My Toughbook has been replaced!!

Well... I really liked my CF-30.
But this DELL E6420 XFR BEAST just slaughters it....
Still waiting for my MEDIA Bay Module that gives me USB 3.0 ports and my shoulder strap.

I received it yesterday and so far I hate the keyboard... But the doors on all the ports lock REALLY WELL, and some have a second slide lock to keep them from accidentally opening.

Everything seems SOLID as all hell...
The SSD seems nice and speedy.

The bumpers on the corners are GINORMOUS...

 

Good luck getting replacement parts... lol

Looks good though!

 

I KNOW!!!
PARTS HAVE BEEN A ROYAL PAIN ALREADY!!!

It arrived and the hinge to the AC port was bent...
I spent 50 MINUTES on the phone with some lady in INDIA...
After telling her she was full of sh*t, I will be receiving my new door tomorrow..

I thought my 30 was a TANK... this thing.... Is much more...

Now I have 3 SSDs I need to use or sell since I pulled them from my 30 and my Lenovo!

 

Betcha you can take the armor plating off an Abrams and it'll fit.

 

Funny thing I have been comparing it to an M1 Abrams!

 

Now that you have a Dell as your primary machine, you are no longer welcome here...

Kidding

 

pppppppppppppppppppp

 

Wow, looks really bad@ss, I like the look of it a lot except for all the screw holes but I'd imagine that makes for easier repair.

 

I kinda like the screw holes (insert any joke here).
They are ALL THE SAME SCREW SIZE!!!

 

FYI: Michaəl Dəll is the "fathər" of moving Customər Support off-shorə to India.

 

True story! REALISTICLY, there are VERY few computer companies that still have US call centers and US support by people that actually know how to speak English, not some stupid Babba dee baaa booo Indian guy...

Panasonic
SMALL PARTS of IBM

*Crickets...*

P.S, you can't use wikipedia because they shut there site down to support the petition to end net neutrality...

 

... actually if you took off the banner=info string off the URL, Wikipedia worked just fine!

So Dell has the XFR next to a FRS radio. Should Panasonic put a CF-31 next to an Moto APX7k? They cost about the same! Latitude E6420 XFR Rugged Laptop ? Military Grade and Heavy Duty | Dell




Be right back, I gotta be on hold for 30mins to talk to a call centre in India where it'll take 5 minutes to "verify" my account and the spelling of my name and address in order to ask a 1 minute question that'll be drawn out to 10 because I have to go through the troubleshooting process of turning the computer off and back on again.

 

Oh no....
My AC door hinge was bent a little bit, its held on with TWO screws...
The lady in INDIA was insisting that the whole bottom of the laptop needed to be changed out... Even after I unscrewed it and sent her pictures of it in my hand using my Iphone... They ended up sending me a door, after a 50min phone call... They sent two doors by accident. I can handle that.. 25 min per door for $0

Now the other guy I talked to for 32 min about another units battery kept wanting me to test the LCD until I lost my temper....

The E6420 is around $1500+ in the OUTLET.
You can get an i7 with a 256GB SSD for about $1700

 

Well... After a few weeks of playing with my DELL..
I can honestly say, I don't think I will ever use another Toughbook!
Installed a second SSD (256) in it and Bluetooth and a USB 3.0 expresscard and this baby is rocking!
Only thing I'd want now is a Gorilla Glass multi-touch screen, but wouldn't we all?

The only moving part is the fan/blast furnace/space heater that comes on sometimes... Makes a nice hand warmer here in MI....

If you got the same config new, it's $5500+
Grab one at the outlet for about $1600....

 

Please keep us up to date about how this laptop fares over time. The whole reason I got hooked on Toughbooks is for their reliability. I have not had any problems beyond a hard drive tanking on me and it was replaced under warranty. I admit I did lose data (nothing crucial), but that was my fault for not backing up often enough. Personally I've never had any luck with Dell, desktop or laptop. For me, Dells have always tanked fairly soon after the 1 year warranty is up.

Best of luck to you with this one though!

 

Aye... I loathe dells.. But this one, an the models similar have been solid machines.
This came from the outlet with a THREE year complete warranty..
We shall see....

 

I never really paid these much attention. Looking at them more I see they have a standard model and have the same basic thing in ATG (semi) and XFR (fully) trim. Is the motherboard and other internal components the same stuff just stuffed in a rugged case?

