Newbie with a "hello" and a bunch of questions....

Hi. Great forum. I have looked around a little but haven't found all the answers I'm seeking.

I bought a gov't (police) surplus CF-28 P3 800 (CF28PCJAZEM-CS) with 531MHz, 500 megs of RAM, the basic keyboard, and a 27 gig HDD. It was in excellent condition with some minor cosmetic damage (see below). It had originally been loaded with Win98SE and still had the sticker (although the HDD was completely wiped for security purposes). Miraculously, it even came with all the rubber port covers intact, even though it was advertised as missing some. I have since installed a licensed copy of (plain ol' basic) XP. I filled the PC slots with a 3Com wireless LAN card and a Buffalo MCR-5 PC card reader/writer.

After downloading the drivers from Panasonic, I got the Toughbook's touchscreen working and I love it.

My laptop came with the docking station/port replicator, removable floppy drive, removable CD-DVD drive (not a burner), a good spare CF-VZSU18A battery, a new OEM 110v power adapter, and a new (still sealed in bag) OEM 12V adapter. Unfortunately it didn't come with one crucial accessory: the manual.

I also found a surplus vehicle mount by Precision Mounting Technologies, but it came without a key so I haven't yet installed it in my Land Cruiser.

There was a crack in the Toughbook's cover when I bought it, so I temporarily patched it with JB Weld before swapping-in a replacement cover I eventually found on eBay (note to anyone curious... the CF-29 cover won't fit. Ask me how I know!). By the way, I'm definitely not a tech. Replacing the cover is the most hardware "work" I've ever done to a notebook. Generally I draw the line at installing extra RAM... There's no way in heck I'll ever take a soldering iron to this PC, so any advice to that effect will go unheeded!

I do location scouting/surveying for the film and television industry, and my Toughbook gets its endurance tested regularly, including the touchscreen. The PC gets banged around in the back of my SUV, rained on (to a degree), manhandled by clumsy airline staff, left in the sun, freezing temperatures, and exposed to mud, dust, and other contaminants. It even got slammed by the hatchback of my truck once when the wind blew it shut. I cannot believe how durable it is! I hope to keep this Toughbook for years, and that leads me to my questions....


1) Maybe it's all the fried chicken I eat on the road, but I tend to smear the touch-screen all the time. Presently I use the (very mild detergent) cleaner my optometrist gave me for my eyeglasses to clean the screen. Is that okay? I don't want to damage the screen in the long-term. It appears fine for now.

2) When I replaced the cover on my laptop, I noticed the wires to the pop-up antenna were not hooked-up. It appears they have been cut by someone (not factory). Can I repair them just by splicing?

3) that leads me to this question - what is that antenna for?? Presently I use an aftermarket GPS system (MS Streets & Trips with an outboard antenna), but I would like to have an internal antenna if possible - is that what the black pop-up antenna in the Toughbook is for? I notice the unit has a button labeled "Wireless" on the case, and although a light comes on when I press it, nothing else happens.

4) There is one USB port and it appears to be USB1. Can a USB2 port be retrofitted?

5) Can other mods be done (either by myself or a shop) to improve the speed of the unit? I don't need it to break any records, as its primary use is storing photos I take on the road, some MSOffice apps, and accessing the 'net. But I was disappointed to discover that it is woefully slow at playing DVDs. As I spend lots of time away from home, I was hoping this unit would be able to play store-bought DVDs without any problems.

6) There is no question 6.

7) What the heck is with Micro$oft not including a DVD player bundle with XP?! Can anyone recommend a free open-source program that will work with the Panasonic DVD drive?

8) What is the speed of the (I assume) stock HDD? I was thinking of eventually upgrading the drive with a bigger one.

9) (dumbest question, in my opinion). There is only one speaker on this PC - does that mean the sound card is mono?

Sorry for all the questions - I was hoping you guys and gals might have some answers which will save me having to order a manual.

Cheers!

 

I might be able to help with a couple of the questions. To clean the screen I used a spray bottle with a couple of drops of dish cleaning solution. To play the dvd's a good program is media player classic: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/media_player_classic.cfm
and in regards to the speakers, might be mono.

 

1. I've used alcohol, but vodka is not cheap enough to use as a screen cleaner.

2. You can splice them, but it may have signal leakage. You probably won't use that antenna anyways, so I wouldn't worry about it.

3. The antenna was used for stock wireless.. either cellular or 802.11b. Most were RIM cellular (analog). See if you have anything in your internal PCMCIA slot (Might have to search for that how-to).

