CF-30 New User

Hey Fellas!

New to Toughbooks (and Windows really. I've been on Macs for 10 years). I picked up a CF-30 Mk3 off craigslist for $200. It's got some pretty good gouges in the case from use. The guy had a couple he purchased from an auction.

CF-30FASAXAM. 1.66 Ghz Core Duo 4GB RAM,88GB standard hard drive, the touchscreen, (leaves a bit to be desired compared to today's iPads and such), Factory GPS module. It's got windows 7 professional 64 bit. Everything seems to be working well. I need new doors for my DC and USB ports. I was led to believe that I could put a second battery in the DVD drive slot? Is that true? Is Bob Johnson's the best place to buy parts for these machines?

I purchased it because it has a native serial port. I do industrial controls work, and hope to use this on some legacy systems, and of course, because the fully-ruggedized system is awesome. I LOVE the serviceability of the machine.

What's a good software that can utilize the factory GPS antenna?

Hope to learn quite a bit from this forum.

Thanks for having me,
Danny

 

OH! One more question, Is this the best forum for these machines?

Thanks again!

 

Google earth is great,as the CF-30Mk2 never came with 64 bit Windows the next question is the state of your drivers. Get a $49 128gb SSD and do a restore with 32 bit,then run the driver bundle from here. http://business.panasonic.com/support-computerstablets-downloads-searchdownloads and it will take off in performance.

 

Hrm, So the drivers and hardware are more compatible with the 32 bit?

How about this SSD: http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Inter...ywords=128+gb+ssd&refinements=p_85:2470955011

Thanks

 

What I'm saying is the Panasonic drivers might not even be there,there is a 64bit driver bundle and it will not hurt to run it to make sure. I just bought 3 of those SSD's for some 52's

 

CF-30FASAXAM

You have a CF-30MK3. ....sory

Model Number : CF-30FASAXAM
Status : DISCONTINUED
MSRP : $4,499
Description: WinXP (Vista COA), Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 1.60GHz (Centrino), 13.3" XGA Touch, 80GB, 1GB, Intel 802.11a/b/g, TPM1.2, Bluetooth, Emissive Backlit Keyboard, Wireless Ready, N
Emissive Backlit Keyboard, Wireless Ready, No Drive.

 

Oh yes...you found one the best Panasonic Toughbooks Forums on the net. Also another site toughbooktalk this is where ebay sellers come to steel our ideas from both sites. Enjoy your stay.

 

Typo Blair...CF30F is mk2

Yes you can put a second battery in the DVD bay.
Some guys use Microsoft Streets and Trips

Bob Johnson is ok. I suggest you put an ad in our Buy, sell trade section for any parts you need.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/forums/toughbook-buy-sell-and-trade-forum.1047/

 

Yes but He posted here it was a 30MK3 ??

 

this is what I meant

 

Yes the 32bit OS runs better. Good price on the 120gb SSD but for about $20.00 more you can get a 240gb SSD.

 

congrats ... you have a good *entry level* TB machine (think cheap first girlfriend) .
yeah ... if possible , i would swap over to the 32 bit flavor of vista(less) or W7 .
the machine will run smoother .
the easiest way to do this is to buy a restore disk that has * all* of the drivers you need in one place .
you could dl all the stuff you need but unless you want/need the learning experience , invest in a proper disk .
(i reloaded mine with a universal vista(less) OS disk ... it loads the right version based on the coa/key on the bottom)

yes , the touch screens are a bit less sensitive but are less prone to accidental bump-triggering .
you can clean the screen with soft clean cotton rags dampened with "windex" .

the machine will not win any races against the machines of today but they were designed for basic applications ... with only a couple running at any one time .
you'll get an education on running what only really needs to be run .

get 50 (?) posts and you can post in in the buy/sell section of this forum .
as was mentioned above , there is another similar site/forum that has a bit different slant than here .

about prices of *stuff* ...
most of us here are *frugal* (read cheap bast***s) ... and the only stupid question is the unasked one .

 

Thanks for all the great tips guys. The SSD is ordered and will be here in a couple days. I will try to locate the 32 bit Windows 7 and get that straightened out.

If the machine came with Vista, do I need to install Vista, then restore with the original drivers package cd, and then upgrade to Windows 7? Or can I use the restore CD with Windows 7 first?

Where would I get the restore disc from?

 

as each copy of windows has a unique *ID number* and this , in turn , is registered along with the motherboard ID number (also unique) back at M$ ...
one cannot simply install (in this case) vista and then change up to W7 .
if the key on the bottom is a vista key , then you will have to use the vista OS .
if you want to reload the 32 bit flavor of W7 , then you will need that particular unique key .
(this key can be *extracted* by the use of a couple of "key finder" programs)
as for the compatibility of the key used for the currently installed 64 bit OS and the *new* 32 bit OS ... i cannot say with 100% certainty that it will work .
i have bought many sets of the 32 and 64 bit flavors ... in the same package with a single key ... sooo , this is known to work .
however , in your case , you will be using a completely different OEM disk to reload the 32 bit flavor ... this might prove to not work .
(this is where the universal disks come in handy ... i have had very good luck with them)

you can try to load the 32 bit W7 OS on the new SSD and see if the extracted key will activate it properly .
a couple of us have the universal disks (completely legit) .
one of the guys here can point you toward the driver disk .

oh yeah ... in case you didn't read this elsewhere ...
discussion of how to circumvent/bypass/reset a locked bios password will get yer E-ticket for nowhere arizona punched in a heartbeat .
no cracking or illegal stuff is allowed here .
with that said ... is your bios unlocked ?

 

Belarc advisor run in a windows environment gives a lot of useful information.

 

I'm biased (see user name), but YES.

Thank you for the glowing review!

But yeah, either bobjohnson.com or the B/S/T forum should be a good bet.