Buying a Laptop

• Trend for the future: Flash ram hard drives
  • SanDisk Samples 32-Gbyte Flash Drive, Predicts Price Drops March 14, 2007 By Bryan Gardiner at ExtremeTech
  • New Samsung Notebook Replaces Hard Drive With Flash May 23, 2006 By Mark Hachman at ExtremeTech
• Topix.net on Laptops
• Laptops gain on desktops for college by  Mike Himowitz in the Baltimore Sun June 8, 2006
• Two Tech Leaders Aim For Bold New Portable, But Miss the Mark by Walter Mossberg May 4, 2006. About the first ultra mobile computer, the Samsung Q1. 
• The ultra mobile computer from Microsoft www.origamiproject.com and www.microsoft.com/umpc 
• Notebook PCs: ThinkPad and PowerBook Users Most Satisfied from PC World magazine. December 1, 2005. 
• Engadget on laptop computers
• Recent laptop reviews by Business Week magazine 
• Overheating may cause computer shutdown by Mike Himowitz in the Baltimore Sun. November 3, 2005. Be vary wary of any laptop computer that gets too hot. 
• Solid $500 Laptops by Tom Spring  PC World magazine  October 31, 2005. Notebook prices have hit a new $500 low. We tested three budget units, which proved surprisingly capable at standard office tasks. Reviewed Acer Aspire 3003LCi, Dell Inspiron 1200 and Compaq Presario M2000.
• Convertibles: The new laptop bling? by Michael Singer CNET News.com October 19, 2005. About the future of Tablet PCs 
• Tablet PC's Reach for the Masses New York Times October 13, 2005
• Ultraportables PC Magazine October 12, 2005. A review of five models. 
• Our Favorite Laptops PC Magazine October 5, 2005  
• Update on Refurbished Notebooks PC World magazine. September 22, 2005. Are refurbished notebooks a good deal? 
• Ultraportables for Everyone PC magazine September 7, 2005. Fujitsu LifeBook P1510, Sony VAIO VGN-S470P and MPC TransPort U1000. 
• Inside Notebooks PC Magazine April 6, 2005. Very good article that covers Hard Drive Protection, Security, Multimedia, Ports, Screens, Materials and Wireless 
• PC Magazine on laptop computers (all their articles)
• Four Amazing Ultraportables PC Magazine May 27, 2005. Toshiba Portégé R200, ThinkPad X41, Sony VAIO VGN-T350P,Toshiba Libretto U100
• A Ream of Features in Computers the Size of a Memo Pad New York Times May 26, 2005. A review of 7 ultra-portables. 
• Ultra-Portable Notebook comparison chart New York Times. May 26, 2005 
• Shopping for a Laptop? Expect Lots of Choices, And a Range of Prices by Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal April 14, 2005
• Lightweight Laptops PC Magazine April 13, 2005. Reviews of Averatec AV3270-EE1, Apple iBook, Dell Latitude X1, HP Compaq tc4200 and the IBM ThinkPad X40. 
• www.notebookreview.com
• Review of a ThinkPad T43 from TrustedReviews.com. March 31, 2005. Has excellent pictures
• Low-cost laptops shedding weight March 28, 2005, CNET News.com
• Two Ultralight Laptops Offer Lots of Features, Improved Portability By Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. March 24, 2005. The Sony Vaio T250 ($2,200) and the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010 ($2,000). 
• Value Notebooks To Go PC Magazine reviews 8 low-end laptop computers. March 21, 2005 
• Review of the ThinkPad T42p from TrustedReviews.com. February 17, 2005.
• Stalking the Perfect Notebook PC World January 25, 2005. A brief description of five different categories of laptop and some recommendations for machines in each category. 
• Roaring laptop sales boost PC market USA TODAY January 24, 2005. Laptop computers continue to get more popular. 
• Will ThinkPads Still Be ThinkPads? by Stephen Wildstrom in Business Week magazine. January 17, 2005. New Chinese owners aren't likely to sacrifice quality.
• The joy of notebooks by Cameron Purdy January 9, 2005 Lots of advice on the available options for buying a new laptop computer 
• Notebook Buying Tips December 23, 2004 PC World. Shopping for someone special? Give the best without busting your budget. Part 2 is More Notebook Buying Tips from January 27, 2005 
• Laptops For Dummies by Dan Gookin December 2004 $22. See chapter 1. 
• Heavy-Duty Lightweights Business Week magazine November 8, 2004. An overview of the various categories of laptop computers. 
• www.notebookreview.com 
• Cowhide Logic Not asking for much? Gateway's cheap laptops are (finally) worth a look. by Brendan Koerner. Village Voice. August 30, 2004
• Wal-Mart offers sub-$600 notebook August 18, 2004, By John G. Spooner CNET News.com
• Notebooks Tempt as Prices Drop by Lincoln Spector, PC World August 2, 2004. Portability becomes more affordable, but you'll make tradeoffs for a budget notebook.
