The keyboard has a classic feel, with deep key travel and none of today’s Scrabble-tile gaps to collect dust and dirt. The touchpad is decent, although the buttons feel squishy and hinge awkwardly on the edge as you press them.
The CF-53 has the power to match its cyborg looks too. A 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M and 4GB of DDR3 RAM led to a benchmark score of 0.67, which is enough for most applications. Panasonic has sensibly stuck with integrated graphics, so despite that speed the CF-53 lasted a monstrous 10hrs 46mins in our light-use battery test.
That’s not all: if the standard 73Wh “road warrior” battery isn’t enough, Panasonic offers a high-capacity 92Wh option, which should boost that time to at least 13 hours. Buy both and you’re looking at close to 24 hours.
Other options include a webcam, a 3G modem and both a fingerprint and smart card reader, all of which could quickly push the price much higher than its current £1,421 inc VAT. However, as a laptop for specialist roles, the Panasonic Toughbook CF-53 truly shines, and there’s no doubting its vast potential. For those wanting more than the average laptop can offer, it’s not just tough, it’s a rock-solid investment.
Warranty | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 3yr on-site |
Physical specifications | |
| Dimensions | 345 x 286 x 54mm (WDH) |
| Weight | 2.600kg |
| Travelling weight | 3.0kg |
Processor and memory | |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2520M |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel HM65 Express |
| RAM capacity | 4.00GB |
| Memory type | DDR3 |
| SODIMM sockets free | 0 |
| SODIMM sockets total | 2 |
Screen and video | |
| Screen size | 14.0in |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,366 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 768 |
| Resolution | 1366 x 768 |
| Graphics chipset | Intel HD Graphics 3000 |
| Graphics card RAM | N/A |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 1 |
| HDMI outputs | 1 |
| S-Video outputs | 0 |
| DVI-I outputs | 0 |
| DVI-D outputs | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 0 |
Drives | |
| Capacity | 320GB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 298GB |
| Spindle speed | 5,400RPM |
| Internal disk interface | SATA/300 |
| Hard disk | Hitachi Travelstar 5K320 |
| Optical disc technology | DVD writer |
| Battery capacity | 6,750mAh |
| Replacement battery price inc VAT | £0 |
Networking | |
| 802.11a support | yes |
| 802.11b support | yes |
| 802.11g support | yes |
| 802.11 draft-n support | yes |
| Integrated 3G adapter | no |
| Bluetooth support | no |
Other Features | |
| Wireless hardware on/off switch | yes |
| Wireless key-combination switch | no |
| Modem | no |
| ExpressCard34 slots | 0 |
| ExpressCard54 slots | 0 |
| PC Card slots | 0 |
| USB ports (downstream) | 3 |
| FireWire ports | 0 |
| PS/2 mouse port | no |
| 9-pin serial ports | 1 |
| Parallel ports | 0 |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 0 |
| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 |
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 2 |
| SD card reader | yes |
| Memory Stick reader | no |
| MMC (multimedia card) reader | no |
| Smart Media reader | no |
| Compact Flash reader | no |
| xD-card reader | no |
| Pointing device type | Touchpad |
| Audio chipset | realtek HD Audio |
| Integrated microphone? | yes |
| Integrated webcam? | no |
| Camera megapixel rating | N/A |
| TPM | no |
| Fingerprint reader | no |
| Smartcard reader | no |
| Carry case | no |
Battery and performance tests | |
| Battery life, light use | 10hr 46min |
| 3D performance (crysis) low settings | 22fps |
| 3D performance setting | Low |
| Overall Real World Benchmark score | 0.67 |
| Responsiveness score | 0.88 |
| Media score | 0.66 |
| Multitasking score | 0.46 |
Operating system and software | |
| Operating system | Windows 7 Professional 64-bit |
| OS family | Windows 7 |
| Recovery method | Burn own recovery discs |
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