indeed, the TOUGHBOOK 55 that we reviewed back in 2019 was considered to be semi-rugged, but this is full rugged.
The TOUGHBOOK 33 actually has two batteries that are located in the tablet portion. That way, users can hot swap batteries without having to turn the PC off. As you"d expect, if hot swapping isn"t for you, you can also get larger batteries to put in there. It actually has a switch on the display to remove it, so it"s not a software thing like you"ll find on Microsoft"s detachable.
Internally, the specs have been bumped up to Intel"s 10th-generation "Comet Lake" processors. Naturally, it uses vPro variants, and Panasonic tells me that the reason it"s not 11th-gen is simply because this product has been in development for too long, and it wasn"t really a priority given the customer base that buys a product like this.
Of course vPro comes standard because security is a priority. This is something that can be used by various government agencies, so things like Intel Hardware Shield are important. It"s also a Secured-core PC.
Unlike the TOUGHBOOK 55, this one actually has the handle on the back, and that"s on purpose, because it actually serves as a kickstand. After all, it"s a top-heavy machine that includes the CPU, batteries, and everything else in the display. And that display gets super-bright at 1,200 nits, and super-dim at two nits, the latter being what you need for it to work with night vision.
Panasonic anticipates that the PC will be used by enterprise workers, utility workers, in the federal space, and more, and much of the time, it"s actually mounted in vehicles.
Panasonic also bumped up the RAM and storage configurations. You"ll now get 16GB RAM and 512GB as a base model, and you can configure it with up to 32GB RAM and 1TB storage. As for connectivity, it naturally gets Wi-Fi 6, but there"s 4G LTE as well. It has eSIM support as well as support for a physical SIM, and it has support for Band 48, which is for a private cellular network.
Other improvements include louder speakers and an FHD webcam. If you want to buy one, you can contact your Panasonic sales representative.