• The Washington Post 2004 laptop computer guide has reviews of 5 laptops July 2004 
• Transcript - Annual Laptop Guide by Rob Pegoraro Washington Post July 12, 2004 
• Steve Class Awards: Two for the Road by Stephen Manes in PC World magazine May 26, 2004. He likes a Sony ultra-portable 
• Refurbished Notebooks The rules have changed. Is that refurb really a good buy? by James A. Martin in PC World May 13, 2004
• Lots of Laptop Choices Mean Shoppers Have To Identify Their Needs by Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. April 29, 2004
• In the market for new PC? Laptops are worth a look Mike Himowitz Baltimore Sun April 29, 2004. 
• Best Laptops for Less than $1,100 PC Magazine April 29, 2004 
• Dell updates entry-level notebook CNET News.com March 30, 2004. For $800, it has a 14-inch screen, 2.4GHz Celeron processor, 256MB of RAM, DVD-ROM drive, 20GB hard drive and built-in Wi-Fi networking. 
• The Heavyweight Blues by Brendan I. Koerner in the Village Voice. March 29, 2004. Wanted: A cheap laptop under five pounds. 
• Window Shopping by Brendan I. Koerner in the Village Voice. March 17, 2004. Spend the Extra Money Now on XP Pro or Face the Headaches Later
• Bargain Laptops, But Not Too Shabby By Stephen H. Wildstrom in Business Week March 15, 2004.
• Desktop vs. laptop: Which do you really need? David Coursey ZDNet AnchorDesk February 13, 2004
• ThinkPad Slims Down Forbes March 8, 2004. About the ThinkPad X40 
• IBM's New ThinkPad Is Thinner, Lighter And More Affordable By Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal February 5, 2004. About the X40, IBM's smallest laptop. 
• Watch that warranty: Spill Voids Entire Laptop Warranty HP's policy is not to perform any repairs covered under the warranty for a product that has suffered other damage due to an accident excluded from coverage. PC World magazine December 24, 2003. 
• In the December 30, 2003 issue of PC Magazine, John C. Dvorak mentioned his two favorite ultra-light laptops. He called the Toshiba Protégé R100 "the most spectacular ultralight machine ever built". It sells for about $2,300. Cheaper and almost as good is the Sharp Actius MM10 which sells for under $1,500 (prices as of November 2003). The first machine is  2.4 pounds, the latter 2.1.
• The best laptops from the December 2003 issue of PC World magazine. 
• Subnotebooks Go Head to Head A PC World video about the Fujitsu P5000 and the Sony VAIO PCG-TR1 
• Mastering eBay to Buy PCs by Scot Finnie October 20, 2003 
• IBM ThinkVantage Technologies from IBM. Special features in IBM ThinkPads 
• IBM ThinkVantage Technologies: Hard Drive Active Protection System October 7, 2003 from AnandTech. 
• Laptops: Your next computer? Consumer Reports magazine. September 2003. This article is not available for free on their web site.
• Laptops Have Dropped To Under $800, if You Don't Mind the Weight. Reviews of three cheap laptops. By Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. August 28, 2003. 
• Laptops Take Center Stage Buyers Face More Decisions The Washington Post August 3, 2003
• One for The Road? The Washington Post. Advice on what to look for when purchasing a new laptop. August 3, 2003.
• Service and reliability ratings of laptops PC Magazine July 10, 2003. 
• In the June 9, 2003 issue of Business Week magazine, Stephen H. Wildstrom writes about a Dell laptop that comes with a SmartCard reader for enhanced security and an IBM ThinkPad that comes with a program called AccessConnections for managing multiple network configurations.
• Price war makes notebook PCs worthy By Mike Langberg Mercury News May 29, 2003
• IBM ThinkPad X31 1.4GHz Pentium M: A Traveler's Best Friend April 11, 2003. An extremely thorough review from Anandtech. Even if you have no interest in this particular computer, read this article for insights into judging other models. 
• Apple's dead again. Tom Yager. InfoWorld magazine. April 21, 2003. Part of this article is a review of an Apple laptop. The review hits many of the points I make in the class: ruggedized, the keyboard, the variation in LCD screens and heat dissipation.
• Stephen Manes notes that all metal plates are not alike and some have an annoying quirk. Forbes Magazine. April 14, 2003.
• The New Crop of Laptops By Walter Mossberg April 2003. Some tips on key factors to consider when making your laptop decision.
• Laptop computers: Buying advice from Consumer Reports Magazine March 2003
• Laptop computer articles from Techworthy.com 
• IBM Thinkpads at shopping.com (a price comparison web site). See also Toshiba laptops at shopping.com
• www.laptopical.com  short reviews of many different laptops 
• Engadget blog on Laptops

