Panasonic ToughBook Y2

Pros: Incredible weight/screen size/battery life. Solid power

Cons: No DVD-R. Otherwise a home run: Form meets function beautifully!

Summary: I have used Toughbook T2, W2, W4 and Y2 from this series-- incredible machines!
The Y5 is a powerhouse: Very light, good speed (runs Photoshop CS2), big 14� screen, and phenomenal battery life. The W5 is just that much lighter, easier to wield, and has a phenomenal battery life.

According to USAT Corp. ([url]www.usatcorp.com[/url]) you can get the new Y5 and W5 with integrated wireless WAN for Verizon, Sprint / Nextel and Cingular, this would be a collapsible antenna hanging off the back, and an on-off switch. In Q1-2007 get either HSDPA or 1x-EVDO Rev A as integrated wireless WAN for Verizon, Sprint / Nextel and Cingular. It should blaze!

USAT Corp said the weight gain with WAN would be negligible, so the weight should still be ~3.7lbs on The Y5, and the affect on battery life a consideration, but probably less than a PC-Card since this will be an internal module (USAT sales guys opinion). I am a Photoshop and Excel user so the extra screen real estate wins out for me (something like 1400x800 native resolution) so the Y is my choice.

The Y5 was out in Japan in May... so why no internal DVD-R on the US version. DVD-Rs are very inexpensive even dual layer drives are less than $60 retail now!

If you ever travel, even to a coffee shop, carry this or carry a mainframe, your choice. Mine is on order!

FWIW-- I am effusive about this company USAT (and have gotten every Toughbook I have purchased from them -- a bit hard to find but located here www.usatcorp.com ) since they always seem to have the inside track on Panasonic Toughbooks and mobile computing and they have stuck with me up after I have purchased. Phone is 888-550-8728 -- the sales rep who helped me last was Lisa