Toughpad FZ-G1

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With so many tablets aimed at the consumer market, we often forget about a professional market that increasingly demands more of this type of device. At Panasonic they do not want to leave it aside and, for this reason, they have among their offer the Toughpad range of ruggedized tablets, prepared to withstand the toughest working conditions. The first of them, the FZ-A1, worked with Android, and with it they claim to dominate the sector in Europe with more than 60% of the sales of this type of tablet."

Now, just over a year after opening the family, they incorporate a new member, this time opting for Windows 8 as the operating system.The Toughpad FZ-G1 is Panasonic's proposal for the professional market At CES in Las Vegas, the Japanese company has also come to Europe to show us its new Windows 8 tablet. These are our first impressions in the short time it's been in our hands.

Large but functional

Yes, it's big and ugly and heavy, but it doesn't matter. The Toughpad FZ-G1 is a tablet for work and, although it may seem bulky from its external appearance, it conveys the feeling that serious things are done with it. We are talking about a tablet almost 2 centimeters thick and over a kilo in weight, and even despite that size it was not unpleasant to use in the short period of time that we were able to test it.

The magnesium casing is robust and resistant, as well as pleasant to the touch.The rubber edges make it easy to grip, something to be appreciated given the size of the device. The uneven back does not seem to be a problem, although we have not been able to test it with the larger battery and card reader. Panasonic also allows the option of adding an additional holding system like that of other terminals in the Toughbook family, with which we can hold the tablet with one hand without fear of it falling.

But behold, the concern for robustness and resistance entails a first problem in the design of the tablet. The front of the FZ-G1 is not a flat glass like the rest of the tablets we are used to, but has a magnesium frame around the screen. This carries a small border that makes essential Windows 8 functions extremely difficult, such as those that require side swiping from the borders. Things as simple as closing an application by dragging from the top edge become one attempt after another until you find the right move.

Screen: one lime and one sand

The screen is the other point where Panasonic has taken care to make its tablet fully functional in any work environment. Its IPS panel looks really good, transmitting great sharpness and a magnificent brightness that should behave very well outdoors. With 10.1 inches and a resolution of 1920x1200, vehemently defended by Panasonic against higher resolutions, it seems sufficient for the work for which the tablet seems designed.

Haptic feedback works as smoothly as you'd expect from a modern tablet. Of course, in addition to the already mentioned problem of the border around the screen, does not work with gloves Or at least we were not able to recognize the touch of simple wool . In a tablet that is advertised as capable of working in all types of conditions, including sub-zero temperatures, greater touch sensitivity to work with gloves seems recommendable.

To partly solve this, the FZ-G1 includes a simple pen with which to work in some applications. It seems like a good option, but the tactile response to it is not entirely satisfactory and it should be seen how it works in applications specially designed for it.

Good performance and better autonomy

The Panasonic tablet features an i5-3437U processor based on Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture. Together with its 4GB of RAM, it is enough and more than enough to move Windows 8 Pro without problems The system initially works smoothly and should be enough to move a good number of resource-intensive industrial applications.

To guarantee continuous use, Panasonic has taken care to provide it with a good battery that promises to last up to 8 hours.The battery is large and is half the size of the tablet, but it is easily removable. This is a point in favor of the FZ-G1, allowing you to replace the battery at any time and even expand it up to a 9-cell battery. We have not been able to test the tablet with the larger battery, but Panasonic assures that the increase in weight and thickness does not make it difficult to handle.

Where it f alters considerably is in the included rear camera. This is a basic 3-megapixel camera, with an LED flash option, which is primarily intended to provide a quick and easy way to document our work. For these tasks perhaps it would be appreciated a better camera that allows us to better capture the details of what we intend to record. Of course, the application included for its control offers a multitude of options and seems relatively satisfactory.

Conclusions: good but could be improved

How much truth is there in the resistance of the FZ-G1 to all kinds of adversities? Well, we couldn't do as many tricks as we would have liked to check its resistance, but the tablet proved to withstand perfectly the spill of water on its surface and the fall from a height of approximately one meter. After both tests it continued to function normally.

The Toughpad FZ-G1 delivers on some of Panasonic's promises but fails on others Case protection and sealing protect Well the tablet, it is robust but manageable and the screen is of good quality allowing good use outdoors. The pity is that it is a little worse for other features, especially in the difficulties to control Windows 8 caused by the outer frame of the screen or the fact that it does not work with gloves.

The option of incorporating Windows 8 Pro and not the RT version of the system is clearly the right one, allowing the use of all kinds of existing applications and the development of new ones without problems. In the absence of knowing the price for Europe, in the North American market there is talk of 2,900 dollars, the Toughpad FZ-G1 will be available from next February