Panasonic Toughbook travels to the 'Roof Of The World'

In the early stages of the trip, at Base Camp, the Toughbook was used outside in the warmth of a sunny day, where the 'Day Brite' anti-reflective technology ensured that the screen was still readable in the harsh glare reflecting off snow and glaciers.

More typical of the Toughbook experience however, was the exposure to extremes of temperature - from relative warmth in the tent at Base Camp during the day, to the bitter cold where temperatures drop to -30C during the night; and being taken directly from a warm tent to a glacial mountainside as the team travelled on. It was then that the product proved the value of its resilience to thermal shock.

It also resisted both the dust of the arid area at the base of the Khumbu Glacier, and the potential damage from ingress of snow and condensation.

At -10C outside Rex's tent and 5500m, the Toughbook was still achieving a battery life of around three hours. To make regular charging possible as life dropped off in colder conditions, the Toughbook was charged off either AC or DC power, vital as the higher camps were only powered by small portable generators.

The Toughbook's resilience to vibration and shock and its strong magnesium alloy casing stood it in good stead as it made its journey with Rex - carried in a pack that would sometimes be hauled up the mountain on a rope.

As Rex continued to write his daily logs in his tent, the outside temperature could be as low as -30 degrees. The touchscreen of the Toughbook was vital as it allowed Rex to type with gloves, or with limited mobility in his hands due to the freezing air. The notebook also provided some much-needed relaxation, allowing Rex to play computer games and MP3s in his 'downtime' between the ascents and descents required for acclimatisation.

The effect on the human body in a hostile, high-altitude environment has been described by Rex as 'taking one breath feels like you are running back-to-back marathons and then swimming 50m pool lengths.'

One of Rex's email reports stated: "It is good that I can find the on switch to my Panasonic Toughbook, because I can't really see straight. My vision is a bit blurred, I am guessing it is a symptom of being the highest human on earth two nights back. We hit camp 3 at 7150m, up at that level there is about 35% of the oxygen in the air rather than the 100% oxygen rate at sea level."

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