This Panasonic laptop lets you swap out nearly any component instantly like Game Boy cartridges

In a world where the biggest tech brands are finding ways to make laptops thinner and lighter (which means going through ridiculous lengths to compromise), Panasonic basically said “screw it” and went the opposite direction with their new Toughbook 55. 

Instead of being slim, the Toughbook is unabashedly bulky. Instead of being light, the Toughbook is hefty enough to warrant an inbuilt carrying handle. Instead of soldering everything down, the Toughbook is extremely modular — meaning you can customise its components on the fly to fit your exact needs. 

Need more ports on the laptop? Want it to run a lot longer? Require even more storage space? Yearning for a big boost for graphics? Fancy a fingerprint reader? Hell, want a new colour-selectable backlit keyboard? Everything is configurable and swappable with add-on packs, making Toughbook the most modular laptop available in the market. 

And it’ll go on sale in Singapore from Nov 21 via authorised distributors with prices starting from US$2,400 (S$3,270).

As fascinating as Panasonic’s new gizmo is, it wouldn’t be surprising if you’ve never heard of their Toughbook series before. There’s a reason why its so rugged and durable too — since its introduction in 1996, the laptop is meant to be used by people working out in the field. We’re talking about the people who work in construction, defence, emergency services, law enforcement, oil and gas; basically industries that would require hardy electronic devices.

Panasonic, however, is not just limiting their new Toughbook 55 gunning for serious power users. This one’s semi-rugged, so it’s not as resistant to extreme conditions as its fully rugged brethren. Still, it’s plenty tough — tough enough to withstand drops of up to 91cm, water splashes, and temperatures ranging from -20°C to +60°C. 

By default, it arrives with already decent specs and capabilities: an 8th generation Intel Core i5 vPro Quad Core CPU, Bluetooth 5.0, 8GB to 64GB RAM, up to 1TB storage, and a 14-inch screen that has an eye-melting brightness of 1,000 nits. 

The fun part arrives in its modular nature. Optional packs can be swapped around and installed instantly, with components clicking into place like they’re cartridges on a Game Boy. Additional batteries, dedicated AMD graphics cards, authentication readers, optical drives — they can all be removed and installed using a quick-release latch. 

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Still, it’s a pretty niche device to drop over $3,000 for, and that’s not including the extra modules, the price tags of which Panasonic has yet to reveal. Despite the failures of past experiments, modular devices have always been a geeky holy grail, and at a glance, it appears as if Panasonic managed to pull it off with the Toughbook 55. 

ilyas@asiaone.com