New CF-18 Owner: Questions

Hello All,

Let me start off by saying that this is a great site! I have recently acquired a CF-18 MK2 with the following specifications and I have a few questions.

Model No: CF-18DHAZXKM
Serial No: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
CPU Type: Intel ®Pentium ® M Processor 1100 MHz
CPU Speed: 1.10 GHz
BIOS: U2.00L14
Embedded Controller: U2.00L14
System Memory: 768 Mb
Primary Master: 40 Gb
PC2100 DDR SDRAM

I have ordered a few missing plastic doors and such from eBay as well I have ordered the GPS/Bluetooth kit from Custom-Toughbook off eBay as well.

Q-1: My understanding is that I am only able to upgrade the RAM to 1Gb? Is it worth the time and money to do this as I am only gaining 256 Mb? If this is a good idea does anyone have a lead on where to purchase this RAM for a reasonable price?

Q-2: What is the maximum primary master memory I can install in this Toughbook, and where would I find it at a reasonable price?

Q-3: Is the rubber backlit keyboard a worthwhile upgrade? I have seen them on eBay from $100 to $200?

Thanks for the help!!!

 

Description: Pentium M 1.1GHz(Centrino), 10.4" Touch Screen Hi-bright Transmissive XGA, 40GB HDD, 256MB RAM, Intel 802.11b+g, Dual pass through antenna, WIN XP

Your CF-18 has 256MB of ram on the motherboard, it has been upgraded with a extra 512 stick, that is where you 768mb comes from. You can take that stick out and put a 2100pc 1GB stick of ram for a total of 1.25gb ram. I am sure there is a member or two here that will have a stick of ram, if not there is always ebay. Just look for a good brand name.

I have three CF-18's with the rubber keyboard, back lit is fine but if you type a lot it can irritate you as you have to press the keys harder. You can get use to it.

I am a little behind in the CF-18 gps install on my thread but there will be pictures soon.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/651584-panasonic-toughbook-cf-18-thread-faq.html

 

Q3, unless you want to crawl in the mud, dig in the sand and work constantly in the driving rain, do not think about the rubber keyboard.
I have all three keyboards for my 19 and the chicklet backlit is the best. It's water proof, also backlit and I can type the fastest on that one. The rubber keyboard is just not impossible to type on, but close to it.
Just my 0.02

 

HEY, I see this guide for gps is back up with pictures, it was down a while back.

Guide: Installing OEM GPS Kit in Panasnic CF-18

 

Would this RAM be ok?

1GB (1X1GB) Memory RAM for Panasonic Toughbook cf-18dhazxkm | eBay

What about memory? What is the max I can install?

 

With the 1GB stick you would have the max. 1.25 GB of ram for that model. I think that will work. If not you can send it back as they have it listed for that model.

 

Ok great thanks for the info....
What about memory? 60gb, 120gb ?

 

Hard drive space? Depends on how much storage space you need and how fast of a drive you want.

 

GMC - Welcome to the forum..

Go ahead and start thinking about now what your next toughbook will be, it will save you some time and allow you to shop now for bargins. If you wait until you realize your addicted to them, trying to score another toughbook on ebay at 2am will be more expensize. Also, dont expect the guys here to be supportive or to help you kick the habbit, theyre more of a co-dependancy sort. Oh, and on the cf-18, it probubly has a Intel 2100 wifi card, so you'll want to upgrade that to a Intel 2915 or the Engenious 8602 Plus S card. See what I mean..................

 

I would like more than 40 gb for sure......and as fast as possible.
Any suggestions......?

 

I found this one on Ebay.....250 Gb

250GB Hard Drive for Panasonic Toughbook CF 18 27 28 29 37 45 47 48 50 51 72 73 | eBay

Would this be the best and cheapest way to go?

