Panasonic Toughbook CF-F8

We're a bit more on the fence, however. The trackpad is, in our opinion, perfectly usable and we loved the light, positive click of the accompanying buttons. But the keyboard is a little more difficult to love. The keys are, in the main, full size but our preview model was beset by a tiny half-height Enter key which was more than a touch elusive while touch-typing. And although each key is blessed with a solid break at the end of each stroke, the action is very, very light. It's probably something we could get used to, but we missed the supremely positive action of Lenovo's ThinkPad X200, X300 and T500 laptops.

Power and stamina

The final element is the CF-F8's specification and unlike many ultraportables, which opt for Intel's low-voltage and consequently low-powered processors, the CF-F8 makes a fine choice with its Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300.

Running at 2.26Ghz, the SP9300 is powerful enough to allow the CF-F8 to replace a desktop for most, if not all business tasks, but it's also frugal enough to reward with considerable stamina. Even considering our pre-production unit was running Windows XP Professional rather than Vista Business, it was impressive to see performance in our benchmarks reaching a solid 1.32 while battery life soared to 5hs 49mins under light use.

Admittedly this is not enough to challenge the endurance of Sony's VGN-Z21MN/B, but while Sony's Z-series has the edge in the stamina stakes, it simply can't match the CF-F8's hard-knock credentials.

Summing up

Take into account the CF-F8's considerable price tag - we should probably mention that the figure at the top of the page is only a suggested retail price - and there are some disappointments. The screen may have a generous 14.1in diagonal but unlike the Japanese market it looks like we Europeans are going to be stuck with a mere 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution. It's bright, but narrow viewing angles and that modest native resolution are disappointing finds on a laptop which costs more than £1,500.

The cupboard is more than a little bare when it comes to features, too. Unlike Lenovo or Dell's latest models, for example, there is no sign of DisplayPort or even HDMI output - just one lonely VGA socket on the right hand side. And, while much of the CF-F8s high price can be excused by virtue of its rugged build, light weight and high performance, it would have been nice to see 3G as standard, and perhaps a fingerprint reader to accompany the TPM 1.2 chip which is already present and correct.

Whether the CF-F8 is genuinely good value for money, though, is a tricky judgment call. It's expensive, but how many ultraportables can boast of being powerful, rugged and manage six hours of battery life from a single charge? None we can think of.

So while it's not as pretty as the likes of Sony's gorgeous VGN-Z21MN/B, blessed with its high-resolution display, dual graphics chipsets, superior stamina or lower cost, for the serious business traveler who values reliability and longevity above all else, the CF-F8 looks to have few peers.

Author: Sasha Muller