Also starting small...

Oklay... I've been looking around here all afternoon, and there is just SO MUCH content it's like sifting sand for brown sugar. I've got more than a few questions, but they revolve around the details of my laptop, so here they are:

CF28MBFAADM 600MHZ

Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0.0
Matsush!ta BIOS Version 1.00-L13

Configured as follows:

128 +128MB PC133, 12.1 TF Touchscreen, Black Rubber KB, SB300 SDPD Wireless DoorStop & Antenna, MODEM/no ethernet

No HD/Caddy, No CDROM or Floppy, no MP Bay or Rear I/O cover, Duff battery, no Access Key, No powerpack

Boots to BIOS, cosmetic Condition +/- 90%, Screen seems medium to dim brightness (Hard to tell in BIOS Screen) no scratches on screen.

Okay - I gave $120 delivered for this unit; I paid a bit more than I wanted to but it had the Touchscreen & Rubber KB. Seller listed it as 13.3" TouchScreen & stated it had a "camera at top left of display case", both of which turned out to be incorrect. (Camera was photosensor for TF screen which was really only 12.1"). I don't believe it was intentional misinformation, but I still have to contact seller.

Did I hose myself? Is this unit worth the cost of HD/ Caddy/FDD/CDROM/Max Out RAM/new bay Covers?/install ethernet port?

Would I be better off to part it out & put the money towards a 800MHZ or 1GHZ Model?

Okay - those are the general questions. The following questions are more technical and predicated upon the answer to above question being "Yes, it's worth building":

I've tried a 256 MB PC133 CL3 SDRAM SODIMM with same specs as 128MB in unit; it only recognized 128MB. Do I have to use PC100, or are there PC133 SODIMMs out there ppl have had luck with swapping into these 600MHZ Models? Do I need to flash the BIOS for it to recognize more than 256MB Total?

Has anyone had any luck using the daughterboard from the SB300 for any useful purpose? What about the antenna? Has anybody SUCCESSFULLY tried calculating the correct resonant length for say Wireless G & trimming the antenna to match; if so, what about parasitic loss from the factory connector and/or any patching needed to connect to a mini-pci wireless card?

What is a currently REASONABLE price for the HD caddy & CDROM caddy for this unit? I used to balk at paying $35-40 for the caddy or External CDROM used in my beloved Dell L400s; the prices I'm seeing on these parts for my CF-28 make my sphincter clench so tight it hurts.

I understand the 12.1" display is only 800x600; did the 600mhz actually come ever with a 13.3" Touchscreen?

My brightness concern on the LCD begs one question - Am I perhaps just too picky? Do these LCDs tend to seem dimmer than their non-Touch counterparts?

Has anyone here ever replaced the CCFL tube on one of these? I've done a few on other models... some are merely inconvenient, while some are nearly impossible to disassemble without damaging the LCD or at least getting some dust between the layers. (I know - the cleanroom just wasn't in this year's budget)

I really like the USB hub mod; I had already been considering it before I even bought the unit. Has anyone found a usb 2.0 PCMCIA card that can be used in the hidden slot?

Has anyone found a source for replacement Access Keys? I really like the lockable feature, but I understand its only available on the Mk1s... Has anyone had any luck with the swap 800mhz/1ghz MB for 600MHZ MB project?
This could be a dealbreaker for me.

Oh... and an aside... I'm seeing a number of very small (easily pocketable & no antenna issues) rechargeable Bluetooth GPS units with the SIRFStar3 chipset going pretty reasonably... why so much labor to build one in along with the bluetooth?

Oookay... if any of you have gotten this far without falling asleep (I've nearly done so 3 times while writing it) you're either a masochist or have the patience of a saint... so I'm gonna end it here and hope I didn't just create a critical mass of ??? on the board.

Thanks to all who braved this monster post,

mnem

 

I'll try to write up the answers as I come to them in my head... so I might jump around with the order.

