CD-Drive Caddy for a CF-28?

Anyone have a source for a CD-Drive caddy for a CF-28?

The only affordable CF-28's (800MHz or 1GHz models, 600MHz is not compatible) I can find have both the
cd-drive and caddy removed and the sellers don't seem to have them either. Any idea what has happened
to all of the CF-28 caddy's?

I really want to buy a CF-28 but not if I am forced to spend $200.+ to buy a used cd-drive with caddy. The
substitute non-Panasonic slimline drives require the missing caddy!

Thanks! David

 

Did you just post in another thread? I just answered this somewhere else... Try ebay. There was one yesterday for only $79... Someone snapped it up. Here's one for $120...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Toughbook-CF-28...ryZ31564QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I did also ask in another thread where I was discussing which currently available model Sony slimline drive
would work with a CF-28.

Why are these caddy's so rare and almost never in the CF-28's posted for sale?

$120. is an obscene price for a mere caddy - I'd have to grit my teeth to pay $79!

Given the lunatic prices to assemble a complete CF-28, or buy a truly complete one, or to replace anything
that breaks I may have to give up the dream of owning one ... sigh.

Haven't given up yet! David

 

if you look around you might find a good deal on one, i bought the cf-vdd272 of ebay recently and then got one for my mate also £30quid delivered secound time around...........

 

A CF-28 Seller just wrote "Ttheres a floppy in the media bay. it is swappable for a cd-rom if you have one."

QUESTION 1: Is it correct that a CD drive may be installed in place of the FDD on the same caddy?

QUESTION 2: If the "rear port cover" and "PCMCIA slots cover" are missing then it is no longer water-resistant?

QUESTION 3: Am I likely to be able to find and install replacement covers if they are necessary to water resistance?

Thanks! David

 

you cant use the caddy of a floppy and stick a cd drive into it, you need to have a cdrom drive.....
what the seller mean its a swappable drive you can switch between cd or floppy....

 

...BUT ... that each must be in its own device-specific caddy?

Sigh ... and I thought I had finally found my CF-28.

Thanks! David

NOTE: One seller says he is going to check with a friend who has lots of Panasonic Toughbook parts
to see about CD caddys and port covers. Praying that he come back with good news!

 

The Toughbook parts can be expensive as you are finding out. BUT... They wear like iron...er... magnesium.

Yeah... If you lose the doors it loses its water resistance. Covers come up every so often on ebay as well. The point is, I gues... If you have a CF-28 with no doors... Somebody most likely wore it out!

 

If I can just get the main device with the cd caddy and port covers intact I enjoy finding creative ways to
mod for extras and custom apps.

I acquired a little Panasonic CF-M32 and did the solder-blob mod to overclock the CPU and the RAM
upgrade to get to 190MB. We also toggled on the USB port. It is a neat little mobile laptop running my
GPS, using my cellphone for high speed Internet access, and connecting using a wireless PCMCIA nic.

I am posting my Panasonic CF-M32 and Dell C400 for sale so I may buy two CF-28's (presuming that I am able to find them with CD caddys and port covers) at an affordable price.

 

One ebay seller has offered me a cd drive (play only) for $70.

I questioned him about the caddy and he wrote this "This is the complete unit, you don't need a caddy. Just take out the floppy and insert the cd rom"

Is there a cd drive from Panasonic that had a built-in caddy - but one that you cannot remove and transfer to
a cdrw/dvd drive?

Thanks! David

 

all drive came as one unit till ppl got the idea of removing the cd drive and buying a dvdrw and sticking it into the same caddy...hence saying $$$$$$$ then buying a original from panasonic.........

 

I am still confused ... sorry.

Is this a correct understanding?

1. There is a CD drive for the CF-28 (800MHz & 1GHz models) that fills the media bay without a caddy?

2. There is a caddy that allows one to mount a slimline cdrw/dvd drive.

3. The CD read-only drive cannot be disassembled and a cdrw/dvd inserted into the same case and
then inserted into the media bay?

I have not inspected a CF-28 media bay closely enough to know how they are handling the connections.

Would you recommend that I buy the CD drive for $70.?

