Interested in a CF-31 I found on ebay and asking for opinions

Hi everyone.

Looking to buy my first Thoughbook (always owned Thinkpads before).

PLEASE give me your opinions on this laptop I found on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264867638010

- Anything odd in the description? Does the laptop seem good?

- Can I trust the BIOS that it only worked for "90 hours"?

- Is it worth the amount of money seller asks?

 

Is there any reason that you need a mk5? . If you're doing high performing tasks then you'd probably be looking at a cheaper standard laptop.

To me the difference in performance between the mk3 mk4 and mk5 is negligible. A performance edition mk3 or mk4 can outperform a mk5 anyway. Mk5s are not available in performance spec.

Toughbooks are so resilient that I would always go for condition and spec over a low number of hours. A unit with dedicated graphics, GPS or mobile broadband etc in great condition would be for me a better buy than a low hours standard spec model.

The price of the unit you've linked to seems a little high compared to others listed. The price reflects the 32gb ram supplied as a CF31 can take only two sticks of RAM and 16gb sticks are about £100 each. (If you need 32gb of ram you need Mk5 + to support it). The listed unit has GPS and LTE.

No reason to suspect the hours use is wrong. It can't be hacked and the unit condition looks right. The first three pictures look to be stock photos of a different unit.
I'd advise against using the USB 3 PC card supplied as the current draw can harm the motherboard.

 

Thanks so much.
Another I was looking for is this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toughboo...147244?hash=item366ca772ec:g:f~cAAOSwCaBfjEQF

Does this look better?

 

Yes I'm a bit clueless if that's what you are wondering.
However, I don't have a lot of free time to go into everything which is why I'm looking for an easier way to find the answers.
I will need the laptop for running "heavy" software like for computational chemistry.
I'm not sure if I want mk3 or 4 or 5 or whatever, I just been told that the greater the number the better the machine.

 

Gearout, can you say something more about the use of usb 3? I've got a 31 mk4 and use the usb 3 slot fairly regularly. I don't mean to hijack the thread.

 

That one looks a very nice unit. You don't see performance versions for sale very often. That one looks to be fully loaded and in nice condition.

 

If you want to compare features, costs, etc. I have purchased some items from www.techtough.com worth looking at the web site < https://www.techtough.com/product-page/black-cobra-panasonic-toughbook-cf-31>.

The quality, build, reliability on the last CF-31 I purchased was outstanding. It feels like a brand new device even after a year!!
They'll even customize keyboard features, swappable devices, memory upgrades, SSD, etc.

-cognetic

 

Hi everyone, last question (I hope), can someone give me your opinion about he following: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasoni...i5-8GB-RAM-240GB-SSD-4G-LTE-190h/143643865741

See anything suspicious or that I need to know?

 

That is a mk1.
Mk1s have a slightly lower brightness screen (1100 vs 1200 lumens) than later models.
1st gen i5 processor.
WiFi is Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 vs 6235 on later models.
No USB 3.0.
Bluetooth v2.1 vs v4.0 on later models.

They want an extra £58 if you want the DVD drive.

I'd look for a mk3 +

 

Here's my advice. This looks to be a cf-31 mk1. I would look for a cf31 mk4 with Windows 10. Though I loved--and continue to love--Windows 7, Windows 10 with various fixes (all found on the Notebook Review Windows 10 forum) has worked very well for me, and I'm not an MS fan.

For reference, I got a mk4 with 4k hours, 9 out 10 cosmetic condition, Windows 10 64 bit, for $375 US. I still use both of my cf30s with Windows 7, but the 31 mk4 with W10 is pure pleasure to use.

 

Thanks to both!
By the way, I'm in UK, hence a bit more restricted in my options (high postage costs, taxes, batteries removed, long waiting times...)

I'll keep looking then and might come back.

 

By the way, if a seller doesn't mention the hours on the machine, you can ask. Sometimes they don't mention it b/c they're selling several machines with varying hour counts. Anything under 10k hours is fantastic; under 20k is fine. Here's a listing from Canada that you might inquire about that I just stumbled on. Don't know about the shipping or the seller, but this is the sort of machine and price range I'd be keyed on.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-...491598&hash=item264103bc1d:g:WPoAAOSwwjVe850b

 

Check this
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/cf-31-mk3.832102/

I forgot that I am trying to sell it. It is a mk3 and has much less memory than the one you have.
Does have win10 on it. I will need to fire it up and check it again.