Lenovo Thinkpad -> Panasonic Toughbook

/me imagines a set of VR goggles to use in lieu of a screen on the laptop

i don't know for certain if there was ever a 14" flavor of a fully-rugged machine made .
for some reason , i was looking up 14" lcd panels a while back and i think it had *something* to do with the panasonic stuff .

 

Big situation is a Full Rugged ToughBook won't be thin or light, and will be something considerable to heft. And on the bulky side. Or it's not a full rugged.

 

Kent, I rather a fully rugged, fat and heavy instead of half-rugged and half light.

 

So far, with CF-19, I am genuinely impressed with its portability, durability, battery life(with a lot of sleeping) and performance(Considering that this is a netbook on steroids).

I also learned only this morning that toughbook isn't the kind of a laptop that you'd be worried about when you drop it. It's the kind of laptop where you'd be worried about your health when you drop it... It fell down a shelf and hit my head on its way down. I think I have a bit of a concussion.

 

Seeing double is like stereo video. If both eyes focus. Ouch.

 

Well ironically enough, my technician has some sort of double vision, and whenever he sets microscope to "normal", it gives everyone double-vision through the microscope, and I was working with him all day.

Not the best combination while my head hurt all day.

Off topic, back to CF-19, I did search e-bay and other sources for GOBI parts. It seems rather expensive, any recommendation for a student budget supplier? I just want to inquire for now.

Furthermore, I am looking into Wifi card upgrade

 

there are other cards that will work better than the gobi stuff .
the prices are better too .
some of those clowns on greasebay think that because it is a gen-u-ine gobi card that they can charge gold plated unicorn dung prices for one .

look at the spacing between the pupils of you cohort's eyes .
maybe he has one that does not "track" quite right .
it could be that his focus is off too ... and he compensates for this by changing the focal length on one lens .

 

Haha CWB32, I will do some reading on compatible GPS cards for CF-19, I am concerned because I am trying to look for BIOS whitelisted cards, but I am not seeing a list really.

As for my technician, he's not a pupil, he's more of a technical staff who is helping us out. He has his quirks... He is left handed and his focus is not normal and he sets up all equipment to work very well for left handed people and with some sort of non-standard focus.

 

in this case/reference :
pupils = those black things in the center of the eyes .

left handed ... that explains some things .
does he run an apple/mac too ?

 

Get a oem dedicated gps for the 19. Forget the gobi gps

 

I swapped in used Leadtek OEM GPS in mine and it does the trick. I've also seen them pop up for 30 bucks on fleasbay every once in a while.

 

I am going to come back to GPS at some point, because it seems I MUST go over $100US for it, something I cannot afford.

I am also really curious for cooling. CF-19 operates well, but it does operate at 80C normally and starts becoming sluggish, the number that the machine keeps on throwing back at me is 120C is critical, but I still don't like this number, and in fact it is too hot for me and I can feel it through the chassis.

I am right now putting couple of ice cubes on it to cool it. Literally water cooling, and it drops down to 50-60C.

For long term office work, is there something I can do about this?

 

Out of curiosity, why must you go over 100 clams for an OEM GPS unit?

Also, your CF-19 is running too hot. Others here would have more experience with this issue but I suspect you might need some new thermal pads. Mine idles at 40c and runs hot at 70.

 

That's the pricetag what I could find at least

 

At those prices you can get a fancy Ublox. If you hold out a bit and keep searching for used OEM Leadtek, like I mentioned in a previous post, you can find cheaper. It's not as good as the Ublox but it's pretty decent. I can 3D lock to at least 10 sats while driving.

 

No searches right now...
I am not at 100%. I am trying to limit my involvement on things in order to get my head back together.

 

Something you need to watch out for, is the seller incuding all the cables. Most don't .
Here is a good buy. http://m.ebay.com/itm/GPS-kit-4-Pan...%3A163163a715e0aa47cc7c54a4ffe9be52%7Ciid%3A1

 

Oh wow toughasnails, that's what I've been looking for. I will probably purchase it after payday. Considering the length/resourcefulness(not sarcastic) of this thread, I do hope that many of you will help me install it?

 

Sure. There are at least 2 videos on Youboob that I watched to help with my install a few months ago. It's very easy.

 

I would also need help from the software side.

Yes... I am very new to this kind of technology.

 

yeah ...
there are a couple of *test* programs (we don't need no stinkin' apps) that are good to have to make sure that a gps module is installed/working correctly .
these will also let you know something about the accuracy and S/N ratio (signal to noise) .

personally , i have not liked the "lookin' sideways" mounting scheme of the factory gps antenna on the '19s .
this is counterintuitive to what i learned over 40 years ago .
but , then again , there have been some girls i have gone out with that i didn't think i would like ...
seemed that their engineering was a tad messed up , but , they turned out to *work* ok when it came right down to it .

