Toughpads work in temperatures ranging from -20o C TO 60o C

01 Oct 2013 Editorial Team

Gunjan Sachdev, General Manager (National Business Head), Toughbook, Panasonic India

Toughbooks have been around for 16 years globally. But with its growing presence in India, brands are coming out with new models with better, innovative solutions for different verticals. At present, around 15 models are presemt with some designed like laptops, laptop-cum-tablets and some even modelled like a tablet like the Panasonic Toughpad. Toughbooks are available in different sizes, shapes and forms with screen sizes varying from 5.6 inch till 15 inch. Gunjan Sachdev, General Manager (National Business Head), Toughbook,Panasonic India shares more details.

What are its unique features when compared to a regular laptop?
The operating systems and the processor are the same for both the Toughpad and the regular laptop; it runs on Windows platform. Barring those, everything is different. The hard disk casing is sturdier; it is made from shock absorbing material and the upper casing is made of magnesium rod as compared to plastic in regular laptops. Also it comes with all the ports that regular laptops offer and more. It has USB ports, LAN and serial port. It comes with GPS and in-built SIM card and fingerprint reader. There are certain other technical features too that give it an edge over regular laptops.

Toughbooks, as the name suggests, are very rugged. It is also water and dust resistant and immune to shock and vibrations. The battery runs on an average for 10-12 hours. They carry the highest certification of IP65 for dust and water and also MIL-810G standard. Such military standard products are ideal for architects, builders or engineers on field as this rugged product is useful for critical applications outdoor. The product is very reliable in all climatic conditions with good visibility in bright sunlight. It can work in temperatures ranging from -20o C TO 60o C. Also, it has a special LCD screen with toughened gorilla glass that makes it scratch resistant.

People working on sites are not too technologically driven? How do you educate and encourage them to use these products?
Indian companies are not too technology savvy but with the influx of MNCs in the construction and infrastructure segment, people are opting for lightweight and rugged tablets over pen and paper. One may have to capture data at site or may have to retrieve some information from their server on site. With normal laptops, it is going to be very difficult but with Toughpads, which also run on Android platform, work will be easy as one can carry it from office to site and back. Also, one can download the information from wherever the central server is located because this has an in-built SIM card also and with this one can form a VPN tunnel till the server. Toughbooks can survive falls to up to 4 feet. Moreover, one need not worry over data input or downloading information from central server wondering if the device will fail.

What is the life span of these products?
The life of these products is five years as compared to two or two-and-a-half years of other laptops. We give a warranty for three years along with the fourth or fifth year extended AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract) because we are confident that the product will last minimum five years.

Does Panasonic have good network of service centres?
We have our own Toughbook certified engineers in India that are trained in Japan. Because this product is designed by our Japan facility and is manufactured by us, we do not outsource any component. We design and manufacture the battery, LCD screen and other components inhouse. We even create the motherboard in our factory. We control the complete mechanics and production of this product. Hence we have not authorised any third party to open and fix the Toughbook as it can lose its ruggedness. So we have assigned Toughbook service engineers across India. Customer from any geographic location can call up the service centre and within minutes, the service engineer will guide the customer through. If the problem cannot be resolved over the phone, then we have the gadget collected from the customer's site and brought to our Gurgaon site. Within two days, the problem will be rectified and sent back to the customer.

(Communication by the management of the company)

Gunjan Sachdev, General Manager (National Business Head), Toughbook, Panasonic India Toughbooks have been around for 16 years globally. But with its growing presence in India, brands are coming out with new models with better, innovative solutions for different verticals. At present, around 15 models are presemt with some designed like laptops, laptop-cum-tablets and some even modelled like a tablet like the Panasonic Toughpad. Toughbooks are available in different sizes, shapes and forms with screen sizes varying from 5.6 inch till 15 inch. Gunjan Sachdev, General Manager (National Business Head), Toughbook,Panasonic India shares more details. What are its unique features when compared to a regular laptop? The operating systems and the processor are the same for both the Toughpad and the regular laptop; it runs on Windows platform. Barring those, everything is different. The hard disk casing is sturdier; it is made from shock absorbing material and the upper casing is made of magnesium rod as compared to plastic in regular laptops. Also it comes with all the ports that regular laptops offer and more. It has USB ports, LAN and serial port. It comes with GPS and in-built SIM card and fingerprint reader. There are certain other technical features too that give it an edge over regular laptops. Toughbooks, as the name suggests, are very rugged. It is also water and dust resistant and immune to shock and vibrations. The battery runs on an average for 10-12 hours. They carry the highest certification of IP65 for dust and water and also MIL-810G standard. Such military standard products are ideal for architects, builders or engineers on field as this rugged product is useful for critical applications outdoor. The product is very reliable in all climatic conditions with good visibility in bright sunlight. It can work in temperatures ranging from -20o C TO 60o C. Also, it has a special LCD screen with toughened gorilla glass that makes it scratch resistant. People working on sites are not too technologically driven? How do you educate and encourage them to use these products? Indian companies are not too technology savvy but with the influx of MNCs in the construction and infrastructure segment, people are opting for lightweight and rugged tablets over pen and paper. One may have to capture data at site or may have to retrieve some information from their server on site. With normal laptops, it is going to be very difficult but with Toughpads, which also run on Android platform, work will be easy as one can carry it from office to site and back. Also, one can download the information from wherever the central server is located because this has an in-built SIM card also and with this one can form a VPN tunnel till the server. Toughbooks can survive falls to up to 4 feet. Moreover, one need not worry over data input or downloading information from central server wondering if the device will fail. What is the life span of these products? The life of these products is five years as compared to two or two-and-a-half years of other laptops. We give a warranty for three years along with the fourth or fifth year extended AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract) because we are confident that the product will last minimum five years. Does Panasonic have good network of service centres? We have our own Toughbook certified engineers in India that are trained in Japan. Because this product is designed by our Japan facility and is manufactured by us, we do not outsource any component. We design and manufacture the battery, LCD screen and other components inhouse. We even create the motherboard in our factory. We control the complete mechanics and production of this product. Hence we have not authorised any third party to open and fix the Toughbook as it can lose its ruggedness. So we have assigned Toughbook service engineers across India. Customer from any geographic location can call up the service centre and within minutes, the service engineer will guide the customer through. If the problem cannot be resolved over the phone, then we have the gadget collected from the customer's site and brought to our Gurgaon site. Within two days, the problem will be rectified and sent back to the customer. (Communication by the management of the company)