Can I even do this?

I have a Panasonic toughbook CF-28M (MkI) that I use everyday, I was wondering if I could take the motherboard out of a CF-28 MkIII and put in mine, also, what about the video card? I'm at 600MHz and if I can go to 1GHz, what else will I have to swap out? I love my 28, I just want it faster! What other MOD's are possible? I've already done the wireless card with external antenna.............any help would be great!

 

I don't believe the MK1 case will accept a MK2 or 3 mobo. Why would you bother? Surely you can buy a stripped MK-3 for less than $100 and swap all your stuff over. The HDD caddy is thinner but it will fit and work.
CAP

 

I'm trying to upgrade, why would I buy a stripped MkIII case and put all my MkI guts in it? And don't call me Shirley...........

 

He means swap in the drives and battery plus the wireless card and memory etc...from the mk1 to a mk3 that comes without those items but otherwise complete with motherboard..

 

oh, o'kay. I would prefer to keep my case, we have been through alot together. 14 years of perfect service............... no malfunctions.

 

I have tried years ago
Heatpipe ,different a few other issues as I remember

As Cap says change the base

The expensive items you have already, hard drive + caddy ,maybe optical drive

Note you need the complete base , as the battery cover is different between mk1 and mk3 units

 

Is there anything I can do to speed up what I have?

 

On software
What O/S , and how long since it was fresh loaded

On Hardware
How much total ram , what hard drive are you using

 

OS is Windows 2000 Professional SP4
20gb HD
386 RAM

 

Guy's, I've got a twisted sense of humor & this post is extremely funny.

o.g.

P.S. I'm serious, and don't call me Shirley

 

The hard drive is the weak link
It will be rated @4200rpm and for best performance you need a 5400rpm drive or 7200rpm if you can find it

Many members here when they updated the cf-28 upgraded the hard drive with a 60/80/100GB Hitachi 7200 IDE PATA 2.5" drive

Checking ebay I see these drives @ $90 and less

The other option is a 160GB Samsung HM160HC 5400 rpm drive
These cost around $60 new and are high performing , the issue with this drive is that it has to be partitioned into 2 sections to be used on the cf-28's as there is a bios hard drive size restriction
That is usualy done with the first partition having 40GB and the remander used for the second partition

The easiest with slightly less performance gain is a Hitachi 60GB 5400 IDE drive
These were standard in the later cf-29's
No partition needed with this drive

 

It's a quote from Leslie Nielsen in the spoof classic Airplane!

See here:

YouTube - Don't call me Shirley

As for the CF-28/600 (Or Mk1 as we call it) - They are unique; their MB, lower case and HDD caddy are different from the later 800mhz/Mk2 and 100mhz/Mk3; they will not interchange. If they would, I'd have done it.

The Mk1 HDD Caddy is what we call a "universal donor"; it will fit in ANY CF-28 as it's a couple mm shallower than the later marks because of the addition of a HDD heater for cold weather startups.

The Battery, AC Adapter, Optical Drive are all the same across the CF-28 family; this is why we recommend you get a Mk2 or Mk3 bottom half and swap your good stuff onto it.

mnem
I need to go whee.

 

The dragon goes whee whee whee the whole way home!

 

Of course I did... that lil piggie was scrumptious... :wink:

mnem
Wheee!

 

I wan't to thank you guy's for all your help, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it come's to these computer thing's....... how difficult is it going to be to drop in that 60/80/100gb Hitachi 7200rpm IDE PATA 2.5" hard drive? Is it a drop in replacement, or do I have to modify??? and how much faster is this going to make me? I noticed that my 28 seems fast enough until I get those moving graphics, that seem's to really slow me down..........

 

It is VERY easy to swap... There is even a tutorial on the issue posted here by someone...

You will either have to clone your drive or reload everything. Personally I like to reload... Then tweak. THen reinstall software.

 

So, just drop it in, load up my Windows 2000 Pro disk, all the Panasonic stuff and go?

 

Yes,thats it
It will seem faster,especially noticable with a shorter boot time
Note that the Hitachi 7200rpm 2.5 hard drive must be an ide type, not the cheaper sata type that is the most common today

For graphics ,you will not see much if any improvement as that is controlled by your non-replacable video chip

If the graphics are bugging you the most
You must move up to a newer Toughbook

 

Yes, it should install just like that. I have been doing research on those very drives. They are a lot faster in real world usage. They do tend to use more power which shortens battery time. One thing I like about the 7200rpm drives is that they were at one time Hitachi's top of the line. Not a value line that most companies make that is not as dependable.
Your mileage may vary

 

Where can I find one?

 

I have used the 60 and 80 GB Hitachi's
I found some buy it now 80GB @ $90 , but the 60 GB is larger than you really need , so save your money for christmas

 

Thanks Tomcat57, I'll buy one.

 

Here are the model numbers. Search the usual subjects, Google, Ebay, etc...

100gb Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00
80gb Hitachi HTS721080G9AT00
60gb Hitachi HTS721060G9AT00
160gb Samsung HM160HC

Verify that you are getting an IDE drive NOT an SATA drive