My relative (cousin) does a great deal of field work in Africa. He is "out in the bush" working with varying groups of people for weeks at a time. As part of his job, he keeps a great deal of data and information on his laptop (mostly documents and images off his camera). Most of his current work locations have generators for power and he communicates over WiFi to transmit his data when he returns to the nearest town.
The issue he is having is that he is concerned by the fact that conditions are very harsh. Not only is it hot in the locations he is working in, but it is also very dusty/sandy. In addition, he sometimes has to have the people he is working with (various tribes, etc) work with him on the computers and they sometimes treat the laptop very roughly.
He asked me for a recommendation on a laptop, and the Panasonic ToughBooks were the first things that came to mind. What recommendations do you have for things he should look for in a laptop for these type of conditions?
As a side note, he doesn't have a large budget, so I'm trying to factor that into the types of hardware he can afford. Any advice would be much appreciated. If you need any clarification on needs, I would be happy to provide more information. Just ask in the comments below. Thanks.