Laptop Processors (CPUs)

• The AMD press release about their Turion line of 64-bit mobile processors. March 10, 2005
• AMD's Centrino challenger: Turion January 6, 2005 CNET News.com 
• Notebooks to slim down in New Year December 22, 2004 CNET News.com. About new processors and chip sets 
• Centrinomics Do You Really Need Intel Centrino Technology? by Brendan I. Koerner in the Village Voice February 10, 2004
• AMD Ships Low-Power Athlon 64, 3400+ Chip ExtremeTech January 6, 2004
• Intel Rolls Out Celeron M for Value Notebooks eWeek January 6, 2004 
• Intel brings out low-cost laptop chips CNET News.com January 5, 2004 
• A new version of the mobile Celeron started shipping in December 2003. CNet News.com December 3, 2003. 
• About the Pentium M processors. From PC Magazine.
• In June 2003 Intel re-designed the Pentium 4-M and calls the new processor the mobile Pentium 4.
• Intel gives Centrino a boost June 2, 2003. CNET News.com 
• Centrino Breaks the Mold from the April 2003 issue of Tech Edge magazine
• A smorgasbord of chips CNET Reviews April 2, 2003. About Intel and AMD laptop processors 
• Laptop makers mobilize Pentium-M models March 11, 2003. CNET News.com
• With Pentium M, Intel Embraces the Relativity Theory The Washington Post March 9, 2003
• AMD PowerNow! Technology Overview
• Intel SpeedStep Technology

Small and Portable Backup Hardware

• Burn DVDs Anywhere. A review of two slim external DVD burners: the Apricorn EZ Writer DVD, and the Pioneer DVR-SK12D. From the February 2004 issue of Laptop magazine. 
• Tiny Hitachi drive hits 4GB August 25, 2003, CNET News.com. About 4 GB MicroDrive 
• Smart and Simple: Portable 2.5" Hard Drives from Fujitsu and Valueplus  July 29, 2003 Tom's Hardware 
• Back Up Your Notebook Already November 6, 2002 Extreme Tech. Introductory 
• A Great Solution for Notebook Backup ExtremeTech November 6, 2002. Glowing review of the ABSplus from CMS. 

