Rugged laptops break out onto Civvy Street

Fed up with your Mac Book Air’s precious sensibilities? Want to write blogs on top of Snowdonia…in January…during a blizzard? John Hillman thinks he’s got the answer.

Anyone who reads PC Site regularly will be aware that we spend quite a lot of time extolling the virtues of various luxury ultra-thin laptops. But not everyone gets to spend their days sipping cappuccino in various high-end eateries around West London, bedecked in designer Italian knitwear and leather, whilst casually perusing Facebook on a £2000 Sony Viao X. Bless.

So what do you do when you need Bear Grills instead of Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen? You read this blog post and get yourself the lowdown on some serious off-road tech. That’s what you do soldier.

The fact is that computers have become so essential that the coffee table is no longer the default location for what is essentially an extension of your very being. PC manufacturers know this only too well.

This is why you can expect to see a load of laptops coming your way this year that look like they’ve just escaped from a particularly brutal scene from Hurt Locker, the director’s cut.

Until recently this market had been dominated by Toughbook, a trademark brand owned by Panasonic. These ultra durable laptops are widely used by the world’s military, law enforcement and emergency services. However it isn’t that common to find one of them on Civvy Street.

Another company that specialises in military grade rugged laptops is Terralogic. Based in Cardiff these guys will happily build you the kind of machine that can deal with adverse weather conditions and intense journeys. But, once again, these are specialist boutique manufacturers.

With the arrival of the Dell Latitude E6400 XFR, however, the rugged PC looks like it might be stepping into the mainstream. This rugged laptop’s USP is that it has been designed to be the highest performing fully rugged laptop in its class. It does this by packing Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor with vPro™ technology and optional discrete graphics, which places it above the normal ultra low voltage processors found in other models. It also boasts a Ballistic Armor Protection system which will allow you to use it in pouring rain and 70 mph winds. And show off to your mates, obviously.

It’s impressive to see the rugged laptop making waves this year, and it will be of interest to the growing number of outdoor adventurists on land and sea to see them becoming more mainstream and available. It’s almost enough to make me put down my Mojito and hit the hills. Well, almost.