But now cash-strapped consumers are often less willing to shell out for extras like French fries and fountain drinks -- items which traditionally receive a lofty markup, says Evan Hackel, a franchise management consultant in Reading, Mass.
Each of them have the telltale look of every Panasonic Toughbook and Toughpad -- a solidly constructed silver plastic shell with black rubber corners and a girth roughly twice that of its less robust gadget brethren.