CF-30 what should I look for ?

Came across the CF-28 on a forum & picked it up as a gamble. The seller only knew it would fire up - nothing else. Luck was on my side fortunately + the members here too. Been looking at the CF-29's for a few months now - but could never be sure it (each one that looked good to me spec wise) was really the right model for me - so many options. I've kept my eyes peeled for what I thought was a Great Deal. Now I'm a bit more serious after picking up the 28 & really seeing first hand why TB's are so loved by so many. I decided a 29 1.6Ghz with at least a 80GB HDD & 1.5GB ram would be semi current & would need little to no more money poured into it other than GPS if that happened to not be included. I've seen a ton of em from fixer uppers ($200) to decked out (around 1K). Now I think I might as well save up & go Big rather than buy a machine that will require me to ask 200 seemingly pointless questions I have looked at the BLACKHAWKUSA CF-30 several times. Any thoughts on it & does anyone here have one personally. Anybody know what model they use as in MK1, 2 & so on. Any other models I should look out for in the CF-30 line or trusted sellers you guy's deal with on & off the bay. Thanks

 

I think there are very many cf-30 users here that will respond. I can tell you from personal experience that user: Sadlmkr
on this site knows much and has had these for sale in the past. I'd pick his brain and anyone else that chimes in. Good luck in your search

 

Thanks for the kind remarks. Stay away from the glitzy pictures and keep it standard is my advise.
A CF-30 Mark1 would be a good way to go and I have one left.-Backlit KB w/GPS(OEM) No WWAN. I do sales PM.

Thanks again UNCNDL1,

Jeff

 

Will do Sir. Maybe I should add what I need out of the 30 too. Dust is the biggest issue. I clean my PC with compressed air but just end up blowing the dust further into the unit. Ive already purchased a spare body sans HD, battery, & AC adapter & switched out to it because the other was loaded with dust & Lord knows what else (potato chip's, & whatnot). Next is bumps & drops from traveling. The dual core sounds Great - I use one from time to time. Currently my PC is a 1.6 single core that gets the web surfing done fairly well + forums, Ebay, & you-tube.. Gps would be nice as a backup to my MK1 navigation system (read brain). A 160 GB HDD would be Great - I could never fill it up. around 2 GB of ram would be nice if I upgrade to Win7Ult. Pretty much I want to have a PC that can replace my current 2 laptops. The CF-30 seens to be the ticket from all I have read. Just need some more info to make the best decision. Buy once cry once type deal..

 

The best thing to do is ask the seller directly; otherwise the best guess is Mk1, as he mentions "CF-30C" in the ad.

BTW; in case you missed this from his ad:

OEM Panasonic Toughbook CF-30 RUBBER KNOBBY PROTECTOR™ :laugh: :rolleyes2:

HINT: Panasonic does not "OEM" a piece of rubber anti-skid mat as a "knobby protector."

 

+2 for Sadlmkr, I got a cf-18 from him and it was the top of my fleet, till it was packaged off to a new home in the third world.

My everyday now is a cf-30 Mrk 1, Intel ssd, 3 gigs of ram, and I love it.

Sam

 

Thanks Sam, I took the cf-28 completely apart today - wifi leads behing the touch screen & under the battery now.. Still not getting far from the router - but Im not done yet. added a New to me keyboard + a ton of other stuff..... Big Thanks SAM Mk1, huh that seems to be the general consensus. Sounds Good then

 

I made the jump to a CF-30 this year finally when the prices started dropping. Wouldn't you know it, they kept dropping. Still a good deal because I had to sell my CF-29 to help pay for it and they dropped too, so overall it was a wash I think. Ultimately, it was worth every penny though. It is night and day compared to my 28 or even the 29. My personal recommendation is to upgrade to 4GB RAM and a solid state hard drive if you have the money. Both make a BIG difference.

