Tempted to take that shiny new tablet out with you in the tractor?

That’s fine if you’re careful, but dust, vibration, heat and the odd spilt fizzy drink aren’t the kindest bedfellows for any consumer electronic device.

One alternative is to shell out on a rugged tablet. The latest of these is the RugGear RG900 tablet from Daventry firm The Phone Trader.

It measures 21.3cm x 14cm x 2cm thick and has an 18cm touchscreen. It runs on the same Android software used by most mobile phones (though not iPhones or iPads).

It can be dropped on concrete from a height of 1m, is waterproof up to 1m and can operate in temperatures from -20C to 60C. The battery is a 7000mAh, unit which is claimed to give 450 hours of standby and 420 minutes when used with 3G.

It also operates on all main mobile phone frequencies. Price is £499 or you can get it for free on an O2 £35/month contract with 8GB of data.