The opportunity finally presented itself when I got samples from two manufacturers of rugged notebooks: Panasonic , a unit of Japan's Matsushita (nyse: MC - news - people ), and the privately held Itronix , based in Spokane, Wash.

FORBES

We presented the manufacturers of these two no-nonsense notebooks with a bevy of durability tests that we wanted to try, and while Panasonic's representatives were game for just about anything we suggested (even coming back with a few more brutal things to try), our Durabook contacts were understandably a little less eager.

ENGADGET: Durable faceoff and torture test: Panasonic's Toughbook 30 vs. GammaTech's Durabook D15RP

Panasonic announced the new Toughbook 27, the latest addition to the company's line of ruggedized notebooks.

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