CF-08 display, anyone played with theses?

Has anyone here spent any time with the Toughbook CF-08 wireless display, or used them for any extended period of time?

I bought a few the other day, as I was hoping it might be a good fit for some situations were complete laptops might not be the best option, and these are cheaper.

What I was thinking, if we set up a windows based server in the school with wifi/wlan, then we could load it up with books, videos, games, tutorials, as well as links to fun educational websites.

Then the kids could take one of the cf-08 out of the dock, sync to the server and then choose an activity.

I like the size, screen resolution, feel and workings of the cf-08, the fact that they also have a headphone jack makes them even more cool.

I just got them and havent had much time to play with them, but on a first look, I really like them.

SO, if youve used one of these, please give me your thoughts.

Thanks

 

Sam

I really like mine, bought them to use as an ebook readers. I've found they work great keeping in mind their limits...and I've got some ideas about that, but thus far no time to monkey much with them. I've found that Calibre software works fine with remote desktop, though the MK1 with only B wireless is sometimes noticeably lags. I have a service manual for the MK1 but not the MK2. I'm guessing they should be very similar, but I have not opened either one of them yet.

Make sure you update the bios from the Canadian Toughbook website. It's the only place I've found updates for them, the US and JP websites don't seem to list them. On the MK1 in particular it goes from WinCe 4.0 to 5.0 which is a potentially big deal. I haven't figured out how to do it yet, but supposedly there's a patch for 5.0 that allows WinCe to recognize up to a 32GB SDHC card, whereas 5.0 w/o the patch only recognizes up to 2GB SD cards. I want to be able to use Calibre portable and have a decent library w/o being connected to a remote desktop or server.

I have found the display needs to be turned up to near the maximum 460 nits to be seen decently in direct sunlight, which really lowers the battery lifetime before recharge. For indoor use I turn mine almost all the way down and with a freshly charged battery can read for as long as I want.

I've had mine a few months so far and my biggest gripe is finding parts at bargain prices. I won one on everyone's favorite auction site, but when it came it had no battery and the screen has a deep 2 inch gouge in it. However, I'm keeping it because it is a MK2 and I'll swap parts to it from the MK1 I've got. This was after it was listed as seller refurbished and specifically stated it came with a battery. The seller did offer a partial refund, but we're haggling over just how much. Specifically I'd like to find batteries and styli for them, though I did find a deal on a 10 pack of the small (CF-VNP003U) styli recently. Docks would be great too, I have yet to even see one of those for sale used.

I think once you have rtfm and figure out how to make the various settings save so all you have to do is turn it on and tell it to connect that they are great for what they are... I'm wondering though if it would be possible to install Android or some flavor of Linux on the MK2 though...? Just a thought, 64mb is not much space. Anyway those are my thoughts for now on the CF-08.

 

I think mine are MK2, I have are the CF-08TX2CX1M and they look great.

I have a download of the new bios on a thumb drive, but havent done anything with it yet. I'll look at the Calire software as it sounds promising.

Yes, I need to explore the SDcard aspect, that may be a big plus.

Thanks...

 

Just a couple of questions... Does the 08 work under Win7? I have the cf-vdw07 and it connects, but does not "work" on my 19. I have XP on an 18 with a Cisco Lan card and it's fast. If I use Calibre on Win7, will it connect up with my 19? Thanks guys...... I figure you might know these answers. I do know that there is a 18 download for connecting the 18 to the 07, don't know if the 08 has the same requirement. Love the ability to use the 07 on my dash for GPS....

 

The 08TX2CX1M is mk 1.5, the only noticable IE Physical, Difference is a coin battery inside the case assy. and unless YOU HAVE TO, do NOT update BIOS, It is VERY easy to fry the main chip.

 

I've had no problem flashing the bios, though I do follow directions for flashing to a T. So any idea about getting the CF-08 to recognize SDHC cards TBtech29?

gijoe4us I don't see why a CF-08 would not work with win7, you'd just have to follow whatever setup win7 uses for remote desktop. I don't think the meiwds software has not been updated since XP Pro and thus will not work with either Vista or win7. I believe there was much talk about it in the how to thread the Mnem started for the CF-VDW07.

Calibre is strictly an ebook oriented program, it has nothing to do with connections. I start Calibre once I'm connected to the host computer, in this case a CF-51 in a dock with and external hard drive with my data on it. Calibre will do anything I want with ebooks, sort, read, metadata, convert formats, etc.

The CF-VDW07 only requires you have the host software (meidws) installed on the host machine. After that you just have to set up the 07 to connect to the defaults the first time and then you can use the host software to change things how you want them.