 

That drive is only 5400 RPM...if you want a bigger drive then I would look for a 7200RPM

 

perhaps a 120Gb SSD is within budget? Not as large, but I don't know what your requirements are for size. If it's big enough and within budget, it would really make nice improvement in start-up speed and the speed at which programs open, close, write data etc.
Like this one:
120 GB OCZ Vertex Plus SSD SATA II 2.5" TRIM 250 MB/s | eBay

 

Your CF-18 uses an ATA/IDE hard drive so if you want to use a SSD you will have to use an adapter or pay big bucks for an ATA drive . There are several threads here on the adapters and members have had mixed success with them.
CAP

 

darn, that is true. Forgot about that!

 

Um....so the ssd drive link you provided will not fit inside the toughbook?

Does anyone have a link to a ssd drive that will fit inside the toughbook and work without adapters?

 

Sorry, afaik only sata SSD's are made.

 

There are IDE SSDs but they are scarce, tend to be low capacity, and are very expensive per GB. There are some good adapters available, try searching the forum using this link:
TEST site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic
Replace the word "TEST" with what you are looking for, maybe "SATA to ADA/IDE adapter" or similar. This is as much information as you're getting out of me. Read the stickies at the beginning of the forum!!
CAP

 

Isn't the IDE so slow that it would defeat the use of a ssd other than being shock-proof?

 

GMC....welcome to the forum.

Probably NOT what you want to hear....but the BEST & CHEAPEST way to go is to start with reading the forum stickies & then use the search tool (linked above) for previous posts on the same topic.

Example....the stock drive in the CF-18 MK2 gives access times of around 22ms & depending on which benchmark utility used, average transfer rates of around 20MB/sec....A good Pata SSD in comparison gives access times of 0.2ms & average transfer rates around 70MB/sec....so if your pockets are deep enough, you can end up with a CF-18 that resembles greased lightening.

All the information is in the forum....you have to supply your own shovel.

o.g.

 

The 18's have a PATA (Parallel) drive and the 19's have SATA (Serial) drives. I use a WD PATA Scorpion Blue in my 18, 500GB, with WinXP Tablet. In my 19, I use a Sandisk 250GB SSD. Big difference in the 2 drives. If you want a bigger drive for your 18, look at the PATA's from WD at BestBuy. They had good prices on these brand new. As far as I know, it would be difficult to go from PATA to SATA internally.

 

I have a 500 GB external hard drive. I am looking for about 120 GB of internal memory that is a fast as possible.... Any suggestions?

 

I had a WD 320Gb in my CF-18, that worked just fine for me

 

Look for a Hybrid drive. They have SSD on the front end to speed up boot times, but still use the trusty old spinning disk. I know they make one for SATA, not sure about PATA. That will speed up thing super! I first used the Hybrid, then went all the way with the SSD!!!! Still don't know if you can use SATA, but I think not with the 18's..... ????

 

All versions of CF-18 need IDE (Parallel ATA) drives. There are a few IDE SSD's around but older ones are smaller sizes. I've found 32 GB Transcend brand new with JMicron controllers that work great. KingSpec makes IDE SSD in sizes up to 64GB but they don't seem to run as well/fast. I've seen some Super Talent IDE SSD's up to 64GB possibly bigger but have not tried one (yet ).

 

Check this out Use LARGE SATA HARD DRIVES with our adapter for Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 caddy | eBay . The seller is a member of this forum and if I am right he said this will work in a 18. Check out his design...its not like the others on ebay.

 

I think the problem here will be size. The 29 caddy is way bigger, and by the looks of the photo's, it is going to be higher than what the 18 will allow. Those 18's and 19's are pretty compact when it comes to the caddy. If someone else knows more, please share.... I also would love to put a SATA in my 18 and run win 7 32 bit.......

 

I sent him a PM. So we can find out if he has tried it or not.

 

I've purposely not posted a link ....the easy way is Pata without the need for a Pata to Sata adapter....the problem is, some of the drives available are complete garbage but you'll find a Glossy Brochure Review saying they are good to go.

It's a Mine Field....be careful where you tread.

o.g.

