CF-20 Review (One week in)

These are my first thoughts on the CF-20 I recently bought off eBay new in box with Win 7 Pro. I am coming from a CF-31 mk4 (with SSD) and a FZ-M1. I say with SSD because I want you to know I'm used to a very fast CF-31. I was very concerned that the 1.1GHz processor would not be nearly enough but all my fears have been silenced because the CF-20 M.2 bus on the SSD and RAM is completely adequate if not impressive!
I haven't experienced any of the delay that's present on the FZ-M1. The CF-20's m5 1.1GHz can take anything
I can dish. I've ran Adobe CC (Muse, Photoshop, CC Animator etc..) Phoenix Flight Simulator, and Office all perfect!
Moving on the the build, in short, I like it a lot. The 10.1 inch wide screen display paired with the detachable keyboard make for a miniature powerhouse. I love the small footprint on this machine. It is very unassuming and once you pick it up, its feather light compared to what I'm used to. (almost too light really) I say powerhouse party because the port offering on this tiny thing is incredible. Two HDMI ports, 4 USB 3.0, a micro AND full-size SD card and a few other ports I don't know the name of nor use The display is BRIGHT and shows very little if any bezel light leak. The keyboard is a tad smaller than what I'm used to but its really no problem. The lock is very sturdy and when the tablet is locked into the keyboard, it feels like a sturdy rugged laptop and not a two-in-one. In fact, one of the things I love about this unit is that it is as much laptop as it is tablet.
The features I have tested and confirmed to work are: the LTE with a T-Moblie phone SIM, Mirrorcasting (WiDi), pen signature input, and the Windows 10 Pro recovery image. These are just the features I cared about and could not get an answer from Panasonic.
Now for the issues: the dual-band Intel Wireless AC was only half-functioning after the Win 10 image install.
The wireless AC band was disabled and had to be manually enabled through Device Manager --> Network Cards --> Intel Dual Band Wireless AC --> Properties --> Advanced --> drill down to "Bands" and choose the last option (#6 I think)
Next issue is an omission on Panasonic's part. The mouse pad doesn't support gestures and that's pretty sad for a 2016/17 PC. Maybe it will be added later but I wont hold my breath.
It should also be noted that even though the LTE radio supports aGPS, I havent been able to get the aGPS to point out my position on Microsoft and Google maps.
That is really all the bad I can say and the good far outweighs the bad on this machine. If anyone has any questions about the CF-20 I'll be happy to help. Right now I have to give the CF-20 a big two thumbs up and I will update this review once I settle in more with it

 

I wasn't sure if the CF-20 could replace my CF-31 mk4 but after owning and using the CF-20 now I think it can. A have made a couple other discoveries like the keyboard will charge even if its not docked to the screen (provided you bought the extra battery for it of course). The SD card slot is a full-sized slot meaning that you can insert an SD card and shut the flap for extra storage just like on the CF-31. The USB ports cannot fit a USB drive and have the port covers closed. There just isn't room unfortunately. After chatting with Panasonic I got the aGPS to work for both Google and Microsoft Maps however the Panasonic program, GPS Viewer, could not display its signal. I'll have to look into that more and get back once sorted. Also I'm still trying to get finger tap and drag on the touchpad to work. Panasonic says it works by default but I have had no luck. So there's still a little growing pains but overall smooth sailing here.

 

Thanks for the great review. So I guess you like the 20.

 

I do! I think its a huge upgrade from my CF-31 (which I love) but that thing is a TANK and weighs as much! The footprint on the CF-20 is almost feather-light compared to the CF-31. I did get the GPS to show up in GPS viewer but the process will need to be posted some other time. Had to edit Sierra Wireless configuration file but all is well now. I also learned that the GPS included on the LTE chip is not an aGPS but a full GPS and doesn't require WIFI or WAN to work. Huge bonus! AND good information for anyone looking at the CF-20 for GPS applications.

 

Got a call from Panasonic Tier 2 support and they told me they have compiled a new firmware update today for the CF-20 trackpad to address the finger tap drag and drop issue and wanted to email it to me and asked if I would report back. Turns out, this was a known issue and I'm happy to report they fixed it! I'm sure the update will be on the Panasonic site by this week or just PM me and Ill send it to you.

 

Hi goconfigure,

I'm glad you dig your cf20.
I am myself contemplating to upgrade to a cf20 or cf33 soonish,
but it is tough to find the real low level tech specs that I need to make an informed decision.

Would you feel comfortable enough with Linux to boot a live usb stick and report on the output of three commands?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/cf-20-33-owners-looking-for-dmesg-and-hardware-info.805829/

 

Hello,
I'm afraid I'm useless for a Linux install. I just today got it setup with Win10 with zero bugs lol. I will say in reference to power this thing is amazing. On a whim, I installed Grand Theft Auto V on it and it played it! Not only ran it but ran it well albeit at 800x600 but not too shabby for a business level PC

 

Karl,
Maybe you could mail him a live usb stick to boot.
Even setup a script on the main page to auto run what you want?
Get fancy and have it auto save the file. He could then just ship the usb stick back to you.
He would need to do very little and it would not change his machine at all.

 

Shawn,
thanks for the input, but I decline.
It would be easy for someone familar with linux.

But user-proofing such a setup and handling international mail and convincing a stranger over the internet to plugin a potential malware-infected usb stick (by manufacturer, me, and/or some agencies en route) ... just to get something that should be published by panasonic engineers in the first place ... I don't see that happening.

cheerio
karl

 

ok...
just tossing random ideas

 

goconfigure,
Are you using the GPS as a serial port or via a location service? We are having a issue with the GPS recovering after waking from sleep. We have to disconnect our app from the com port and then reconnect in order to get GPS working again after waking from sleep.

 

I am using the GPS for location services. But in order for it to show up on the GPS Viewer you have to use the Sierra Wireless carrier file. First, uninstall any Sierra Wireless application. Then extract this file (MC7355 Driver and FW build 4316) and copy it to your desktop (Panasonic said this is VERY important) Next, open the folder and there are two files inside one config and one exe. Open the config file and change the last entry from USB=0 to USB=8. Save your changes and now install the exe file.
What that does is it allows the PC to reassign the LPT and COM ports so you can get a dedicated NMEA port. Restart your PC and wait for about 3 min. Verify the changes in Device Manager and note the newly assigned NMEA port number. Enter that number into Panasonic GPS Viewer at 9600 baud. You're done.

 

You can use, for example, Franson GpsGate as an intermediary. Connect it to your GPS port and connect your app to GpsGate. Has to fix the problem.