Panasonic Toughbook S9

Panasonic Toughbook S9

Panasonic's ToughBook S9 is designed to withstand more damage than your typical business notebook, including drops and up to 220 pounds of pressure on the lid. At just 3 pounds, this 12-inch laptop is also extremely light, but it manages to squeeze in a full-powered Intel Core i5 processor and a DVD burner. So what's the catch? A steep price of $2,649. Read on to find out if this machine is worth the investment.Weighing just 3 pounds, the ToughBook S9 is easy to take anywhere. The 12.1-inch laptop certainly has a very compact footprint (12.8 x 9.9 inches), but at almost two inches thick at its widest point, it's a bit chunky. The S9 has a sturdy magnesium alloy chassis, and we like the black-and-sliver lid. The laptop's interior is a solid metallic silver color, complete with Panasonic's trademark circular touchpad and a flip-open DVD burner hidden in the laptop's right wrist rest.In order to make room for the laptop's unique flip-up DVD burner, the ToughBook S9's keyboard occupies less than half the length of its deck. As a result, the keys are small, short, and quite close together.