Owning a Laptop

• No Easy Fix for Laptop Batteries by Stephen H. Wildstrom in Business Week August 25, 2006. Amidst fresh recalls, experts in portable electronics are exploring every alternative—and coming up empty-handed
• Top Ten Coolest Laptop Cases ProductDose.com April 4, 2006 
• Getting the Most from Your Batteries PC Magazine December 21, 2005
• Carry That Weight PC Magazine November 30, 2005. Reviews of carrying bags
• The independent ThinkPad Open Forum - Not associated with IBM or Lenovo. At thinkpads.com 
• Ditch Your Notebook Mobile PC Magazine April 2005. About web sites to use if you leave your laptop home when traveling 
• Google's free Web mail can be turned into normal 'pop' mail, so you can use your regular mail software on the road by Al Fasoldt. October 16, 2005. 
• Keeping Your Computer and Its Contents Safe New York Times Practical Traveler August 21, 2005
• A Notebook's Hidden Costs by James Martin in PC World. April 21, 2005. Accessories like extra batteries and docking stations can add up fast. Beware!
• Printing on the Road By Larry Magid New York Times April 7, 2005. Portable printers, Kinkos and more 
• Curing Laptop Overheating Feb. 14, 2005 By Fred Langa in InformationWeek. Sometimes fixing a too-hot laptop/notebook computer is as simple as "Whooosh!" 
• How to Dispose of an Old Notebook February 17, 2005 PC World. Should you keep it? Sell it? Donate or recycle it? We cover the pros and cons of each option. Old Notebooks, New Lives is part 2 of the same story. April 7, 2005. 
• Laptop Replacement Vs. Repair by Arik Hesseldahl in Forbes magazine. February 4, 2005. Dealing with strange and unfamiliar electronic tones emitted from a laptop. 
• Notebook Cooler Pads: Do you need one? from Tom's Hardware December 16, 2004. Review of the Coolermaster Coolpad and two versions of the Vantec Lapcool 2. 
• What if my new computer doesn't work by Leo Notenboom December 6 2004. A new Dell laptop gets returned the next day. 
• Hot Girls Here. Also boys. And they all need a way cooler laptop before their old one fries by Brendan Koerner in the Village Voice. May 25th, 2004. About dealing with hot laptop computers. 
• A good review of the $25 Lapinator Laptop Desk from the-gadgeteer.com. A bad review from about.com.
• Book: Upgrading and Repairing Laptop Computers by Scott Mueller. Published by Que. October 2003. 1,008 pages ISBN: 0789728001
• APC and Tripp Lite sell small portable surge protectors. Perhaps a better choice is the mid-sized APC Network SurgeArrest NET3T which has 3 outlets, phone line protection and lists for $25. Buy.com sells it for $21 as of December 2003.
• Tips for safe handling of your IBM ThinkPad system from IBM (last revised December 2003). Other Handling Tips for IBM ThinkPads. 
• Warning: Exploding batteries InfoWorld December 19, 2003. About Lithium-ion batteries. 
• Notebook CPU Is Too Darn Slow It's smart to check the components in a new system to make sure you received what you paid for. PC World magazine, November 25, 2003. A person ordered a Dell laptop and was sent the wrong processor. The article has a link to an Intel utility that tells you what processor is in your computer.
• Laptop Dancer An Audiophile's Guide to Sound-Card Upgrades by Brendan I. Koerner in The Village Voice November 5, 2003
• Port Replicators  Plug all your cables into one convenient connector. PC World September 11, 2003
• Power Outlets on Airplanes PC World August 28, 2003
• The Secret Cost of Notebooks by Lincoln Spector in PC World July 30, 2003 Repairs can rapidly raise the price premium of portable systems
• Can an inexperienced person upgrade the memory on a laptop computer themselves? Walter Mossberg answered this on June 26, 2003.
• If your laptop lasts long enough, you will need a replacement battery. John Gilroy, writing in the Washington Post recommended Fedco Electronics. June 8, 2003.
• A Juice Box for When Your Laptop Runs Dry By Walter Mossberg, Wall Street Journal May 7, 2003 
• Insuring Your Notebook PC World January 16, 2003. Protect against theft, damage, and random acts of nature.
• A Long and Happy Life for Notebooks October 15, 2002. PC Magazine. An article about extending battery life for Notebook computers. 
• PC World magazine has a mobile computing newsletter. It's free and there one issue a week. 
• Laptop Desk
• EZ LAP for notebooks is $10 from Cyberguys
• Lapworks Laptop Desk Notebook Cooler & Tray Stand is $30 from Tiger Direct 
• www.laptop-batteries-guide.com Someone's hobby web site 
• Laptop computer produces buzzing noises when you use CardBus/PCMCIA wireless 802.11 adapters from Microsoft
• I8kfanGUI is a Windows application to show the internal temperatures and to control the fan operation on many Dell laptops
• SpeedswitchXP sits in the system tray and allows dynamic switching of the frequencies of mobile CPUs under Windows XP
• A laptop pad sells for $10 at www.cyberguys.com (search for Item# 141 0367)
• Man and Machine specializes in repairing laptop computers.

