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Top 5 rugged gadgets
In this week’s show we test some of the world’s toughest gadgets to destruction. There’s something undeniably cool about tough gadgets – maybe it’s the chunky design, or simply the perverse appeal of a gadget that’s quite happy to be driven over or dropped from the top of the building. One thing is for certain: these hard-as-nails tech toys like a bit of tough love and aren’t ashamed to admit it. In addition to our array of tech featured in the show, here’s our Top 5 rugged gadgets…
Sonim XP3 Quest Pro
Sonim is no stranger to the rugged mobile phone game, and yet it manages to set the bar higher with each new release. The XP3 Quest Pro is the latest off its bullet-proof production line, and it’s one seriously rock-solid customer. You’re protected against virtually anything the environment can throw your way, including vibrations, shocks, dust, water, temperature and humidity. You can even drop it 2m onto concrete without affecting it.
LaCie XtremKey
We tend to take USB drives a little for granted, but if you’re carrying around important info it might not be a bad idea to add a bit of muscle to protect it. Enter LaCie’s Xtremkey. Its stainless steel construction is elegant and eye-catching, but make no mistake – this is one tough customer. It’ll happily shrug off getting run over by a truck, being encased in a block of ice, or even being thrown in the oven. With a respectable 16GB of storage space on board, it’s the ideal armoured car for those precious files.
Panasonic Toughbook 31
Panasonic’s Toughbook range has dominated the rugged laptop market for years, and taking a look at the Toughbook 31 it’s not hard to see why. From its shock resistant hard drive to its magnesium alloy construction, no compromises have been made in the quest for hard-as-nails durability suited to the very harshest of environments. It’s no slouch on the performance front either, thanks to the latest Intel Core processors with discrete graphics and on-board memory of up to 8GB.
Casio EX-G1
Expertly treading the fine line between ruggedness and desirability, Casio’s EX-G1 is protected against shock, dirt, humidity, temperature, snow and water and yet is still distinctly pocketable. Picture quality isn’t sacrificed either in the quest for durability, with a 12.4MP sensor, 3x optical zoom and all the usual on-board presets ticking all the right boxes. Throw in some surprising good looks and you’ve got a rock-solid all-rounder suited to just about any outdoor activity.
CX Swiss Military 20,000
Never mind Swiss timing, this formidable timepiece shows off Swiss engineering at its very best and comfortably claims the title of world’s toughest watch – in fact, it’s all but indestructible. And we really mean that – in testing, it survived being dropped out of a plane, taken to extreme depths underwater, and even being shot at and blown up with dynamite. If this sounds like your average day, you certainly have our sympathies. But in the CX Swiss Military 20,000 you also have the perfect watch for the job.
User comments (9)
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James Newman06 September 2010
Having just watched your latest show and you "Ultimate - Tested To Destruction" I wonder hoe the featured gadgets would survive in everyday use. I challenge you to give my family, which comprises of myself, my wife who just doesn't think about how much things cost and my FIVE children aged between 2 and 9 and have, like most kids of the new throw away generation, absolutly no respect for anything, a whole bunch of "Rugged" gadgets and see how long the last.
Report as inappropriateAnonymous06 September 2010
I think the best shock resistant and "tested to destruction" watch is casio's G-Shock
Report as inappropriateJamie Snowdon07 September 2010
I'm not that impressed by the memory stick being included with the other gadgets. I just rescued a normal memory stick from the tumble dryer, after being through a full wash cycle... so even the standard versions are pretty hardy. Also I enjoy seeing the devices blown up (who wouldn't), but could you throw in a few more mundane, but more likely tests to weed out the devices before the ultimate challenge? Like putting them through a wash cycle or dropping them down the loo. This could be the selection process.
Report as inappropriateMerlin4810 September 2010
The Toughest unbreakable watch is the UZI Ballistic. The face of the watch is made from bullet proof polycarbonate. Watch the Youtube vid of it being used as a Hockey Putt. Can the team prove this to be the toughest watch. Even though the CX Swiss Millitary claims this distinction.
Report as inappropriateAlexander Felke28 September 2010
I called a few dozen mobile phones mine, including the Blackberry Bold 9700, iPhone 3, 4 among some of the most recent ones. Never really never have I been treated better in terms of reliability and quality customer service then by the folks of Sonimtech. The xp3 Quest Pro is the ultimate mobile phone when it comes to speech and text and with a talktime of more than a working day and two months of standby time there isn't the slightest worry about loosing touch to the base. I'm very impressed by the sheer quality and craftsmanship and I will sure as hell be their customer as long as they choose to make phones!
Report as inappropriateTonyS04 January 2011
My wife kindly bought me a LaCie XtremKey For christmas. The first time I tried it a few days after christmas I discovered it had no useable memory whatsoever. I have now had a series of emails from them which has finalised in them wanting me to send it to france at my expense for it to be repaired. A) this is an unrepairable item B) at £45 for something that it is supposed to be virtually bulletproof,waterproof and environment proof maybe you should have just given it to a courier to test as it appears not to have survived the postage despite the packaging being perfect. C).A warning to others - because my wife thought ahead and bought it on the 30 November la Cie say their DOA return policy only lasts 14 days so this is a warrenty job which means this worthless lump of steel has become my problem. Not impressed.
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Timothy24 September 2011
Great call on the swiss millitary watch, it is certainly the worlds toughest watch. Its definatley tougher than the MTM or a G shock. Im pretty sure it is tougher than an UZL ballistic.
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