 

I ended up ordering the GPS Unit from the e-bay link. Thanks! I will bug you again when I have it.

In the mean while I can entertain you with that the toughbook proudly left a ding on my friend's car when I forgot it on top of his car, and cracked a toenail off of me, and apparently it is very champagne proof as well as waterproof.

Earlier at a dinner, I opened a bottle of champagne and a lot of spills went onto the toughbook.

So far, CF-19 Mk6 is certainly an everyday-laptop. The only times I don't take it with me is when I am taking my T430 with me in its new home (otterbox 7030)

 

I demonstrate toughbooks every week by dropping it about 2 feet and standing on the lid, while its running. I weigh right at 270. Never fails to impress.

 

things you think you read :
"Earlier at a dinner, I opened a bottle of champagne and a lot of pills went onto the toughbook."
well , that would explain how the '19 managed to whistle off of the car and bounce off of your toes !

 

The GPS hardware has been installed, software wise... I am going throughthe list here:
http://www.maps-gps-info.com/fgpfw.html#Windows

also some of the threads posted here before. So far, I'm not sure if the GPS is working right, or if I am doing things right. Everything is reading the GPS from COM 3 port.The problem is that the information that gets fed to the software makes no sense. Maybe other than the fact that it can see 12 satellites

 

Well, the unit works, the embarrassing solution: walking outside
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/cf-19-mk2-gps.789481/page-2

 

That list you posted would choke a horse. (Friendly ranch saying)

Narrow it down by:
Windoze or Linux?

My Linux uses:
.wine
Winfast Navigator (loaded with .wine windows program loader.)
USAPhotomaps (It's best for my purposes 7 1/2' topo maps)

On the rare occasion I take Windoze outside I use Navigator for testing and USAPM.

I'm a Fire Chief, very rural ....and these work for me. Not recommending USAPM anymore at MSMaps quit building the tiles. Before they went off line I saved maps of the whole county plus a little.

Some folks like Openstreetmaps. I don't care about streets so I always go back to the topos.

Our department helps to cover a bunch of unimproved private, federal and state lands. (roughly 2,000,000 acres) and has 25 miles of improved (gravel/dirt road) No pavement. Some of our medical calls are helicopter medivac. It's handy to have the ability to sit on the end of the road and use the cursor to pin-point gps locations several miles away......enough of that.

With a laptop you can download your maps and not have to be online if you are in the same area all the time. Yeah everybody, it's doable with a cell phone but I can SEE the detail on a CF-31. There's a CF-19 in the fire truck right now though.

Bed time. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Using_OpenStreetMap

 

Well, I am spending more time on Windows 7 than on Linux these days, simply because I need the CAD software and things run smoother on CF-19.

There are few purpose for my CF-19 GPS:
1.Navigating through unknown streets. Switzerland, Germany,U.K. and some parts of Canada at mostly walking speeds with no wireless access.
2. I am planning a big of a crazy trip sailing across the Atlantic ocean a Car battery and solar panel would cover power, but I will need navigation up and running.
3. just plain old exploring the Alps and other mountains.

I am trying to download some maps here after I re-arrange partition sizes, since maps are larger in size than I thought
http://free-map-gps.com/gps-maps-of-the-world.html

 

the rule of thumb with high freq RF :
"if you can't see 'em , you can't work 'em"
obviously this excludes optically opaque things that allow the transmission of rf .
although , those fancy *metal film/vapor* coated windows will block microwave energy .
a quick look at the signal strength will show what is happening .

yessir ... those tiles , especially the ones with a resolution that is good enough to keep you from walking off of a cliff , are fair sized .
as of today , the data base for the program i use is about 3.5 gigs .
however , i need everything from a major overview to "where is the nearest cafe ?" and how do i (usually) walk there .
this data base covers 90% of minnesnowta and a portion of three other states .

i tried a gps/nav program that was/is under development ... it showed much promise .
i was in communication with the developer/coder and he has interests outside of coding that take precedence .
the major feature of his program was the ability to stash the "google maps" tiles and it made a record of the missing tiles in an area skimmed over as well as the resolution required .
the ability to dl in real time on the fly or later on while having a cup of coffee was a nice feature .
the downloading was click-n-go .
i have not heard from him for quite some time .

i am considering using a flash drive to stash the data bases on .
this will make cloning the data as well as updating it much easier .

@SM ...
another expression i have heard since i was a kid :
" ... more'n you can shake a stick at"

 

I must agree M$ is best for GPS at this point.

The stored google maps are huge-ish. Definitely SD card worthy.

FYI strictly educational here is what I call tiles ....roughly <1/2 mile square with the .ptr being the location information used by USAPM. Mendocino County California fits on 17% of a 4G stick.

 

is M$ free? where can I get it?