However, what I think what everyone is trying to say nicely, is that you may want to keep looking past the Blackhawk Ebay ads. The seller has made quite a reputation here (to put it mildly), and I personally would not buy one. All I see is a load of glitz for quite a bit of extra money, with no real value added. I bought mine from Ebay and it was a decent deal, but I had to completely reload the hard drive to get rid of the unlicensed software, so I wouldn't recommend that seller either. Both Sadlmkr and Rob on this forum are good guys to deal with and a solid reputation in this user community. Either one could probably hook you up with a clean CF-30 for a fair price. They might even be able to load a couple racy pictures for you to compete with the Blackhawks. (The black rubber knobby thing can be purchased separately if that is your thing.)

 

Sorry guy's, didn't mean the blackhawk was dead in my sights, I compared it's listed specs to several other sellers offerings & quickly decided it was exactly like its namesake BLACKHAWK! (Garbage). I could make a better product in my shop Their are Nice deals every day... just wonder if a MK3 would be a better purchase than the MK1 in the long run. Agreed, 2 to 4 GB ram & a larger HDD is a must.

 

I think its more important to zero in on specs and not vanity.

 

Exactly, I can have it painted Multi-cam or ATAC's FG later. Really I might call Duracoat... Off the top of anyones head, would a 750GB HDD (unknown make) & 4GB ram cause any issues in a MK1 Cf-30? I did a search but came back with nothing but random references to a 750gb HDD. I guess if you were into downloading ton's of vid's or documents it would be great.

 

At one time I had a WD Black 320GB 7200rpm drive in my Cf30MK1 with 4GB memory and it worked great. I do a lot of downloading and this thing still had lots of room. When I upgraded to SSD I went with the Intel 320 series 160GB and I tell you it is fast. Why I went with the lower GB drive was with the WD 320GB I never had more than 100GB on it so it was over kill. If you do go with a CF-30 look into a SSD 120-160GB...programs open and close much faster and startup times are 28 to 34 seconds .

 

Cool, Thanks for the info & advice toughasnails I don't download much of anything but that may change now. looks like I'll be going with a basic MK1 then. I'll modd as cash becomes available. First two things I can think of would be a new battery & transmissive keyboard...

 

First, orphanlr has never bought one from XXXXXX, they have never sold a CF-18. Wyrm73, you make some good points, you can make your own rubber thing for the lid. Walmart sells rubber mats for car floors, photo copy your machine, the outline will highlight, put it over the rubber mat and cut it out. Tack it down with some apoxy. Put it on your dash upside down, take a sharp left turn at about 30 mph and it will not slide taking out your passenger.


Now do the same with the Toughbook behind you in the back window. Hit the breaks hard and see if it slides off and takes out the person behind your seat. Make your machine a coffee cup holder, that would be a Plus for Today's Law Enforcement.


You can buy them cheaper then what XXXXXXXX Toughbooks sells off eBay.
On this forum there are people who have the know how to refurbish laptops, and have the time. However there are folks who don't. Some folks are going to pay for everything ready to go. The great thing about XXXXXXX is that when you buy a machine from them, and something breaks they replace it. Even after 3 years, they will take in your MK2 or MK3 and swap it out for a MK4 or MK5. They send WWAN sleds to customers for nothing, When they buy a big block of ram DDR1 or DDR2, they contact the customers and ask if they need more ram. They buy tons of toughbooks, and weed through the pile to build a machine most often made up of 3 or 4 machine.


What they do with extra parts is give them to anyone who needs something extra. Check out their video of a CF-29 floating in water. They are air tight and the volume of air inside the thing is so tight they float. They even have a video of one shot through with an AR right through the base, through the mother board, and out the KB. It still turns on. The shot was obviously away from the HDD and Bat so its not like you can go, Automatic on it. The Lid will stop a small caliber bullet. Check it out.



There are some really bright folks here and will be the last ones standing when with laptops if something bad happens, enjoy that CF-30.