 

I think I saw somewhere in a review that it was....
Not sure...

 

I never could get my hands on an XFR to be 100% sure, but the semi-rugged ATG is definitely the same internals.

Overall, I would personally rather stick with the Panasonics. They made huge improvements to the whole Latitude line once they started making the XFR and ATG, but they still have a ways to go. My main complaint has been an ongoing issue with the LCDs. The adhesive that is used to bond the various layers starts leaking out over time making a sticky mess and leaving very visible bubbles in the LCD. They changed the screens again for the E6420s so time will tell, but I have seen the same issue on D620, D630, E6400, and E6410. Four different generations with same major defect and the only thing Dell would do for us is replace it with a new model laptop because the replacement parts were showing up leaking right out of the box!

 

I will HAVE to chime in here now that I finally have 30 minutes to write a review...

As some of you may know, I recently set my wife up with a Dell Latitude ATG E6420. If I must describe the computer in ONE word it would be: AWESOME. Here are a few reasons that we bought the ATG OVER the CF-53 when I upgraded my wife from the CF-19 from lowest to #1 reason:

8) Much needed things like Bluetooth, WIFI N and gigabit are all there.
7) Lighter. Although it isn't SUPER light like my new CF-C1 will be, it's MUCH lighter than the CF-53.
6) Magnesium alloy construction. Although Dell CLEARLY and obviously copied Panasonic here, it's just practical. Metal is ALWAYS better than plastic! PERIOD, end of story!
5) Web cam - they do put web cams in the 53's but they're FEW and VERY far between! She has to have this because her best friend is moving out of the country in 5 months!
4) Backlit keyboard. Not having a backlit keyboard is simply put: STUPID. You have to have it! The CF-53 has it, as does the Dell, so no change there. But, compared to other less capable Dells, the backlit keyboard is a GOOD feature!
3) GOBI 3000 card. Works great with our ATT account and the GPS works great too! Gotta have it!
2) Multi touch screen. Screen is simply gorgeous! Multi touch works GREAT, Although, *DOWNSIDE* - it is a FINGER ONLY touch. It's responsive to the electrodes in your finger, NOT to touch it's self! My wife is FINE WITH IT.
1) COST: Simple! The Dell, with the same specs as the CF-53 costs HALF of what the CF-53 costs! HALF!!, not a few hundreds bucks, not $500 bucks, HALF! $1250 less!

Hope this helps some to the VERY skeptical (and rightfully so) Toughbook group here! A few last thoughts are highlighted below:

1) Is it going to last as long as a Toughbook? HELL NO! Why would it? It's a DELL! it's not a Toughbook! we don't expect it to last more than 5 years and that's FINE since after 5 years we will buy a new laptop for her anyways!
2) Is it as durable as the CF-53? NO, I really don't think it is! Can water pass thru it like the 53? YES, it can, but for all intents and purposes, my wife does NOT need even a semi-rugged laptop like the Dell she has now is rated at!
3) Am I ashamed to admit that my wife doesn't have a Toughbook, and has something that everyone on here doesn't like? YES! I am very ASHAMED to admit it, HOWEVER, for her it's VERY practical! You would NEVER see me using a Dull laptop as my full time machine! That would be like watching hell freeze over... It simply won't happen!
4) Did Dell copy almost EVERYTHING down to the very screws that Panasonic uses in their laptop? HELL YES! Dell can't design a good laptop by themselves if someone is holding a gun to the main "engineers" head! Is a "rugged" Dell a copy from Panasonic in my opinion? YES! Very much so!
5) Last but not least: I find it HILLARIOUS that, JUST NOW, 10+ years later Dell is finding out that the stuff that Panasonic invented and manufactured and sold 10 years ago, is JUST NOW coming mainstream for this damn company! Panasonic is a pioneer in EVERYTHING they do, period, END of story! These Japanese people are so god damn smart, it simply boggles my mind!

CHEW ON THAT!

 

LOL!!!
Mine will play DIRT as well..
MW3 runs pretty well too!

