MY MUCH-LOVED NEC laptop is showing its age. I had to replace the keyboard in April; now it’s having charger problems. I’m sending it back but it’s obvious that a replacement will be in order soon.

What I’d like is something like it: Small, light, not necessarily especially powerful but with very long battery life. And fairly rugged (since it gets heavy use) but cheap (so I can take it anywhere without worries). Any suggestions? This looks pretty good, though the battery life may be the shortfall. This looks cool, but it’s a bit pricey. Could I blog comfortably from a tablet PC?

UPDATE: Randy Barnett says he loves his Toughbook W2. And please, no “get a mac!” emails, unless there is once again a WordPerfect for macs. I’ll give up my WordPerfect when they pry it from my cold, dead CD-ROM drive. Or something like that. . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: More praise for the Toughbook. It’s a bit pricey, though.