As more and more professionals require tough computing systems that they can take along even when working in the field, the number of such solutions arriving on the market has gradually increased over the past couple of years, one of the latest companies to push out such a device being the aptly-named Rugged Notebooks, who's touting its Eagle series rugged notebook for public safety, military and other demanding work environments.

The 5.5-pound notebook offers a 14.1-inch WXGA/WXG LCD screen, Intel Core 2 Duo processor (up to 2.8 GHz), HDMI port and up to 8GB high-speed 800Mhz RAM.

Optional upgrades include a touchscreen display, a proprietary transflective sunlight display for viewing in bright outdoor light, 10/100/1000 LAN, RAID 0/1 dual hard drive for instantaneous back-up, fully encrypted hard drive, broadband 3G, GPS, Bluetooth, Webcam, an RS-232 serial port and Windows 7 or XP Professional operating systems.

Ruggedized features include drop/shock/spill protection tested to U.S. military 810F and 810G standards, a rubber Guard Protection System to help protect the LCD from shocks, a lock on the DVD Super Multi Drive to prevent accidental opening, attached port covers to guard against dust and moisture, and a sealed touchpad.

Meeting FBI user-authentication guidelines for computers accessing National Crime Information Center (NCIC) data, the Eagle notebook features a biometric fingerprint reader and SmartCard (CAC) reader.

The Eagle series also includes Absolute Computrace in the BIOS for asset tracking and theft/loss recovery, enabling tracking of the device if it has been lost or stolen and remotely deleting any or all information stored on the computer.

"Our Eagle series is a new breed of rugged laptop, offering users a lightweight, high- performance notebook ruggedized for tough conditions in the field while being fully compliant with the latest security standards," said Alan Shad, president of Rugged Notebooks.

"All these features and our premier customer support are available at a price to meet today’s restrictive budgets," Mr. Shad added.

Pricing for the solutions from tarting at $1,695, but it will most likely go a lot higher as you add all sorts of extras to it.