CF-31 MK3's are out!

Hey guys,

Just a heads up that the CF-31 MK3’s are starting to SKU up.

They have a 2.8GHz i5 in them, 4GB of RAM standard and a 500GB 7200 RPM hard drive in them. It also appears that every model has ATI discreet graphics, which is nice! An example of a SKU is below:

Model Number:
CF-31UFLAX1M Status:
CURRENT MSRP:
$4,829
Description: Windows 7 Professional, Intel Core i5 3360M 2.80GHz, 13.1" XGA Touchscreen LCD, 500GB Shock mounted HDD (7200rpm), 4GB, ATI Discrete Graphics, Wi Fi, Bluetooth, Dual Pass (Upper WWAN / Lower Selectable), TPM 1.2, Toughbook Preferred

Thanks!

 

What graphics did they put in the Mk3?

 

Let me see what I can find out.

Thanks!

 

What screen and batterylife?!
It's a nice thing, but so far I'm not tempted to buy this one (that I don't have this kind of money laying around might have to do something with it as well lol).
But I have been thinking to buy a used one, just because of the larger display and much better graphics chips. But the size and weight are holding me back a bit.

 

Not sure on the screen. I'd be pretty sure it'll be the same 1200 nit screen as the MK2

The battery life should be the same too I'd imagine.

When (IF) I find out and get one in hand I'll let u guys know

 

you're right, it's the same 1200nit screen.
the video is a 7750M radeon.
i read somewhere that the Low voltage DDR3 ram & ivy bridge update bring a bit better battery life.

the listings first appeared about a month ago, on the UK site: CF-31 - Fully Ruggedized Toughbooks | Panasonic Business

 

That 1200 nit is much, much more when compared to my CF-19's mk5 500 nit screen.... I really wonder how bright this is, as the 500 is already really bright.
7750M seems like a good balance between power and power consumption.

 

Dude! Starting with the MK3 CF-19 (1.2GHz Core 2 Duo), they have had 1000 nit screens man! Only with the MK5 that they started with the circulumen, which acts as a prism to take the sunlight and reflect it back towards you!

 

@Rob, why don't they start putting these things out with some nice SSD's? Just wondering......

 

hahaha....could it be that....the factory warranty on new units is for three years. adding an extended warranty to give five years covers the service life of most "First Life" users....who makes a SSD that will last that long. lol.

 

you can get them for quite a while with an ssd as an option. But I considered the premium for just a second and decided it was easy and much cheaper to replace it after purchasing it!
256Gb is €499. I now found a 600Gb Intel 320 for €300. Much better.

 

@Alecgold....joking aside, what are the options for the additional bounty??

Shortly after the Cf-31 Mk1's were launched someone posted a thread indicating they had ordered one with ALL available options (including SSD). ....I don't recall who the OP was or what SSD options were available but they had to sell the wife & children to a gang of camel jockey's in the middle east to offset the initial cost....not sure if the SSD was any good....or if they ever got the wife & children back....probably NO on both accounts. lol

 

Because for all intents and purposes, for the market that we are selling to, SSD's aren't needed. Overkill + the sudden instant death problem that SSD's are KNOWN for if TRIM and Garbage Collection aren't working correctly!

And yes, you CAN get them pre-configured with SSD's... Take a look at CF-31UF7AX1M for example .

Thanks

 

Options are just the 128 Gb and 256Gb but nothing else. No indication of brand/make/type. I have no idea what they use, nor did my dealer (he hadn't ordered one in ages, odd).


@Rob, these days SSD's are working really nice. They have become quite reliable. I know there have been problems (google sandforce and you have an idea,) but Samsung and Intel have been really nice for me. Sudden deaths are possible but not more likely then on HDD AFAIK, TRIM is working nicely these days (and if you don't do it yourself when TRIM is not available, it won't die, just become unbearable slow when it's almost full/very heavily used). And the chance of physical damage to an SSD inside a toughbook is almost zero.
But main reason for me to invest in a SSD wasn't as much reliability, but mostly the speed that comes when starting apps, opening (large) documents or doing write-intensive tasks. That's where a SSD really WOW's you.

 

So this might be good stuff arround! Guys, who are useing laptop for heavy work? Am I correct thinking, Panasonic does comerce idea and new product since few models are comerce? Imprest technology for architect or graphics designer should be useful for shure but according to shape CF-29 looks more home-use! When I opened first time motherboard I was very imprest! Looks like a military ultra-original technology and what happened now? More gigabytes of HDD when open-door for quick unpack and pack another HDD was a brillant idea! A battery should be as strong as it possible and maybe they doing good products still. I had for home use 17" HP DV9 with has in 2008/2009 Core2Duo 4,4GHz/4GB RAM/512GeForce 8600M GS and HDMI-out. I used it for montage movies and graphics work. I choose CF-29 becouse is useful for work where oil and dirt don't need to be problemwith computer and to think about value of product and damage when I destroy it for mistake. If I have new-one I will think twice arround work-pleace. So what the heck? Good graphic card and big drive is all importand? And what with motherboard technology? I fight all time on HP with low-price components made becouse they start to makeing it with new technology with... start to demage other components for a few years! And why? Becouse HP said so. And that machine was not cheap at all!