CF30's (or gag me with a spoon CF31's) available in Oz

Touchpad on the CF29 is degraded to the point where on cold mornings I need to let the machine run for about 15 to 20 mins before it behaves correctly enough to be usable. \

So I'm looking at what CF30's (probably can't get affordable CF31's here) are cropping up in the marketplace here on the land of Oz.

There are usually a small number of listings on Ebay and at present I can find three CF30's for sale in Australia through Ebay sellers.

For those of you who are experienced with specing up CF30's, what is considered to be a medium range system config to aim for? And which of the CF30 sub-version's should I be targetting? As the configurators dont' seem to work anymore I can't do easy model-code lookups!

My main requirements are Win 7 (whatever the equiv to the 'pro' version of Xp would be in Win 7 or better), I would say a good quality SSD (given that it's going into a rugged system so needs to be equally rugged), and as much memory as humanly possible. Wifi, bluetooth, built-in 2G/3G (but that could be tricky as the different telco's use different bands/specs for their wireless broadband), and decent USB. I don't see any need for a CD/DVD drive unless the ones for 30's are decent and worth having.

Thanks, Craig.

 

Well Craig I would go with a MK3. It runs W7 great and one of them comes from the factory with W7 installed but not sure what MK3 model you need to look for.

 

I agree, mk3.....
Since you have a limited selection, you will probably have to tweak whatever you get to suit your needs...
touchscreen---can be added but you need a whole top half...
gps------I suggest an aftermarket Ublox..
backlit keyboard--easy to install------while its out you can drop in a stock bluetooth in about 5 minutes...
WIFI....I use a Ubiquiti SR71e....
usb will be 2.0 at best......avoid the pcmcia usb cards......they burn up the laptop.
I put a blu ray drive in a CF30 dvd caddy....just because I could..
The 2g/3g just means you need wwan ready unit or install the connectors for the sled yourself. I would guess a gobi because they are flexible to different carriers.
4gb memory is plenty for win7 32bit.......8gb will work with pricy memory chips....
Stick with 32bit unless you have a real valid reason for NEEDING 64bit.

 

I like this one.
wireless ready pocket
gps/bluetooth
vista coa

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Panasoni...76?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item5b11423900

As a reminder CF-31 have a fan.

 

CF-30KAPRX2M
Panasonic Toughbook 30 - Vista COA, Intel Core 2 Duo SL9300 1.6GHz (Centrino2VPro), 13.3" Touch XGA, 2GB, 160GB, Intel Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Windows XP SP2, TPM1.2, Bluetooth, Emissive Backlit Keyboard, Fast GPS-3W, No Optical, Toughbook Preferred

 

The Mk3 is good but get at least a Mk2. The Mk2 to Mk3 don't seem to have the touchscreen problems that the Mk1's had.

On hardware the CF-30's are all 1.6 dual cores. The Mk1 is 32 bit only, but the Mk2 up is 32/64 bit. On video the Mk1 has 945 Intel, Mk2 went with the 965 also known as the x3100 graphics and the Mk3 has the Intel 4500.

You can use the CF-29 battery on the CF-30 but you will need a new DVD drive and if you have a media bay battery from the 29 you can't use it as the 30 is different.

 

G'day Craig,

I've got a couple of CF-30 Mk3s and a CF-31 Mk1 to offload soon (usually through Gumtree). Send me a PM and maybe I can spec one just how you want it. I'm in Lismore (NSW).

Chris