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Roughly a month after announcing the new 7 series Toughbook notebooks in Japan, Panasonic officially released the new "business-rugged" Toughbooks here in the United States. While the new 7 series wasn't designed to handle the same environments as the Toughbooks used by the US military, the 7 series was real-world tested to withstand the drops, bumps and spills faced by "truly mobile professionals" while maintaining ultraportable and thin-and-light standards.

The ultraportable W7, the tablet alternative T7, and the thin-and-light Y7 feature Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 802.11 wireless, Bluetooth 2.0 and optional high-performance built-in 3G mobile broadband solutions from AT&T, Sprint or Verizon Wireless (EV-DO Rev. A). Like all Toughbook notebooks, the business-rugged 7 series notebooks are drop- and spill-resistant, have strong
magnesium alloy cases and chassis, shock-mounted hard drives and LCDs, and internal flexible connectors for additional protection.

The Panasonic Toughbook Y7 is available now at an estimated street price of $2,449.00. The mobile broadband-ready Panasonic Toughbook W7 and Toughbook T7 will be available in December, 2007 at an estimated street price of $2,099. All Toughbook notebooks can be purchased from authorized Panasonic Toughbook resellers nationwide. Please visit www.panasonic.com/toughbook for more information.

We had an opportunity to spend some time with all three of these new Toughbooks at a special press event last night. Although the 7-series isn't built for deployment in a warzone it's safe to say that Panasonic has three winners on their hands. If you're shopping for a business notebook in the $2,000+ price range you'll be hard pressed to find more durable, full-featured notebooks than these. Full specifications and features for each model are listed below:

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Panasonic Toughbook W7

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor ULV U7500, 1.06 GHz
• 1 GB DDR2-533 SDRAM standard, expandable to 2 GB
• 80GB HDD, shock-mounted
• Integrated DVD Super MULTI drive
• 12.1" 1024 x 768 XGA anti-glare TFT active matrix color LCD
• TPM Security Chip v1.2
• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG 802.11a/b/g
• Genuine Windows Vista Business (with XP downgrade option)
• Dimensions: 1.4"/2.0" (H) x 10.7" (W) x 8.5"(D)
• Weight: 3.0 lbs
• Battery life: 7 hours
• Mini Dock Box Replicator (accessory)
• Wireless on-off switch (WWAN, WLAN, Bluetooth)
• Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR
• Optional integrated WWAN / mobile broadband (EV-DO or HSDPA)

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Panasonic Toughbook T7

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor ULV U7500, 1.06 GHz
• 1 GB DDR2-533 SDRAM standard, expandable to 2 GB
• 80GB HDD, shock-mounted
• 12.1" 1024 x 768 XGA anti-glare TFT active matrix color LCD with touchscreen
• TPM Security Chip v1.2
• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG 802.11a/b/g
• Genuine Windows Vista Business (with XP downgrade option)
• Display Image Rotation software
• Dimensions: 1.5"/2.3" (H) x 10.7" (W) x 8.5" (D) (including hand strap)
• Ergonomic hand strap
• Weight: 3.3 lbs
• Battery life: 5-9 hours
• Mini Dock Box Replicator (accessory)
• Wireless on-off switch (WWAN, WLAN, Bluetooth)
• Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR
• Optional integrated WWAN / mobile broadband (EV-DO or HSDPA)

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Panasonic Toughbook Y7

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor L7500, 1.6 GHz
• 1 GB DDR2-533 SDRAM standard, expandable to 2 GB
• 80GB HDD, shock-mounted
• Integrated DVD Super MULTI drive
• 14.1" 1400 x 1050 SXGA+ anti-glare TFT active matrix color LCD
• TPM Security Chip, v1.2
• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG 802.11a/b/g
• Genuine Windows Vista Business (with XP downgrade option)
• Dimensions: 1.4"/1.8" (H) x 12.2" (W) x 10.0" (D)
• Weight: 3.7 lbs
• Battery life: 5 hours
• Mini Dock Box Replicator (accessory)
• Wireless on-off switch (WWAN, WLAN, Bluetooth)
• Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR
• Optional integrated WWAN / mobile broadband (EV-DO or HSDPA)