The CF-08 connects using Windows Remote Desktop which is part of all factory windows installs as far as I know. I'm not a fan of win7 and I hate Vista, so I still use XP Pro for the most part. So if you have a windows operating system on your CF-18, the CF-08 should connect to it via remote desktop.

And if you have Windows XP Pro on the CF-18 or CF-19 and install the meidws software on the CF-18 or CF-19 then the CF-VDW07 should be able to connect to either of them. Unless you are an uber elite coder (or know one) and fix the meidws software to work with Vista or win7 it is highly unlikely to ever get fixed because Panasonic quit supporting the CF-VDW07. Basically, there's no money in fixing the meiwds software so no one is going to do it unless they are a Toughbook enthusiast. I'm sure whoever fixed meidws would get lots of love and maybe even a few donations from folks here, myself included, but I don't see it happening. Anyway I reckon anything you can do on your dash with a CF-VDW07 you can do with the CF-08, but your setup would be very different.

 

Sweet Twocents!! Great info...... I forgot the meidws software issue, duh.... Wish I knew how to write that kind of code, I need donations! LOL

 

Looks like one needs Windows CE 5.0 Platform Builder software in order to actually use any of the updates for it. So I suspect there's little to no chance of getting the CF-08 to read 32GB SDHC cards Also one needs the Board Support Package, which I seriously doubt Panasonic is going to be forthcoming with.

 

Model Number: CF-08TX2CX1M
Status: DISCONTINUED
MSRP: $1,799
Description: MDWD2 - 10.4" XGA Transmissive Touch LCD, 802.11b+g WLAN, Bluetooth 1.2, 64MB ROM

If you are going to sell these, please PM me about one of them.

 

I will PM you first if I do, but I kinda like em at the moment.

I was using one at the airport last night, connected to the free wifi and watched the weather radar and flight information.

Now just have to get them to connect to one of the laptops. Unless Im missing something, its not simple. Havent found a good tutorial, and the manual step by step leaves alot to be desired.

I'm shipping out all my desktop systems and parts to Honduras via container in a few weeks, gonna try and set up a computer repair class for the kids at one orphanage thats in trouble. Were talking about 30 LCD, 15 desktops, a hundred keyboards and mice, and every cable known to man. Gonna send them everything I have, including some older non-toughbook laptops.

Will probubly go down in July or August and start things off, but I'm going to start making posters for the walls of the classroom/shop with all parts and their names in english and spanish. My spanish is basic at best, and its best to just point at times.

I still need to come up with some tool sets, so if anyone sees a deal on computer tools, like decent screw drivers and hex/allen key sets, please let me know.

Thanks,..

 

Sam,

What are you having a problem with as far as connecting to a laptop? There are several things that you have to do, but nothing that's too complicated. I had never used remote desktop and one thing with it that tripped me up was you have to have a passworded user account in order to log in remotely. I was trying to keep it simple, so I didn't password the account I created to log in remotely with. I figured that I could add the password after I got the connection working. If you want I'll post a walk-through in this thread or pm you. Let me know

 

I too picked up one of these recently (prolly the same seller) and have just started playing with it. It is really pretty easy to get the remote desktop connection set up as long as they are both connected through a network and/ or wireless access point. I have not had any luck so far connecting to my CF-30 via an ad-hoc network. Also, I would tend to believe the 2GB limitation on the SD card, because it completely ignored the presence of the 8GB one I tried.

I plan to eventually get this set up in my car, mounting the CF-08 on the dash and the CF-30 hidden in the hatchback or under the seat. At this point, I am leaning towards using an old wireless access point for simplicity. More to follow.

 

That may be the problem. I saw the password screen, but didnt enter one as I didnt have one either. Will try that later when I have a second, thanks. If that fails, I may need to take you up on the walk-through.

Wyrm73, yes, we probubly bought them from the same vendor, and funny, its a cf-30 Ive been trying to connect to mine. I thought the 30 would work best with them, we'll see if works out that way.

 

Wyrm - I had no problem connecting ad hoc to both a CF-52 using the internal stock wireless card or a CF-51 on a Proxim pcmcia card. The reason I used the Proxim card was to be able to have an internet connection in addition to being able to be remote desktoped into the CF-51. All I had to do was add a preferred network to the CF-08 in the form of the ad hoc SSID.

As far as the SD card goes, after researching it I believe you would need to have Platform Builder/MSDN and the Board Support Package in order to add support for the SDHC card up to 32GB. The BSP is probably never going to be available as it's likely proprietary to Panasonic. Why would they support an 'obsolete' product like the CF-08 when they have new CF-H1/2s, CF-A1/B1s, and soon CF-D1s to sell. Planned obsolescence anyone? ;P

Sam - Just let me know if you need more information.