The cheapest I've ever seen an internal CD drive go for on eBay is $40+ shipping. If you're lucky, you'll see them from the guy I bought my last one from (YukonMkt), and they have them for a $50 buy it now price. They are usually gone within a day though, so you've gotta search eBay's buy it now only for newest listings.

The hard drive caddy though is a bit more tricky. If you find them at the right time, I've seen them sell for roughly $50.... but in most cases they go for over $80.

The 600s do come with 13.3" screens as well.

Got a picture of your SB300 card? If it's the PCMCIA card, we haven't modded it, but if it's the card that sits next to the extra memory slot, you're in business.

I've seen replacement lock keys, but they go for $50. It's not really worth it to me, because with a screwdriver you can still open the battery access door, and within 20 minutes have the lock disabled anyways. My 600 came with keys though, so it's a selling feature of mine I suppose... If you want to know more about the keys, I'll find a link later if you want.

The RAM issue is a normal problem. If you get the right chips (Low density maybe? I can't recall off the top of my head), you can use it. I think they have to be single sided too... My 128 and 256 chips show as 128, and my 512 shows as 256. Only the 128 is single sided (And panasonic labeled too...)

Brightness may be part of several issues. Backlit could be going dead, or there could be a small gap between your touch-screen pad and the LCD itself. If you rip the whole thing apart, you'll see that the farther away the touchscreen is away from the LCD, the worse it looks. We haven't gotten very far into making a better backlight yet, though Cadillac is sorta kicking that ball into motion. I however am very nocturnal and can see mine fine, though I wear shade 7 welding goggles as sunglasses in the summer...

The USB hub is an idea we're kicking around for our custom GPS daughterboard. Probably won't be USB 2.0 though. Maybe sometime in a future revision we'll find a way to get a PCMCIA card to host the chipset, then run a cable to it...

Back to your primary question though... I'm not sure if you got a good deal or not. Without all the expensive stuff, you're probably an easy $300 away from making it the way you want, before getting into custom mods.

Oh, and the bluetooth GPS thing... We just wanted to have an all-internal, grab one thing laptop. USB receivers are small as well, but just add one more thing to grab. With our internal GPS, I can take my toughbook into anybody's car and use it for navigation, and not worry about losing my receiver or forgetting to bring it.

 

Welcome Mnementh

If it was me I would look for an 800 or 1000MHZ model with a hard drive caddy at the least you’ll save money in the long run.
There is one on eBay now for $485.00 (Panasonic-Toughbook-CF-28-P3-1GHz-with-TOUCH-SCREEN) this is about twice what I was buying them for four months ago but about the going price now.
I think you would spend this much trying to piece one together from a bunch of junk after you factor in shipping on all the miscellaneous high priced parts causing multiple sphincter clenches resembling a kegel exercise. (We don’t want that)

So to answer your question first decide your budget then figure out what options you want to add and what that will cost you for the components and work backwards to see what you have left for the base computer. My budget would around $1000.00 for what you describe, still a good deal for a bittchen laptop.

I’m looking forward to hearing about your progress.
Jim

I guess that Toughbook was a good deal. It sold within a couple minutes after this post!

 

Most of the answer to your Q? are already answer by MOD.. and Cad.. Here also from ebay that i think is not bad at all. I scored one of them for first 9 buyer so that all cover and hardwares are intact except cd-rom. They are closed at the moment coz of holiday but they gonna open soon.: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290192130959&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=019

 

Okay -

Modly, the SB300 I have looks like a type 3 PCMCIA, but it connects to the daughterboard (right next to the RAM slot) with a ribbon connector & is screwed to the case through said daughterboard. As for the mods to that daughterboard - what kind of mods have you done? What functionality have you been able to make? (Or is that what you were talking about with the GPS daughterboard mod?) With most cellular carriers shutting down analog service in Q1 2008, packet data is now no more than a historical footnote, so the SB300 is pretty much useless.
( I would bet that's why there are so many of these coming off-lease in the last 6 months or so)

Being able to lock my laptop shut is an important feature to me; if keys are so hard to come by, I'll prolly just dismantle my lockset & find a keyblank that fits the cylinder & cut it to fit. My earlier question about the lock still obtains however; is it true they only had them on the MK1s? If so, can I put the lock from my MK1 in a MK2 or MK3? Or, can I put a MK2 or MK3 MB in my MK1 case?