 

Brad.... Is that you making it sound like you are a third party that has purchased from that seller? The old ebay seller "ClinicalBrad" by chance? The one who made the aftermarket hard drive caddies that broke? Oh... And the rubber, knobby trim that we have poked fun about at least a hundred time here on the forum.

If it is you please have the common courtesy to step up and say who you are. If you are just a "Satisfied Customer" please let us know to what extent you were satisfied. I mean... It sounds like you have purchased one of everything from this seller as you seem to know his whole business model.

Come on now... Own it!

EDIT: After reading your other threads it appears you are indeed Clinical Brad. Now Bradley.... You don't want to start up again.... It didn't end well last time. Just please go away. If you are a seller hawking your wares then you should talk to the owner about become a vendor. Rob did that and gets lots of sales from it. I doubt, however, that you would.

Just please leave before the whole story comes out.

 

Dude,
Toughmachines, Brad, whoever the hell you are. Please leave and don't come back. We don't like or allow trolls here. I've read several of your threads here, under the several usernames you have signed up with.

Perhaps if every one of your posts wasn't just dripping with Blackhawk praises we migt not so easily see through your smoke an mirrors.
Perhaps if it seemed like you were here to give to the community, to help other members, or get help yourself, we might accept you.
You are here to push your product only. I hate smiling jack used car salesmen.

I have found that people who speak of themselves in the third person with such seriousness are iether psyco, or liars, and we have no room for either of those sorts of people here.

SO, pretty please, with sugar, sprinkles, and a cherry on top, GTFO.

 

Aye Rick, it's him. He can't stop giving away his identity.. If it wasn't for the praise, it would be from the Wounded Warrior project pic, which I am sure he doesn't put any $$ towards..

BTW, his Facebook page has his name as Brendan Patrick..

I have said it before, and will say it again.. BH is CRAP...
I have had a client that has had the misfortune of getting a machine from BH.
The CADDY is complete sh*t... so is the workmanship.
I'll bet NONE of the seals are checked..
Chrome unit!? You mean polished metal, because that isn't CHROME.
I also love all of the "stolen" and photoshopped pics...
I also won't point out the obvious lies on the site..
"and is the only machine Refurbished in AMERICA" Really? Really??

The only reason a yahoo like this would offer free parts is because they KNOW the parts they sold are CRAP and are doing it to help hold off any lawsuits or disputes about the product quality.

Whoever this clown is, he doesn't deserve to be in business..

He claims to sell to law enforcement and military, sorry pal, nobody who is serious about their TOUGHBOOKS even has YOU on their RADAR...
They see your site, and your comedy videos on youtube, then moves on..

A local PD was looking at your site... They didn't know you were SERIOUS.
Pics of Jessica Simpson in a uniform!?
Pictures where you pasted your idiotic toughbooks into them..

Your a joke.. Period... nothing will ever change that..

Time for the MODS to remove this a$$h0l3....

 

Do we need to place another order for supplies again? I thought we just got a shipment in last week......

 

I like having people like him on the web selling crap...
I can show my clients who NOT to buy from.

I already have several of "his" clients..

 

This is true......it's like finding someone uglier than you to stand next to: you instantly look more attractive.

 

Oh Poo, Tough-Punk has been banned.

I think you guy's were a little hard on him.

I was looking for a forum member discount....now I've got no chance.

o.g.

 

I like our new mod already!

 

He will be back.. Like a case of toughbook herpes...

 

Toughbook Herpes... I about spit my Jack and Coke through my nose... I wonder if that was Blair's first official act or one of the other mods.

No matter... No big deal... Next!?

 

Herpes....the gift that keeps on giving
XD

 

saw this & had to add - I do love my (non bh) new to me 30mk1. Thanks for all your help guy's btw the 750 HDD was overkill - looks like I'll go toughasnails route & get an SSD.

 

...so much faster . you will love it

 

Even 1Tb will work on it. Just an FYI.

Btw, Congrats, Blair! Where we headed now?, Lol. if it is just on the corner, we gonna have some cold beer.

Cheers!


ohlip