New thin 12.1" hi-res notebook: the CF-SX1

Panasonic just released a new 12.1" notebook - the CF-SX1

‚«”\ | ƒŒƒbƒcƒm[ƒgCF-SX1 | ƒpƒ\ƒRƒ“i–@lŒü‚¯j| Panasonic

It seems to be the successor to the S-series and is finally a bit thinner (25mm) and offers impressive runtime (>90Wh for over 16h).

What surprises me is the 12.1"-panel with 1600x900 resolution.

Panel-quality has always been a weak point of Panasonic - what do we know about this exotic panel-type?

They also offer a version without optical drive (NX1) but maybe it would be wise to wait for the IvyBridge-successor? Let's see how long my Sony still lasts...

 

Oh my, only 2 weeks with my C1, and I see this coming....

the link above doesn't seem to work for me, but this works Google Translate

I bought my C1 instead of X220 mainly because of the low res panel (768p), even tough there is a IPS option, i7, best keyboard, usb3, etc.

Now it seems this SX1 could fix the main issue I see with Pannys in general - the screen; resolution is 1600x900 - perfect for 12", 13.3", 14") and that HD+ mention hopefully means some kind of IPS, or at least wider color gamut.

16hrs, sub 1.4kg weight, i5-2540, USB3, DVD, WiMAX, SSD, rugged, 4yrs warranty, leaf-type KB - yummy !

 

For me it's about build quality and reliability - Foxconn/Quanta/Wintek-made crap failed too often.

The screen quality will be interesting, it seems to an entirely new panel - never heard of a 1600x900 12.1" !?

One question: is the whole body magnesium? The older CF-W8 of mine was cheap plastic on top (surrounding keyboard and handrest) - how is it with the newer models?
@gear6 Which material is your C1 made of?

 

usually 1600x900 panels are 16:9 (go figure) and are 12.5" not 12.1". a bit weird.
It's not the first time Panasonic does this - there was a XGA PV500 PDP which had 'wide' pixels in order to be 16:9 and not 4:3 as with square pixels...

The C1 seems very light for its volume/size, they say it's magnesium, but on one corner, a bit of wear revealed smth like white plastic. Maybe, it's part Mg, part ABS plastic, don't know.

 

Another nice unit that probably won't make it out of Japan

 

Found a video of them dropping it...: —Ž‰ºŽŽŒ± | CF-SX1 | Panasonic

 

I like that guy's expression - FLAT, like flat on the (hardwood) floor.

 

You can tell by closely inspecting the side where to upper and lower shell meets. Scratch over it with your finger or try to deform it, Mg has several times higher stiffness than high-quality plastics. The Mg-display-cover is heavily painted and doesn't feel like metal...

I've found some Japanese dealers which ship to US and Germany - our only chance despite the cost. In Germany Panasonic is hardly available at all and much more expensive.

 

While it's easy to get a laptop from Japan (pricejapan.com, rakuten, etc), it seems to me the price starts at ?asahi.com???????CF-SX1 ????? - (?????? ??????????? ????)????????????????? for the SX1 which is astonishing, as the B-10 starts at ????????????PANASONIC CF-B10EWADR?A-PRICE????? at only 116000.

 

Am I the only one here who wants the R&D/Development/Manufacturing money they spent building a MACHINE TO DROP LAPTOPS?!?!


mnem
Building machines to break stuff. Sounds like my line of work.

 

I got to see a B10 a week or so ago, They seem REALLY sturdy and well built.

 

There a dozens of different models within a series, the price range of the B10 alone is incredible - but the strong yen is not helping, either... But what can we do? What international dealers are there?

A nice article:
http://translate.google.de/translat.../pcuser/articles/1201/26/news003.html&act=url

And some photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/n00bs/sets/72157629027598737/with/6761004303/

 

I personally don't think this will make it to America.

 

As for international dealers, I doubt you can beat http://pricejapan.com. I am not associated with them, I am just a satisfied customer, they sent me a surprisingly affordable CF-Y5 couple years back (just after the CF-Y7 came out)

As for price range, there are a bewildering amount of B10 models out there, some only differing in coming with Office and Windows 64. In order of appearance, skipping the configuration, price for the first few ones as they not interesting / different much:

CF-B10AWADR
CF-B10AWHDR
CF-B10PWYYS

CF-B10CWADR
CF-B10CWHDR Core i5 2520M 2.5GHz, 1920x1080, 4GB, 640 GB, 1.88 kg, ¥ 106,980

CF-B10BWJYS Core i7 2620M 2.7GHz, 1920x1080, 250 GB, 4GB, 1.88 kg

USB 3.0 from here on:

CF-B10EWADR Core i5 2540M 2.6GHz, 1920x1080, 4GB, 640 GB, 1.88 kg, ¥ 109,289
CF-B10EWCYS Core i5 2540M 2.6GHz, 1920x1080, 4GB, 640 GB, 1.87 kg, ¥ 156,600
CF-B10EWHDR Core i5 2540M 2.6GHz, 1920x1080, 4GB, 640 GB, 1.88 kg, ¥ 174,800
CF-B10TWRYS Core i3 2330M 2.2GHz, 1366x768, 2GB, 250GB HDD, 1.74 kg, ¥ 129,800
CF-B10TWYYS Core i3 2330M 2.2GHz, 1366x768, 2GB, 250GB HDD, 1.68 kg, ¥ 146,958

Premiums (1920x1080, 8GB, 256GB SSD):

CF-B10WD3DP Core i7-2675QM 2.2GHz, 1.92 kg ¥ 284,250
CF-B10FD3DP Core i7 2640M 2.8GHz, 1.76 kg, ¥ 315,500
CF-B10UD3DP Core i7 2675Qm 2.2GHz, 1.92 kg ¥335,500
CF-B10DD3DP Core i7 2620M 2.7GHz, 1.76 kg, no price found
CF-B10BDBDP no price found, and seems the specs don't match Premium. Skipped.

Seems the CF-B10EWADR is a good choice, less than 1600 USD to USA shipped.

 

They started delivery:
Google Übersetzer

Has anyone ordered one? When I see those images, I'm convinced that it is the right decision besides price or design to boycott Chinese sweat-shops.

 

Dynamism has it: Dynamism - Panasonic SX Series

Notice that the "Tech Specs" says the Premium models use an English-only keyboard!

 

boy, i wish i have the money to burn......

 

if the b10 would have a handle, it would be an option for me...

 

Looks very interesting and is a strong contender for my next laptop. I'm not looking to buy right this minute though. I do also like the Fujitsu P series. This looks slightly better than the P771 and i like that the colour options are more widly available. The lack of a webcam put me off Panasonic notebooks in the past and so did the screen res. I particularly like smaller notebooks 10.1-12.1". This seems to tick all my boxes.

 

I think Panasonic will eventually bring it to the States. The S10 made it over, so did the S9 that came before it.

As for now, it seems like the SX1 has popped up on Dynamism. Anyone getting/have one? Its very expensive, but its amazing what Panasonic has managed to fit into a sub 2.5lbs 1 inch thick notebook.

 

There's also Conics ( http://conics.net). Most of my laptops have come from there or Dynamism since 1994. I have the Japanese S9 Premium which had different specs than what came out here as the S. I also have the J9 and J10. The J10 rocks (come on - i7-2620M and 16GB in 10.1"?!?!?!). But Windows 8 Server and SQL Server 2012 look like dog poo on it due to 1366x768. Other than that, it's the best laptop I've owned and if I need to use Windows 8 more, I may eventually get a NX1 (the SX1 minus the DVD drive).

As for the keyboard, it's a Japanese keyboard with the Kana characters removed. Sony's CTO builds from Japan offer a real US keyboard. Panasonic, no. So you'd still need to adjust. A lot of my laptops have had a Japanese keyboard so I'm used to them by now and they're more normal to me than US ones at this point.

I really need to sell my Japanese S9 as well my original J9 since I'm not really using them.

 

Cool!

Perhaps you could get the appropriate keyboard stickers to overcome the keyboard language issue - http://stores.ebay.com.sg/thebeststickers4keyboard

 

OMG, that sounds like the ultimate ultraportable laptop! I wish it were much much cheaper than $3,886.80 though: SHOP Conics : Panasonic Toughbook CF-NX1 i7 2640M 2.8GHz CF-N10FVKDP

 

Lol, am I missing something (I can't read Japanese but---) it appears the SX1 models on that first site you quoted are in the $1.2-$1.5K USD range. Whereas, I go to an official USA distributor and prices for similar models start at $2.7K???

 

Oooh my cf-19 was 4400 euro's. That's around 6000 USD. it has a dual screen wwan and not much more exciting. I think that can be had a whole lot cheaper in Japan. But then add shipping, 20% custom duties over the Japanese price a d the shipping cost and then add 19% VAT over the total price (so that is yens shipping and custom duties) and you're also a looking at a lot of money. And then who's gonna service it? And the yen is pretty expensive right now.

 

There are the regular and premium models. The premium models have better specs. Those are the ones that start out over $3k US.

 

I don't have a keyboard issue.

 

When all was said and done, my J10 was way more than that but worth every penny.

 

i need to find the vid of my driveing my truck steer tire on my cf-30 not a pick up was a 08 FREIGHTLINER COLUMBIA dd60 with 150gal forward set fuel tanks only at 1/4 tank well you get the idea

 

I am the one who minds Japanese/English keyboards. Good to know that it's possible to get keyboard stickers.

 

The CF-SX2 and CF-NX2 have come out, and the prices of the SX1 and NX1 have dropped quite a bit:

SHOP Conics : Panasonic Toughbook CF-SX1 core i5 black

SHOP Conics : Panasonic Toughbook CF-NX1 core i5 with web cam