Monitors

• Free Nokia monitor test program can, among other tests, display a single color that fills the screen - great for finding dead pixels. You can also get it from the Personal Computer show on WBAI (July 16, 2003). alternate link1  Alternate link2  alternate link3  
• To see the effect of different screen resolutions, here is the same web page seen at 800x600 and 1024x768 and 1280x1024 

• Aspect ratio adjustment ends display problems June 29, 2006 Jim Coates for the Chicago Tribune. 
• Improving Notebook and Tablet Displays a White Paper by Fujitsu Computer Systems
• A Laptop Screen That Jumps Out At You by Arik Hesseldahl in Forbes. April 4, 2005. Review of a Sharp Actius laptop with a 3D screen. 
• Consumers see red over dead pixels CNET News.com February 17, 2005. Bad pixels are an inherent problem with LCD screens
• Flat-panel users can achieve clearer type Mike Himowitz in the Baltimore Sun October 24, 2004. About ClearType. 
• Displays: The Essential Buying Guide by Alfred Poor in PC Magazine September 25, 2004 
• Buying Guide: LCD Displays By Alfred Poor in PC Magazine December 11, 2003 
• Penalty: An Autopsy Of Dead LCD Pixels Tom's Hardware. May 2003. How many dead pixels does it take before the manufacturers agree to replace a monitor. 
• The technical specs of an LCD screen only tell so much, LCD screens vary more than CRTs. Writing in PC Magazine in April 2003 (LCD Monitors: Brighter, Sharper, Cheaper) Alfred Poor said "quality varies significantly."
• Dead Pixel Buddy is a free program that displays a single color on the entire screen to help detect dead pixels
• A New Look At LCD Monitors Information Week October 13, 2003 
• Flat Panels for the Masses Advice on buying an LCD monitor. Business Week June 23, 2003 issue by Stephen Wildstrom. 
• How to Buy: Displays for your business ZDNet June 3, 2003
• Computer Monitors from Consumer Reports June 2003 
• Wipe Right - The Best Way to Clean Your LCD. The Village Voice. by Brendan Koerner. March 21, 2003 
• Refresh Rates For LCDs by Fred Langa in the Langa List. March 20, 2003. 
• Behind the Numbers: Monitors - CNET reviews. How to judge LCD and CRT monitors. April 29, 2002 
• FAQ On Cleaning Your LCD Monitor or Laptop Screen from About.com 
• Adjusting the brightness and  contrast of your monitor
• Adjust Your Monitor Color bars
• LCD Roundup V: 17" LCDs Panels Compared Tom's Hardware. November 2003 
• ClearType (Windows XP only) 
• Scot's Newsletter by Scot Finnie November 25, 2002
• Microsoft's ClearType page has: What is ClearType? ClearType FAQ Technical overview of ClearType
• Description of ClearType Font Smoothing Technology in Windows XP
• HOW TO: Use ClearType to Enhance Screen Fonts in Windows XP

