Panasonic Toughbook S9 is world's lightest 12.1-inch lappy with DVD drive

By Shane McGlaun/Sept. 29, 2010 5:56 am EST

Panasonic has unveiled a new addition to its Toughbook line of rugged computers. The new machine is hailed as the world's lightest 12.1-inch notebook with an integrated DVD drive. The machine weighs three pounds and is rated to survive a 30-inch drop.

The standard battery is good for 11 hours of use according to Panasonic. The screen of the machine is a 12.1-inch unit with a resolution of 1280 x 800 and has LED backlighting. The screen has anti-glare treatment and the optical drive is a DVD super multi unit.

Other features include HDMI and VGA outputs along with 2GB of RAM, 320GB of storage, and Windows 7 with an XP downgrade option. The CPU for the machine is a Core i5-520M at 2.4GHz. The keyboard is spill resistant and the case of the notebook is made from magnesium alloy. The machine can be purchased right now for $2499.