CF-73 anyone got one?

I have 5 of them, some with issues. Looking for someone familiar with the model. In particular, one does not power on. Charge light comes on when connected to ac, but then goes out when power button is pressed. Light comes on again about ten seconds after pushing power button.
Any thoughts?

 

Also, wondering if anyone knows how to determine when the laptop was made.
I have noticed different strings of letters after the cf-73 model number. What are these letters? Do they refer to option packages, or manufacturing dates, or are they just random letters designed to make the purchaser feel like they really got something great?
By the way, these computers are really great, would recommend them to anyone. After the abuse my old cf-37 took and kept going, they should really call them TIMEX - takes a licking and keeps on ticking. That machine was dropped - hard - , spilled on, and shipped with equipment all over the country, and it lasted years. The dell that replaced it lasted 3 months, then I went back to toughbook.

 

I have a few 73's
Not the most reliable model
But good performing hardware and a decent bright screen
I have changed a few m/b's on them
The model # would give the full info on it, including aprox date of manufacture based on mk#'s as the mk-1 was produced first followed by the mk-2 etc
You can find detailed info on your model here, just enter the full model #
ie cf-73xxxxxx
http://www.config.toughbook.com/


Alex

 

Hi! the unit that doesn't boot, may I know if there is a removable ram on it? if yes, take it out and try to power it on again. Maybe its only a bad ram. It is very common to this type of unit.

Slightly out of topic, you said you had five of them. I have one collecting dust coz I can't find a reasonable Hdd caddy and connector so far. May I know if you have an spare? let me know. Thanks and welcome to the forum.


ohlip

 

Tomkat, thanks for the link, isn't working right now, but at least it's a place to start.
My models are - 3 cf-73ecptxkm
1 cf-73scvtsbm
1 cf-73ycvtsbm

I originally got the three as a package deal on a lease return.
One got stepped on (gotta love kids) and broke the lcd.
Bought the scvtsbm as a parts machine, but it seems to work fine despite a broken bottom cover. So, I bought the ycvtsbm as the NEW parts machine.
The Y series machine looks and feels to be in better shape than the others, so I started thinking about fixing it, and making one of the E series machines a donor.

One E series has no sound - used to make a horrible static crunching sound after turning on, now does nothing. Tried replacing the lid, with speakers. No
change. Is the sound card part of the MB on these, or is it replaceable?

Y machine won't boot up. It did have aftermarket RAM in it, which after removal, no change. It was a gig of RAM from 1800MEMORY, which I will try in another machine later.
Unfortunately - ohlip - it came with no HD or caddy.

Also, anyone ever remove an SD reader from one of these? Do all cf-73's support the SD reader? None of the E series have them, but both Y and S machines do.

Thanks

 

Ohlip, nice looking unit there on Ebay. I am a sound engineer, and don't work the kind of shows where I would need something THAT tough. It just has to deal with 2am load outs, getting shipped in my rack to the next show, and the occasional beer spill.
Although some of the bands I have worked with could have really used the GPS.

 

Not sure if anyone has told you how to determine the manufacter date from the serail number. So if you serial number stared with a 7LXXXXXXXX, the year made would be 2007 and the month would be December because L is the 12th letter of the alphabet. Hope this helps. I used a 73 for many years and it is a great laptop!

 

Thanks, that confirmed my suspicions about age of he respective machines.