New To The Forum Introducing Myself

Hey guys,

I recently had to blast out my girlfriends father's Panasonic CF-29 and reinstall Windows XP and all the drivers on it. I had been lately giving some thought to buying a netbook as a cheap knock around laptop for just word processing and web browsing. After messing around with the toughbook I thought it would have plenty of power for what I was looking for. So I started doing some research into the varies models seeing what's come out since the CF-29, what the cost is for more powerful newer machines, and what is out there in the modification world. I stumbled upon this website and it's wealth of information and after more reading here I decided I had to have one.

Perused around eBay and ending up finding a CF-29 1.3Ghz, 512MB of ram missing the hard drive and caddy for $115. Seemed like a decent machine to build up, modify, and make a project out of. After all have the fun is making a project better than you got it. I'm planning on upgrading it bit by bit, starting of course with a hard drive and caddy probably a Western Digital Scorpio 320GB, than hopefully DVD-RW, 1.5gGb of ram, and GPS. Have really been toying with the idea of a Linux build, I'm a big fan of Linux for lower power older machines that you want to do simple things like web browsing and word processing with.

On a side note Azrial if you end up reading this, I'm the same Dirk Pitt from Shooting A to Z and it's nice to see a familiar face. I was talking to Al on the phone the other day about the idea of a toughbook and he told me I should talk to you about them as you were a big fan. Funny that I should find the forum you've been contributing on.

Anyway guys just wanted to introduce myself and say that this forum is an excellent wealth of information and I hope to learn some more and hopefully contribute what knowledge I have, though I doubt I could provide anything you folks haven't already toyed with in one form or another.

 

Read the sticky's first so you don't go buying parts that are not compatible
Buy as complete a cf-29 as you can afford , the add-ons add up fast
And welcome to the forum

 

Welcome aboard to the best forum on the web, and the best, most helpful group of guys you will ever find!

Take Kittycat's suggestion to heart. It will save you a boat load of headaches and $$.

 

Hey Dirk, small World Wide Web! Yep, I am the same Azrial! Welcome to the board, the areas I can be most helpful are the links in my sig.

This board is one of the two best Toughbook resources on the Internet and has some of the best people available on on the subject. Most problems can and have been solved here. I would suggest taking the time to read all the stickies as that will save you a lot of agravation and money!

Good luck with your quest, Al is correct, I have been very happy with mine.

 

Yes ask questions to the seller (pleas add to this if I left some out)

*Was this machine completely functional?
*Have you witnessed this machine power up past BIOS?
*Is the cord included and if not can you sell me one?
*Is there a stick of ram in the machine?
*Ask them what the model number is to compare their specs.

 

This is a very important question to ask.

Once you get the answer, post the complete Model Number (CF-29Exxxxxx) back to this thread.

 

it may not be as much fun upgrading your particular laptop with different options or getting it complete and running, but it seems like it is cheaper sometimes to know what you want and then just buy it complete. but that's too simple, we all bought and built ours and experimented and pulled out hair,invented new words and subsequently fell in love with these trusty old laptops....you have been warned.............Driller

 

hehehehe... Good luck is what I always say!

 

"This will not be your last Toughbook purchase" is what I laughed at when I joined. Planning on what my 5th Toughbook should be as we speak.

 

I love my toughbook was gonna get a new regular laptop but I saw a refurbed toughbook instead, i don't think I can go back

 

Welcome to the Forum!, am I to assume you are a Clive Cussler fan?

 

That's pretty much the heart of it right there, if it was easy it wouldn't be any fun.

Yessir, Clive Cussler is what really got me into reading.

Appreciate all the help and advice guys.

 

Welcome aboard! The WWW is a big, big place... But sometimes a small world. Especially on stuff that works! (Guns, Toughbooks, etc) Azrial is one of our best contributors and is about as good as anyone else here to be able to answer questions... Be careful though... He knows his stuff and (See below)

I remember when you joined.... I think 3-4 of us said that... Now you know the disease.... M - U - S - T have Toughbook!

 

Got it today.

CF-29PWQGZBM

BIOS say it's got a 1.6GHz processor and 512MB of RAM with a CD/DVD combo drive. It's also got a rubber keyboard on it which was pleasant surprise. Exterior has definitely seen some use and the back panel cover is missing, but everything seems operable.

So I went on the toughbook wiki and deciphered the model number as best I could, seems to be when of the last faster more optioned models. I believe it didn't come with any WiFi or any other communications provisions. Also seems like it had a floppy disk that was swapped out for a DVD drive at some point.

Now to find a hard drive caddy that doesn't cost more than the computer LOL.

 

Maybe ..Maybe not
I used the rubber backlit keyboard for the first couple of years ,
then I learned to type with 2 fingers and the hard keystrokes started slowing me down lol

You can purchase and install a Intel 2915ABG card or the engenius card as your federal model should have the wi-fi antennas

 

Before you pull the bottom off or after if you did it already be aware that you should smoosh the thermal pads together a tiny bit or if they are too crumbly replace them. If you need a 2915 card let me know. I have a spare. And I could drop a bit of thermal pad in the envelope as well. It's from Frozen CPU. I think I have a 2915.
Or you may just want to go hog wild (sorry Az) and pick up an engenius card.
I could send you a wifi card Thursday. The mailman had a wild look in his eye today and broken tire chains flopping around. I guess the road isn't clear yet up north. Should be better tomorrow as it's raining hard right now.

Jeff
0351

 

Model Number: CF-29PWQGZBM
Status: DISCONTINUED
MSRP: $4,630
Description: Intel Pentium M 778 1.6GHz LV (Centrino), 13.3" XGA Touch Screen, 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD, NON-WIRELESS, Windows XP Pro SP2, Rubber Backlit Keyboard, TPM1.2 , No Optical Drive

 

So far all you need is a standard KB, HD caddy and a wireless card annnnnd some Wiha screwdrivers.

Jeff
0351

 

Appreciate the offer Gork! Shoot me an email at [email protected] since I don't think I can PM yet. Is that 0351 in reference to USMC Infantry Assaultman? I'm an 0311 reservist. As far as Wihas do I need anything beyond the 7 piece slotted and phillips set?

On another noted I was using an Ubuntu 10.10 CD to test out the rig and have been unable to get the touchscreen to function. Also couldn't get any sound out of the speaker, but the headphone jacked worked just fine. I suspect a speaker is pretty cheap, touch screen might be a bit more pricey.

 

I'll shoot you a line tomorrow. I had speaker issues that went on and on with Mark 4 and Mark 5 instantly fixed with official Panasonic restore disks. Amazing.
Another thing if you dual boot and shut sound off in say XP it will be off and stay off until turned on in the same OS.
At a minimum you need 000, 00 and 0. I'll check the sizes.(Phillips)

Jeff

 

Ya I figure I can't be sure of anything until I install Windows and reinstall all the drivers. I've got a folder full of all the drivers I used working on my girlfriends father's toughbook. Managed to get all the drivers installed and everything working correctly last time, that's always a mess without original restore disks.

So far this is looking to be all the project I had hopped for.

 

00/0/1 and a big old normal size2 will cover it