CF-29 advice needed on buying

hi guys, this is my first post here so go easy. I have been reading and reading to try and get a clue. I want to buy a toughbook for my use at work. I often spend over 12 hours a day on my laptop in a truck and I really need a backlit keyboard since I work at night. I have been scouring ebay and think I want to start with a CF-29. looks like for $400 bucks I can get going. I found one with a backlit but no wireless? the ones with wireless don't have backlit. when not at home I will be using a verizon wireless card, actually my new MIFI that works great! better than the express card I was using. I have done very little work inside a laptop but I do have a strong background in electronics and all things mechanical. please assume I know nothing, LOL. what should I do folks? thank you for your time in advance

 

Will -

Good choice; the CF-29 is the best bang for the buck in Toughbooks right now. This post really should be in the General Forum to get the best response; the B/S/T is for people actively seeking to buy, sell or trade rather than seeking opinions. I'll see if I can get one of the mods to move it there for you.

Welcome to the group!

mnem
Fun is a relative thing...

 

I just bought one! You might want to consider this, it is easier and cheaper to add W-Fi then a laminated keyboard.

I think that one of the new High power USB Wi-Fi devices that are mounted on the end of a long USB cable might be superior of for a vehicle mount and usage.

High power is great, but in RF most of the battle is in the antenna and receiver sensitivity. Or, so thinks this old ham.

 

Ha Ha lol, that was punny Bill

 

Will, yes you are on the right track. Get one of those 29's with a backlight keyboard, preferrably a 1.4 or 1.6ghz model. Adding the wireless card after the fact is fairly as easy as plugging in the card, activating it in BIOS, loading the drivers, and setting up the connection. By getting one of the later models, your chance of getting a 29 pre-wired for wireless with the antennas already there and ready for a card are greater. There is still the chance that the seller has removed all of that, but not likely as that is a pain in the arse to install/deinstall. Perhaps before you buy you could email those questions to them, or better yet, post in the BST forum what your looking for and if any of the members here that have one could hook you up and that way you will know it is ready for you.

 

thanks very much for the replies, I hope it did not look to much like I was hijacking the thread as that was not my intent. I was thinking I might have to swap out a keyboard so I came to this thread. mnementh, thanks for pointing me to the general discussion, good idea. very good info with regard to it being easier and less expensive to mod the wifi than the key board. thanks for that. I will pick this up in general discussion but my next question is going to be how do I know what generation a cf-29 or any toughbook is? I have googled long and hard on this with no luck! LOL

 

like many products are the clues in the suffix's? cf-29xxxxxx ? would that tell me about the wifi,bt,gps, all that stuff? I am hoping there is a master list someplace that tells all.

 

*Points Will to the CF-29 FAQ RIGHT AT THE TIPPY-TOP OF THE FORUM*

:wink:*Cough* RTFAQ*Cough*:wink:

mnem
*Whistles nonchalantly*

 

Read the CF29 FAQ Thread (The thread that says Read me before posting)
That info is included in the first post


Alex

 

I was temporarily unable to read that FAQ thread due to it being heavily encrypted. I broke the encryption and got it all read now. thanks for letting me know.

 

I know; that rot13 cipher is a OVGPU.

mnem
QBA'G TRG NAL BA LN.