(Modly, I know you were working on that MB swap - how likely does it seem its going to work?)

Thanks for the heads-up on the RAM; I suspected it might be a density issue - had the same problem with my L400s.

I really don't need a CDROM IN my laptop; one of the things that made my L400s so skinny was they are a single spindle design. I think I'd much rather use the space for an aux battery; runtime is paramount for me. I should be able to do the same as my L400s - copy entire install disks for win98 & XP U/G to a 2GB partition on my HD, then SYS the main partition & start my install. Once XP is up & running on main partition, you can do a new install right over it from USB CDROM or XP SP2 disk copied to 2GB partition. My buddy at the 'Zoo used to just deploy over the LAN for me; but I'm not quite that handy with such things.

Cadillac - I was thinking the same minimum requirements when I was shopping for this laptop - but I do know my needs are not that demanding on a processor. My L400s were P3/700mhz with 256MB RAM Max; putting in a 7200 RPM drive & installing an acidly lean build of XP rendered a machine capable of doing anything I needed it to do & still load/run with reasonable speed. I don't think I'll miss that 100mhz as much as appreciate being able to install another 128MB RAM; this is the memory size range where a small increase can make a big difference.

Thanks again for all your input guys - I'll keep an eye open for something a little higher on the food chain as the 'bay has them.

mnem
Why is the mouse when it spins?

 

The board that the card fits into is similar to what we use for GPS, and can be used as a base to get a GPS module onto.

The locks are only available on the MK1s as far as I can tell, and there is a missing slot on the 800/1000 chassis so you can't effectively install one (You can put a lock cylinder in, but it won't lock anything).

They are fairly useless honestly, because it doesn't lock it very well. The lid still opens, it just won't power on...

The motherboard swap doable, but I won't know 100% until I get my 600 back from my mother. I let her borrow it for a couple of weeks, and damn does she love that touch screen... She needs to trim her nails though, she's making it worse.

 

Oooohhh! Those B@stards!

I just got done disassembling my lock cylinder to try and make a key... well, evidently the guys at Pen!sonic decided that a $5,000 laptop was worth the best lockset they could get, so they used a bilateral tumbler type cylinder ( instead of striking the edge of the key like a conventional cylinder lock, whick is reasonably easy to pick and/or smith a new key, the tumblers strike the flats of the key in precision machined grooves. Not only are these nearly impossible to smith in the field, but because the receiving tumblers can be placed in up to 5 different axes, nearly unpickable.

Auggghhhh!

And yes, they DO offer replacements... at 50 bux each... but of course, NOT for my particular lockset.

Double Auggghhhh!

*Kix Pen!sonic squarely in their collective 'nads*

Mnem

Why, the higher, the faster, of course.

 

*Rereads Modly's post, then looks at his own laptop*

Oh dren... the linkage there just locks one of the battery cover latches, not the lid. Whose flippin' brain fart was that?

*Sigh*

*Puts his laptop back together again*

*Kix Pen!sonic in the nads again, just on GP*

*Toddles off to find a solution that involves alcohol & New Year's fireworks*

mnem
It's only funny til someone loses an eye - then its flippin' 'ilarous!

 

I have been working on a custom PCMCIA card for internal USB. I will share with everyone if I get it working.

 

Hey! man how's your combo card doin? i've seen a week ago that you have a bunch of them. Your lucky, coz i have no source of that. I've got only five pieces of that. For the first time you've seen on panasonic section on ebay introducing the 3com combo card for cf-28, "Gravitar" was the one asked me if it does really works on cf-28 and he also invited me to join on this forum and since then, I am an active member. I appreciated that, thanks Grav..