Gizmos

• Laptop Accessories - Additional Gadgets to Work With Your Laptop from mobileoffice.about.com 
• Tiny Wireless Routers Let Travelers Create Their Own Hot Spots by Jesse Drucker in the Wall Street Journal February 3, 2005
• Notebook Accessories from PC World magazine.
• Top 10 Laptop Essentials PC World Magazine March 15, 2004. Their picks for must-have accessories.
• D-Link AirPlus G DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router PC Magazine December 14, 2004. The smallest travel router on the market but it has no Ethernet ports for wired connections.
• To run a computer in a car you can get adapters from APC or Targus or Smarthome or SterlingTek
• The Xantrex XPower Micro Inverter 175 lets you plug a laptop into a car cigarette lighter. It cost $45.
• My list of must-have mobile gadgets by David Coursey of ZDNET. August 13, 2003 
• Tripp Lite Ultra-Mini USB Hub PC Magazine June 30, 2002. Very small and functions as both powered and un-powered.
• Assorted products from APC for laptops including power adapters, surge protectors, security products and more.

Laptop Security 

• Using a Fingerprint to Log On to Your PC Wall Street Journal. March 15, 2006. Thumbs down on the fingerprint reader in a Lenovo ThinkPad and thumbs up on the one in a Toshiba Portege. 
• Notebook Thieves? Bring Them On! by Steve Bass from the January 2006 issue of PC World magazine. Stop computer kleptos with these seven hardware and software tricks.
• Steal This Laptop and It Will Tell the Cops Where to Find You New York Times by Wilson Rothman October 5, 2005
• Does LoJack For Laptops Work? by David Andelman in Forbes. August 19, 2005. About LoJack for Laptops from Absolute Software. It used to be called CompuTrace. www.lojackforlaptops.com 
• Combating Gadget Theft By Johanna Jainchill New York Times April 28, 2005. A companion piece: Some Computer Finders, and Their Fees
• The Case of the Stolen Laptop: Mitigating the Threats of Equipment Theft by Steve Riley of Microsoft. February 9, 2005. Mostly about EFS.
• Authenex makes HDLock, a combination of Windows software and hardware. Every time the computer boots, you have to insert their USB storage device and enter a password. All files, except Windows system files, are encrypted on the hard disk. 
• Securing Your Laptop by Michelle Johnston Sollicito June 4, 2004. From Que publishing. 
• How to keep your laptop from being stolen by Robert Vamosi of ZDnet July 26, 2004. Includes a recommendation for encryption software.
• Targus makes a line of laptop security products called DEFCON
• APC also makes laptop security products
• Kensington makes the MicroSaver line of laptop computer locks 
• Innovative Security Products makes locks for laptop computers
• Read about the security options for some IBM ThinkPads
• Boot Passwords Put Your PC Under Lock and Key from the September 2003 issue of PC World magazine. Secure your machine's boot-up to prevent snoops and thieves from accessing your data 
• Lock Down Your Computer PC Magazine May 6, 2003
• TheftGuard Protects Notebook Data PC World May 27, 2003
• Laptop lockdown. Tracking down the thief Recovering your laptop after it has been stolen is not as quite impossible as it might seem. SC magazine May 2003
• Stop! Laptop Thief! Portable PCs have never been so easy to steal. Here's how to get yours back. Time Magazine. January 27, 2003
• Unlock the secrets of security for your laptop USA Today April 9, 2002
• SecurSoftware makes SecurLock that can plugs into a USB port and controls access to a computer 
• Lock Your Windows By Walter Mossberg. April 2004. About SecuriKey Personal Edition from Griffin Technologies, which also plugs into a USB port and controls access to a computer. 
• PC Phone Home Products
• Absolute Protect
• zTrace Gold
• CyberAngel
• Computrace from Absolute Software
• Stealth Signal 
• PC Phone Home from Brigadoon Software
• SyNET nTracker
• LapCop for Macs

