CF-30 MK1 Memory , HDD and W7 upgrade Info

I have a CF30 coming in the mail that has windows 7 pro. I am pretty excited to use Windows 7.

 

You will like the 30. Add 4GB memory and a SSD and that 30 will fly.

 

It's only a mk1 but I'm sure it's a step up from this cf29 which btw is soooooooo slow. I need to figure out if the cf29 battery and power cord will work with the 30.

 

yes they will

 

Oh yes it's a step up for sure. A SSD + extra memory will give the MK1 a good boost. That's what I did.

 

Do you have a recommended SDD brand?
I use my toughbook for programming radios only. So 250gb and less is all the capacity I need. It already has 4gb memory.
P. 'S should I also upgrade the mk1 CF29 with a SDD? Memory seems to be hard to find.

Sent from my Xoom Wifi using Tapatalk

 

I use Intel, Samsung, Kingston to name a few. Stay with the name brand and you should be OK. I would forget about upgrading the 29 . The 29 is not worth a lot and to put a ssd in it will cost to much.

 

I'll look into a Kingston SSD for the 30.

How hard is it to clone a hard drive?

Can I use a sata kit external power supply with sata to usb, and just take the old CF30 Hard drive copy it to my desktop, then plug in the new sata drive and drag and drop it in the hd then reinstall it in the CF30?


Fry's electronics has this for $59
MQ01ABF050H
Toshiba hybrid SSHD.

 

It's not hard if you use the right software like Acronis True Image. Now that said you are getting a 30 that you really know nothing about or who the seller is or really what he put on it. When I get myself another laptop first thing I do is do a fresh install. If your 30 has a windows 7 COA on the bottom all you need is the Panasonic restore disk. This will load W7 and all you drivers for about $20.00

This is what I call a want-a-be SSD . It's no SSD and it's only 5400rpm. Go for the real thing. A new 250GB is under $100.00 if you look around...Newegg or Amazon

 

Eh I wasn't thinking about the fact that it is used and could have someone else's junk in it. No COA and No cd reader. So I'm thinking I guess I need to buy windows 7 pro and a USB drive or a OEM cd drive.

 

"No COA and No cd reader. So I'm thinking I guess I need to buy windows 7 pro and a USB drive or a OEM cd drive"
you can extract the coa/key with a couple of programs , such as "belarc" :
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

i believe that you can do an install with a usbhdd (ie ; load W7 with "pendrive" or a similar program) .
it aint as easy as with the re-installation disk , but workable .
maybe someone has converted the re-install disk over to flash drive .

 

Hopefully the seller new enough that when running W7 on a CF-30 MK1 that you should update the bios to the Visa bios .

 

Is it easy to update the bios on the CF30? I can't do it on my cf29 because it requires a floppy drive. I don't have one but do have cd drive USB etc.

So if the CF30 does NOT require a floppy drive then installing 7 is going to be easy as baking a pie!

 

Not hard at all and you don't need a floppy drive

 

Last Question
Does it matter what ssd I get as far as the sata version, 1 2 3? I found a deal in a sata 3 ssd 512gb drive but will it function in the mk1 CF30?

 

It should. Just not at sata 3.
What model number ssd ?

 

What happens if u try to use sata 3?

 

Impossible to do. The motherboard only runs at sata 1. Any drive you put in will only run at sata 1.
The fastest sata 3 drive only runs at sata 1 in a CF30.

 

So the physical differences between sata 1, sata 2 and sata 3 is only internal? The droves are all the same size and use the same connection? Pretty much it would be overkill sticking a sata 2 or 3 in there hoping to get 6gbps transfer rates...?

 

Yes, the difference is internal.
You can hope all you want. It just won't do any good.

 

No hopes here lol just see a deal on a sata 3 500gb for the same price as a lower storage capacity. Didn't want to buy it and find out it won't work at all.

 

Once in a great while a drive will not be compatible with a certain BIOS. Never know for sure until you try.
What model is the drive? Someone here may have already tried it and can share the results.

 

Samsung MZ-7PA2560/0D1

 

So it's a 256GB. Should be no problem at all.

 

Correct don't know why I have been typing 512gb.

 

Just a heads up

MZ-7PA2560/0D1
Samsung 256GB SATA 3Gbps 2.5-inch MLC Solid State Drive Mfr P/N MZ-7PA2560/0D1.

is a 256gb sata 2 drive.

TOYO has one in a CF30 mk3

 

What is TOYO?
Should be fine in a MK1?

 

He is one of our members and yes it should work fine. I have one in my CF-52 and 53

 

Who is Toyo is the correct question.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/toughbook-ssd-thread.725310/page-4#post-9775357

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-cf19-ssd-not-recognized.587058/#post-7622344

 

Lol I thought it was short for Toyota.

 

Laptop just arrived.
Has Bluetooth, finger print, Windows 7 (no coa) samsung 120gb ssd (really surprised) sadly it is missing the whole silver TouchPad sticker thing and antenna for wwan? ... Is there a way to replace both of these?

See Attached photo:

 

Yes you can replace the palmrest and wwan antenna.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-C...299342?hash=item1c600930ce:g:bXgAAOSwUV9WnviP

 

Purchased! Thanks! The antenna on the screen is just for GPS use right?

 

On a CF30, one side antenna is for wwan, other side is gps.

 

Blair,
Can you separate the parts of this thread that are about a CF30 into a new thread?

 

did the seller mention that the plate was missing ?

pictures of the wwan area will help .
the wwan is on the left and the gps is on the right .

good idea on splitting out the '30 stuff and starting a new thread .

 

Yeah, good idea. And I'm. Sorry to clutter this one with CF30 stuff.
Last picture of the cf30:

Only one spot where a pull out antenna can go is the left side. And it's missing the pull out antenna.
No seller did not mention missing cover. I'm going to see if I can get a partial refund atleast to cover the extra $ spent on a new cover!

 

Pull out antenna is for wwan.

 

I will split this thread shortly.

 

I'm sure I have another WWAN antenna kicking around.

 

Let me know!?

 

So, found out the cf30 battery has a big tab on the side, going to cut that off so I can use it in the cf29.
CF29 battery works fine in the cf30.
The battery that came with the laptop holds strong for 30min then BAM! drops down to 2%.

 

NO NO NO. Cutting the tab off will not work.
It has been tried already.

 

Hold off on cutting it. Let me check on something first.

Edit... Teo tried this I think . I don't think it will charge in a 29 but it will run it.

 

Oh ok, I'll hold off.
Maybe I can recondition the cf30 battery...? For now I'll use the cf29 battery in the cf30. Find a deal on eBay or something.

 

You should be able to pick one up for around $20.00 . The below link is where I got one. It would give me a good 3 hours run time www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-OEM-CF-29-CF-30-CF-31-Toughbook-Battery-CF-VZSU29-Extended-Capacity-/121864622988?hash=item1c5fb2938c:g:nL4AAOSwHQ9WV7Yx

 

OK he wants 23 I'll go ahead and buy it. As long as I'm getting a decent battery.

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They are lots of them on ebay but this guy has sold over 50 of them and he has very good feedback.

 

Okay I have a question when pressing the Fn key and screen brightness or volume the screen flashes black and the little picture that shows the volume up or down or contract up and down quickly flashes on the screen this doesn't seem very normal for the screen to flicker completely black every time one of the buttons is pressed I was only happens when using the Fn key

 

Oh My Gosh.

Danger Danger Danger Will Robinson..

Just don't ever push the Fn and the RED F11 button at the same time.

I run away mumbling something about launch codes..

Sorry, just having fun...