 

8) Gigabit LAN, 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth come as standard on the CF-53. It also has USB3.0
7) CF-53 is approx 2.65kg (5.84lb), ATG E6420 is approx 2.69kg (5.92lb)
6) Can't fault that!
5) As you say, few people order the CF-53 with the webcam option.
4) The CF-53 is a desktop replacement unit, not a fully rugged unit, so no backlit keyboard. Can't fault the point though.
3) Can't comment, WWAN networks in Europe and the US are different. In Europe, the CF-53 comes with an Ericsson F5521GW modem if my memory is exact. What's the Panasonic option for WWAN on the CF-53 in the US?
2) Fair point, I'd only contend that multi-touch is useless at the moment, at least until Windows 8 comes along. In Dell's defence though (never quote those words at me again), when are you going to use multi-touch by not using your fingers? Holding two pens?
1) Couldn't possibly comment on this point!

 

Why I picked up a used Alienware M11X for around 350 to play games on at work. Getting into newer games and the I had done all the hacking and uppping on the graphics I could on the toughbooks with out stepping up to a Latest CF-52 or CF-31 with dedicated graphics.

 

The CF-53 is a desktop replacement unit, not a fully rugged unit, so no backlit keyboard. Can't fault the point though.

Not true at all dude. CF-53 can take an emmisive keyboard or even a rubber one if you'd like... even comes with it from the factory on some units.

Thanks

 

What bit are you contending?

The CF-53 is marketed as a semi-rugged desktop replacement unit (at least in Europe). It's designed to be fairly rugged, but not fully rugged - it's not meant in any way to be as rugged as a CF-19/31.

I don't think there is a backlit keyboard for the CF-53, but I might be wrong here or there may be differences in the EU/US market. Your original point indicated that there is no CF-53 backlit keyboard though? I know there are various keyboard options available, I couldn't remember specifically which when I wrote that, and a brief Google check agreed with me.

 

The CF-53 is marketed as a semi-rugged desktop replacement unit (at least in Europe). It's designed to be fairly rugged, but not fully rugged - it's not meant in any way to be as rugged as a CF-19/31. - Yes, I'm not arguing that, you are VERY right there

I don't think there is a backlit keyboard for the CF-53, but I might be wrong here or there may be differences in the EU/US market. Your original point indicated that there is no CF-53 backlit keyboard though? - I NEVER said that it couldn't handle a backlit keyboard man... The 53 in ANY market can handle a backlit keyboard. I have 53's in stock to proove it if you must insist. Addtionally, I think I worded it wrong, because the CF-53 DOES have a backlit keyboard capability just as the Dell does. I've revised the wording.

 

Does Dell still do that thing where they take a popular peripheral (printer, etc), have the OEM neuter it in some insidious way (less memory, etc), put an x after the model number, and sell it to their customers?

 

If you are talking about a POOR excuse for a "printer", YES, they re-brand Lexmarks garbage printers!

 

Ah right - just seen your revision. Misunderstood you! I'm not into arguing blindly though! - I'm perfectly happy taking your word for it. I struggle to remember every available option when I get home

On a little side note, as you say the backlit keyboard is available pretty much everywhere, but I think you can only get US-English on a backlit keyboard

 

Just don't drop it like Dell claims it will handle. Every review I have read found it to not hold up very well from drops.

 

Already done it... PLus isn't that what warranties are for!?

I have OS X LION on it right now and LOVING IT!!!

 

I'm not sure about that

I got a MBP a couple of months ago and I'm having the hardest time getting used to the OS. I am so freakin used to Windows....

 

Well... I tried VMWARE FUSION and Parallels virtualization software..
I heard Parallels had better performance, so I made a WIN7 VM, gave it 3GB of ram, and saw that I could allocate up to 1gb of RAM for VIDEO for 3D applications!?

For giggles, loaded up Modern Warfare 3 in the VM...
RUNS FANTASTICALLY IN A WINDOW AND FULLSCREEN...
IN A VM!!!

Yeah the OS is kind of a pain to deal with at first, and I have only ONE clients office that uses MAC, but they are Doctor types and very "high maintenance", I'd like to know my way around the OS without sitting there and looking like a retarded windows monkey..... Plus the least amount of time I am in there, the better...

 

I use Parallel's as well and it works great. Something about not using Lion and using windows on it makes me wonder why the heck I bought it! I guess I just need to use it more and learn.

 

For day to day use.. I'm finding OSX to be fine.. Most of the time my laptop is used for WEB use, R&D and once in a while R&R...
The fact that I can get some games to run in a VM just means one less reason to boot to my other SSD.