Only a few days ago I was reporting on Panasonic's Toughbook S9 laptop that was advertised as the world's lightest 12.1-inch laptop with a DVD unit and today I find myself writing about another rugged Toughbook creation, this time the CF-C1 convertible notebook.

Specially designed for workers that need to operate the device whilst using gloves, this 12.1 inch model comes equipped with a resistive screen that has support for multi-touch input allowing pinching and stretching gestures as well as the rotation of objects on the screen.

But that is only a small part of what the CF-C1 can do since this is powered by a powerful Intel Core i5-520M processor with vPro technology, that will surely be able to keep up even with the most demanding tasks you throw at it, Panasonic also offering 3G, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity.

Since this is part of the Toughbook line, ruggedness is also of the essence, although this is designed to deal with semi-outside conditions Panasonic offers a new two-year warranty that covers a complete range of accidents that includes non-intentional liquid spills, drops, falls, collisions and even damaged or broken LCD displays.

“When considering the right tablet for their business, corporate buyers must consider the increased ruggedness, flexibility, security and usage needs their organisation will demand from their tablet,” commented Stephen Yeo, Marketing Director at Panasonic Computer Products Europe.

“When you compare the popular consumer tablets against the purpose-designed Toughbook CF-C1 you quickly see the fundamental differences in the designs.”

And this is indeed the case, the Toughbook CF-C1 coming with all the security features that are required by corporate buyers such as a fingerprint scanner as well as smartcard and RFID readers while it's also packing a twin hot-swappable battery that provides up to 10 hours of operation and allows users to swap batteries while the unit is running.

All of these options will surely make this a hit among enterprise customers that are in need of a rugged and secure convertible notebook as long as they can afford the £1,709 price tag associated with the Toughbook CF-C1.