 

Our adapter (or anyone else's) will not work with cf-18 (not enough space in the caddy)

sorry

 

Ok, so if you needed about 120 Gb of storage in your CF-18 MK2 and wanted it as fast as “Possible”…..What would you buy?

 

I bought a 1gb ram off eBay for my cf18 and when I put it in nothing happened...the laptop wouldn't even turn on....
Am I missing a step? As I thought you just plug it in and good to go?

 

You might have a bad stick of ram or you could try installing it again just to be sure it was locked in place...did the 18 give you any beeps

 

I don't remember if I got any beeps? But I paid around $35 and now the seller wants me to pay shipping to send it back to him! I think I will throw it in the garbage and move on. Any help on finding someone who will sell me a GOOD 1gb stick of ram?

 

I have found some ram that won't work in toughbooks, but will work fine in other laptops. I have the worse luck with the "no name" cheap ram. Now I try to stick with the good brand name ram and have had much better luck. What type/brand of ram did you get?

 

Here is the link to the eBay product and seller.

Look at this on eBay:

LtMemory 1GB (1X1GB) Memory RAM for Panasonic Toughbook cf-18dhazxkm

http://bit.ly/SZ7O0m

 

Yep, that looks like that cheap overseas no-name ram. I have a 2gb stick of it in the drawer I can't use in my Toughbooks right now. Same problem, won't boot with it in there. My first experience with that cheap no-name ram I purchased a 128mb stick for a CF-28 Mk2. It worked fine. I picked up 4 more sticks. The new sticks had a different batch number and wouldn't work. I later tried the ram in two different T22 Thinkpads and the ram that wouldn't work in the Toughbook worked fine in the Thinkpad. Just looking on ebay right now here is a couple of deals if I needed ram I would purchase for myself.

512 MB
SAMSUNG 512MB 512 MB DDR PC2100 266MHz Sodimm Laptop Memory | eBay

Memory 512MB PC2100 PC 2100 DDR 512 MB DDR IBM 38L3904 ELPIDA ^ | eBay

1GB
1GB PC2100 DDR266 Laptop RAM Notebook Memory ..... Samsung .... Great Deal! | eBay

1GB DDR PC2100S (266) 200 Pin LAPTOP MEMORY By KINGSTON > Free Domestic Shipping | eBay

Now look at the ram I posted. Some are double stack and others are single stack ram chips. Most Toughbooks are single stack type.

 

And both of you two links for 1gb ram will work in a CF-18?

 

Just ordered the Kingston ram....

 

I’ve had good experience with Kingston. Hope this does the trick for you.

Just my 0.02, but IMHO it's not worth the risk of buying cheap no-name memory. In the past this no-name memory was made with chips that were discarded by the big brands as second grade. Don't know if that still happens, but there aren't that many chip/ram makers in the world.
So after a few annoying experiences with bad/cheap memory I usually buy original memory or the big brands like Kingston Crucial (or Hynix in Apples). I bought 4Gb from Panasonic for my TB. It’s more expensive but I’m sure it works and as the dealer did also install this for me, I can be sure they won’t bother me when I need support/guarantee.
For me this laptop is my work machine and if it stops working, my company stops working (selfemployed), so I might look a bit different to this.

 

Yes the Kingston should work. Both links was to show there was a difference in the ram on the chips. I have used the double row chips before and have also have had them not work. As long as everything else was right I have always had the single row ram sticks work.

 

Good food for thought.....thanks for the help.

 

Nope the kingston ram didnt work either......once installed the unit will not turn on? Am I missing a step?

 

Ok lets back up a bit..when you bought it what did it have in it for memory and did it start up. With this new memory out will the 18 start up ?

 

it had a 512 stick of ram in it and yes it works fine. But when I pull out the 512MB stick and out in the 1GB stick the laptop will not turn on. I have not tryed to pull the 512MB ram and start-up without it as I dont think that will get me any answers.

 

If you can post pictures of your 512 chip and of the 1gb sticks.