Ruggedized Laptops 

• Articles
• Panasonic Toughbook-W4 PC World magazine. March 7, 2006. 
• One Hummer of a Laptop Business Week September 1, 2005. Just like its namesake SUV, the new Hummer notebook from Itronix is designed to withstand extraordinary abuse
• Laptops Built For Abuse by Arik Hesseldahl in Forbes. June 21, 2005. Review of the Panasonic Toughbook 29 and the Itronix GoBook III.
• Ruggedized Notebooks PC World magazine  November 25, 2004
• Panasonic's Tireless Little Toughbook From the November 2004 issue of PC World magazine. Ruggedized laptop offers solid performance, good battery life. A review of the Y2 model. 
• Rugged Notebooks Cool Down Itronix hopes to shake the GoBook's "quesadilla cooker" nickname with new model. John Cox, Network World Fusion September 22, 2004
• HP Compaq Rugged Notebook nr3600 Reviewed September 15, 2004 by ZDNet. Release date: April 1, 2004
• Panasonic ToughBook Y2 review by CNet September 9, 2004 
• Small, Light Laptops With Bigger Screens Challenge Sony Series By Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal August 26, 2004. A review of the Panasonic W2 Toughbook, an ultra-light ruggedized laptop.
• A Notebook That Can't Take A Spill by Arik Hesseldahl in Forbes magazine. April 16, 2004. A review of the Hawk, a semi-rugged laptop from Rugged Notebooks
• Panasonic Toughbook 29 Wins Laptop Magazine Torture Test April 7, 2004. A press release. 
• HP's New Notebooks Take a Beating  IDG News Service March 18, 2004. About the HP Rugged Notebook nr3600 and the HP Rugged Tablet PC tr3000 both developed in partnership with Itronix.  
• Squeezing a Lot Into a Little, Lightweight Package by Rob Pegoraro in The Washington Post March 7, 2004. A review of the Panasonic ToughBook CF-W2 
• Hardened Laptops: A New Meaning of 'Extreme'  By Rob Enderle in eWeek March 1, 2004 
• Laptops take licking and keep on ticking by Edward Baig in USA Today February 25, 2004 
• Panasonic CF-W2 ToughBook A review from Laptop magazine. December 2003 
• Over Hill? Over Dell. A Guide to Rugged Laptops by Brendan I. Koerner in The Village Voice November 24, 2003 
• Toughbook Gets Tougher by Arik Hesseldahl in Forbes magazine. September 10, 2003 
• Toughbook Lightens Up Forbes magazine, July 22, 2003
• The Humvee of Laptops Business Week magazine April 21, 2003. Panasonic's ToughBook finds fans among troops in Iraq. Only available online if you subscribe to the magazine.
• Vendors
• Panasonic Toughbook "ruggedized" laptop computers (alternate link). Starting at about $1,400. See also, the Panasonic ToughBook Elite. 
• Twinhead makes ruggedized laptops and Tablet PCs. The N1400 is a ruggedized laptop. 
• Xplore Technologies makes rugged Tablet PC's
• Argonaut makes ruggedized laptops starting at $2,900
• Gorilla Systems makes ruggedized laptops 
• Itronix makes the GoBook line of ruggedized laptops and partnered with HP 
• HP rugged notebooks
• Getac
• Amrel makes a variety of rugged mobile computer systems, from traditional rugged laptops, to on-board/fixed vehicle systems specially designed to be mounted on police vehicles, fire engines and tanks. 
• A ruggedized tablet-style PC from JLT Mobile Computers
• Xybernaut makes ruggedized computers called the Atigo T "Webpad" with Windows XP inside