Product Review 
Tuff Cases Portable Workstation
by Mitchell Levine
Long-time readers of Education
Update’s Technology
and Education section already know that mobile computing
has been a major concern for New York City schools for
some time. Over the last couple of years, thousands of
students and teachers have received portable units as
part of an initiative carried through by the Department
of Education and the Laptop Foundation of America.
Unfortunately, one built-in
problem persists: The districts in the public education
system that most critically need access to the technology
also have the least space to deploy it. And that still
leaves unanswered the question as to how the systems
can be safely packaged for daily transport by students
to and from school. As anyone that’s
ever dropped a laptop can attest, even minor spills can
create total catastrophe when a digital device is involved;
a shock as small as 5 foot/pounds can cause anything
from a hard drive crash to complete destruction of the
CPU.
The portable workstations
manufactured by Tuff Cases, inc. can provide a dependable,
practical solution to all of the above. Our evaluation
model, the company’s
TFC 101, looks like a sturdy, stylish piece of luggage
with a 17” by 19” frame and a well-d extendable
porter’s handle and wheels. Unfolded, it seems
to almost magically metamorphosis a compact, precisely
engineered station, which when completed with a, provides
pretty much anything necessary to work with a laptop:
a 33” high work area with a cloth file holder,
a two position outlet strip, external mouse platform,
and a cloth pouch to house the mouse.
No special tools were required,
nor any convoluted gerry-rigging to create an efficient
computing environment usable almost anywhere. As an
environment to use a laptop in, it’s
a bit more cramped than a standard workstation, but with
a little practice can easily be accommodated to. Actually,
once the printer’s installed, it’s really
a very efficient little workspace. For the very tall,
there might be a little lack of room for one’s
legs, but I’m 6’1” and cleared it pronto.
Although our evaluation model
was not equipped with one, the manufacturer even makes
an option for a printer tray available. For anyone
whom would like to be able to both carry and empower
their laptop computer in just about any setting imaginable,
Education Update recommends the Tuff Cases line of
products. For more information, call 513-779-5420 or
log on the companies’ site
at www.tuffcases.com#