Thanks for any guidance!

 

all panasonic drives no matter dvd or cd come already in there caddy,
there is no way you can just stick a normaly cd drivein without having the caddy....
so to summon it up only buy a pansonic cd drive which is with the caddy,
and later on when you want to upgrade it then buy a slim dvdrw drive take apart ur panasonic cd drive, take out the cd drive bit and stick the dvdrw into the caddy that it.........

 

Are the CD caddy's that fit into the 600MHz ones different than the 800/1000MHz units?

I knew the hard drives were, but didn't know about the CD drives. I should measure these up or something.

If they are the same, I've got my old toughbook up on auction on eBay with a CD caddy and an external USB drive included, but it's a 600MHz book.

 

no there aint you can buy a cd drive from any cf-27/cf-28/cf-29 and stick it in without any problems, and if you want to upgrade it from cd too dvdrw then read toughbooks post.....

 

OK, read this thread for more info about DVD drives, Toughbook has said all that you need to know about this.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=47404

In short, the case of the floppy drive can't be used for this mod, but all the other CD drive case's for the CF-28 can be used in the Mod said in the link. All MP units are the same in size I believe, it is only the HDD thats is different from the 600Mhz to the 800/1Ghz.

 

I'll be doing this hack later this week. My stuff is coming in from Newegg... I'll post pictures of how to do it. I can post hard drive swaps too if anyone wants to see that. They are both very easy to do.

 

Yes please, the more information the better!

What specific devices did you order from Newegg, please?

Manufacturers change chipsets and other specs so frequently - and fail to properly label those changes -
that it can be important to try and get compatibility-tested devices from the same production lot!

 

I ordered this hard drive...
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822145005

and this DVD drive...
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827152073

The hard drive differs from the last Seagate that I ordered.. Still an 80GB drive... And what's more important... a 7200rpm drive! That will really speed things up!

The DVD drive is tried and true in my other CF-28... It is smokin fast and works great after doing the mod to make it a master drive.

 

Yes please, to both the HD and your DVD/Mod swap.

Thanks!

 

Terrific reviews! I will order one right away!

Any concerns about this note in the reviews?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be careful while ordering this drive. It is a Serial ATA (new breed of ATA disks)
which is not compatible with older laptops that have ATA/100 (ATA-6) or as they
are called now "PATA - Parallel ATA".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks! David

 

Hmmm... You may be right... Don't order until I check it out... I think I blew it.. I was looking at so many I didn't even notice that! CRAP!

 

Been there done that ... still, doesn't make the hassle of having to reverse an order any easier ... not to
mention the delays! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

Standing by ... David

 

You are right... It WILL NOT FIT. I have to get another one....

Edit - I just ordered the CORRECT one. David... Thank you SO much for spotting that! It saved me 3-4 days of waiting for the replacement. You have an eagle eye... And I had a half baked brain... I just wasn't paying attention!

 

inquiring minds want to know - which one DID you order ... just in case we want to follow your lead.

 

There's two I've come across that have been used and have good reviews. No experience with them yet, however I should be getting the Hitachi this week, in addition to 256 Kingston RAM if all works out well.

HITACHI Travelstar 7K100 HTS721080G9AT00 (0A25023)
80GB 7200 RPM ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

Seagate Momentus 7200.1 ST980825A
80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM

Kingston RAM # is M3264A30 = 256MB - Non-parity - SDRAM - 144-pin SoDIMM

hth's

gb

 

Greg... The Hitachi you just listed is the one I just ordered... The Seagate is the one I have. It's a great drive so far. VERY fast... Much faster than the pathetic 4200rpm drive that comes stock! Putting in a 7200rpm hd is like putting in 1gb or ram!

 

I bought an AS-IS drive on eBay for cheap, and plugged in a Panasonic DVD+-RW/RAM. Works great, no modding needed. Part of the reason I got it is that I have a stack of DVD-RAM disks. I guess it was dumb luck that I didn't get another brand hand have master/slave issues.

 

running hitachi travelstar in both 48's-no complaints, very quiet drives-or else i can't hear well, always a good idea to push the alpine until breathing difficulty!