SOS TECH
Most technology isn’t built to last. Take your average laptop out in the rain and you’ll come back with a 1.5kg block of plastic, metal and glass. Expose your smartphone to searing heat and watch it shut down harder than a branch of Debenhams. And let’s not even talk about most kits’ inability to keep running all day without being leashed to the mains.
If you need robust, rugged, reliable kit for your work, your adventures or even a summer camping trip, then you need to spot the difference between the truly durable and the marketing hype. We’ve spoken to industry experts so you know exactly what to look for when it comes to picking all-weather laptops, tablets and smartphones, as well as keeping all these devices powered for the long haul.
LAPTOPS
If you attempt to take a MacBook Pro out into the wilds, don’t expect much sympathy when you turn up at the Genius Bar a week later with rainwater seeping out of its USB-C ports. The vast majority of laptops won’t cope with any kind of extremes – many have screens that are barely visible in direct sunlight! So, what should you be looking for if you’re planning to take a laptop into the great outdoors or extreme environments?
Devices such as the recently launched Panasonic Toughbook 40 provide answers for people looking to use a laptop in all conditions.
Firstly, this laptop is IP66 resistant (). That means it’s dust-tight: there should be no way for dust, grains of sand or other dirt particles to get inside the laptop. Neither should it suffer any harm from the wet stuff. The second “6” in IP66 means it’s been tested to withstand water projected in powerful jets (12.5mm) against the enclosure from any direction. Then there’s the temperature
