The Panasonic TOUGHBOOK FZ-55 rugged laptop has got to be one of, if not the best rugged notebook computer ever made. Panasonic invented the rugged laptop in 1996. When these were first made they were disproportionately big to account for the ruggedized components and build. Over the years laptops kept getting smaller and with that more delicate. The TOUGHBOOK continued the legacy of being purpose built for rugged durability. It got to a point where the laptops started to look outdated and the FZ-55 was a celebration of form and function bridging the rugged standards of a TOUGHBOOK while manufacturing a device that is thin, sleek, and modern. On top of being a modern day appearing laptop Panasonic introduced the xPAK system with the TOUGHBOOK 55 rugged notebook. This was a first in the world’s laptop market. The ability to swap out a myriad of beneficial embedded accessory items was about to change the world of commercial laptop equipment. In this blog we’re going to talk about many of the features that make the FZ-55 unique and excellent.
Toughbook 55 Has Amazing Battery Life
Panasonic is one of the leading manufacturers of Lithium Ion batteries. They have been for some time but when they began their partnership with Tesla they learned and innovated more about Lithium Ion batteries than anyone had ever done before. Panasonic took everything they learned about the batteries and developed the FZ-55 battery. On top of that they created the xPAK system allowing for a 2nd full sized battery to be inserted on the right hand side of the laptop. These batteries allow for an easy 6-8 hours of real life use. By having both installed you’re going to get 12-16 hours of continuous use. The marketing brochures for the TOUGHBOOK and any other laptop made will always indicate about twice as long of a lifespan but that’s based on a “mobile mark” test that has very strict low power recommendations. If you plan to actually use your laptop with a brightness that allows you to see the screen, have WiFi turned on, use a few things at once (like internet, antivirus, music, etc) you can expect best in class battery life out of the FZ-55.
The FZ-55 xPAK System
We have a whole blog dedicated the xPAK system on the TOUGHBOOK FZ-55 rugged notebook. There are several different xPAKs that can be installed and configured based on the needs of the owner. This innovation allows the owner to evolve their needs over time and easily evolve the ability of their rugged computer at the same time. Do you need DVD or Blu-Ray player? No problem! Do you need a True RS-232 serial port? No Problem! Do you need a 2D barcode scanner? No problem! Do you need an extra USB, LAN, VGA, or Fischer USB? No Problem! Do you need a finger print reader or smart card reader? No problem! I think you get where i’m going with this.
FZ-55 Ergonomics
It’s got a handle! It’s awesome and makes carrying around the FZ-55 really easy. Most people have never had a laptop with a handle so it’s easy to dismiss as something unimportant but it’s such a quality of life improvement on something as basic as carrying around the computer. Once you have a laptop with a handle on it you won’t want one without ever again! There are even accessory harnesses you can get so you can wear the laptop open on your chest as if you have a mini invisible floating table walking around with you. These kind of design functions make it easier than ever to use the laptop in demanding situations while keeping one or both hands free.
Toughbook 55 14” Screen
A rose by any other name is still a rose but this 14” LCD is far from any other LCD you find out in the world of laptops. The size itself is an amazing sweet spot of being just big enough it’s easy to see what you’re doing but not so big it doesn’t create a weight or bulk barrier to carrying it around. There are two options on the FZ-55 TOUGHBOOK rugged laptop. You can get a touch option or non touch. Touch is the only way someone should buy the FZ-55. With the touch feature it makes browsing the internet or PDF documents a breeze. The brightness is doubled to 1,000 nit. The touch model has a very important real world resolution of 1920x1080. The screen also has an Anti-Reflective and Anti-Glare screen protection put on to make it easier to read and use anywhere.
FZ-55 Speaker System
Most people who use a computer do so in a controlled environment. It’s an office or working from home. Here they can expect relative calm and quiet The FZ-55 TOUGHBOOK has dramatically enhanced volume speakers that allow it to be heard in environments that are not controlled and calm. Sound is measured in a scale called decibels (dB). This scale works unlike most scales we are used to seeing like temperature or speed. Decibels run on a logarithmic scale that means every 10 dB the intensity of the sound is increased 1000% and the perceived volume is increased 100%. That means every 10 dB the sound volume is doubled! Since each 10 dB doubles the difference between something that is 10 dB or 30dB is extreme. 20 dB is twice as loud as 10 dB so 30 dB is twice as loud as 20 dB. What this means is 30 dB is 400% louder than 10 dB. 40 dB is 800% louder than 10 dB. 50 dB is 1,600% louder than 10 dB. It continues to increase exponentially. When you get to 92 dB that makes a really loud speaker! Unless you’re a sound engineer or a tech geek you’ve likely seen dB but don’t have any reference points. A refrigerator generally runs at 40dB, a Television is usually about 70 dB, a coffee grinder is about 90 dB. This gets practical when you think about how loud machinery can be. The sound inside a car with the windows closed is about 70 dB. If you want to hear the laptop over the sound of the vehicle the laptop needs to be louder than 70 dB. Most laptops are designed to have 40-50 dB of sound. The FZ-55 is built to allow the user to hear their computer over the competing sounds in a vehicle, machinery, or other environmental factor.
FZ-55 Rugged Nature
It meets the MIL-STD-810H 3” drop requirements and is IP53. This allows you to be carrying that laptop from waist height, because it has a handle!) and when you drop it from 2-3 feet the laptop is likely going to be just fine! Sure it may have a couple scratches but you just pick it up and go about your day.
Best in Class Wireless
The FCC regulates how much power a WiFi adapter can have. Panasonic uses WiFi adapters that allow for the strongest signal that will give the best function. Consumer grade products use less expensive adapters that do not fully utilize these power capabilities. The TOUGHBOOK FZ-55 also have the ability to have 4G LTE internet built in. You can use AT&T or Verizon. The TOUGHBOOK 55 is also certified to be used on the FirstNet. Having 4G LTE cellular on your rugged laptop is amazing. You may think connecting to the WiFi of your phone or surrounding area will do fine but once you try the 4G LTE you won’t ever want to go back. As soon as you boot up your laptop you’re connected, presuming you have cellular service in your area, with the added benefit of not draining your phone’s battery while tethered. It’s difficult to rely on WiFi around you. Sometimes maybe even most of the time you can get a connection but how often is that connection even half as good as what you are used to? This is the most reliable way to have internet connectivity and when operating as or for a business time is money!
Default Toughbook 55 Interface Ports
The FZ-55 MK3 laptops have USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port. With this port you can power devices like monitors, diagnostic equipment, eGPU graphics. That’s not all you can also charge your TOUGHBOOK using this same port but you need a 120W power supply to do it. The laptop has the traditional USB-A 3.1 ports. It has a 3.5mm audio port, RJ-45 Ethernet, MicroSDXC, and HDMI port.
