When one thinks of the Panasonic brand, inevitably the Toughbook comes to mind and with good reason: The company has a long history of manufacturing ruggedized notebooks suitable for use in-office or out in the field. Today, Panasonic unveiled a new addition to the family, the Toughbook CF-U1, which is the world’s first durable UMPC to feature Intel’s battery-saving Atom processor.

Designed for use in vertical markets (think military, law enforcement, government inspection), the 2.3-pound CF-U1 is designed for long work days. It utilizes a unique dual battery design that give users a lengthy 6 to 8 hours of juice (each battery contains 3-4 hours of power). Additionally, the batteries are hot-swappable, so you can pop in a fresh one without powering down the system. The 1.3-GHz Intel Atom powered system is also extremely rugged: It’s been tested to survive 4-foot drops on concrete and has a sealed, all-weather design that makes it resistant to rain, dust, and vibrations.

The Toughbook CF-U1 will have starting price of $2,499 when it becomes available in August. Until then, make happy with the specs:

Windows Vista Business (with option to downgrade to XP)1.3-GHz Intel Atom processor16GB solid state drive (32GB is optional)1GB of RAM5.6-inch, 1024 x 600-pixel, sunlight-readable display802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi2.3 pounds7.2 x 5.9 x 2.2 inchesBluetooth 2.0 + EDR1 USB 2.0 portSD Card readerHeadphone and mic jacksExpansion bus port

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