4. One day, we'll figure that out. It hasn't been high priority enough for most of us, and I've been so busy with a million other projects.

5. Speed can be improved with a faster hard drive. You can also get a little more RAM too. What app are you using to play DVDs with? It might be trying to use too many resources.

6. Good. I'm almost out of answers.

7. Microsoft is cheap. I have suggestions for places they can stuff objects... I like VLC, personally. It's free and lightweight.

8. Stock is 4200 RPM. If you get a 7200 RPM, you'll notice the difference.

9. Good question. I've never used headphones or external speakers, though I would assume it's stereo... But assumptions fail me sometimes.

 

The goofiness of my PC is that Media Center won't show any video with a DVD playback. I have no idea why.

I tried a few freeware DVD software packages, but none work. Dziobas player works, but the audio falls out of sync with the picture, and the audio "loops" as if the processor can't keep up.

I'm not sure how a faster HDD would help... wouldn't the video and audio data come right from the DVD and get processed directly by the processor and RAM?

One more question... I'm running 500MB RAM... what's the maximum I can have in this unit?

 

You can get 768 MB of RAM in that puppy (Unless you are one of the lucky people with 512MB onboard, but it's doubtful. In that case, 1 GB is your max).

The faster drive may help a bit on other things, but I'm not quite sure how it works for DVD playback. Couldn't hurt though.

Use this for playback; http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
See how well it does for you.

 

One small correction to the list.. This (attached) is the antenna they used for 802.11. Unfortunately they never used the LCD-mount antenna for anything but low-speed cellular modem comms.

 

This man is correct. I should cut back on the drinking while browsing NBR

 

There are 3 different stock LCD mount antennas. One is for the 802.11 (usually CISCO 840 or 850 pc cards), one for wireless modems like the SB555, and one for RIM.

The one in gravitars picture is an alternate to the 802.11 LCD mount.

 

Do you have any more info or pics of the factory-designed LCD-mount 802.11 antenna? I surely have a new holy grail to search for now!

 

They all look relatively the same except one has a short whip while the other 2 have long ones. I don't know how but they each receive a particular frequency range better than the other 2 which is why they're for the use they are. The 802.11 part number is DL3MA1158AAA if you can find it.

 

Heh... looks like Bumblebee Stoves has THAT part too...

*Snickers*

mnem
Yessir, step right up - we have everything you need to upgrade your Toughbook to COAL POWER!!!

 

I'm going to try to find this one. Theres 3 or 4 hits for that part number in a google search.. I sure am gonna cry though when I buy it and end up getting an antenna for a cordless phone or something

 

Gee... I thought I was the only one that happened to... LOL

mnem
*Luck is NO lady...*

 

I have a LCD mount antenna which is 63.5mm(2.5") long, configurator says machine shipped with "Mobitex". All the rest of the LCD antennae I have seen are 165mm(6.5"). Is this the elusive 802.11 unit? I'll have to make one of mnementh's adapters and hook it up to an Atheros card.

 

Nope... It isn't the wifi you are looking for. Mobitex is similar the RIM as it used a cellular type connection.

I'm surprised that nobody has followed in nmemeths shoes with the mod he did to a RIM antenna. From what I recall it ws good stuff!

 

Rick,
That's the plan, I was just wondering which antenna to use. I'm too old to try to figure out half wavelengths, full wavelengths, etc. I think there was some discussion about cutting the rim antenna and maybe the 63.5mm is a better length to use?

 

Chalk up one satisfied modder. I did the mnem mod to my RIM antenna and couldn't be happier. I even made the tiny ufl to mmcx adapter he showed using connectors off junk cards. I still have my rp-sma on the side and use add on antennas when needed (which isn't often any more), it's nice to have it self contained.

The looks I get when I open the lid and pull up the whip are priceless.

 

Cap'n -

My results with the longer antenna were most excellent in the 2.4 GHZ band. (Wireless B/G) However, if you're going to try wireless A (5GHZ), I'd suggest the shorter one would be a closer match. Of course it's not too hard to swap them out, so a bit of trial & error won't be too painful... Given the length of the shorter antenna though, I'd suspect it might have been for a CDMA connection, which would still be tuned to the right band to use with a modern Wireless Broadband card. You may want to save that antenna/base intact for such experimentation...

mnem
Hey! Watch where you put your radio waves!

 

Thanks guys. I'll get right on it! One last question. I have noticed that some of the paddle antennas and other e(we don't want your business and the floggings will continue until you give up)Bay antennas mention a maximum wattage of 50 or so. Do I need to be concerned about my EnGenius 600w card sustaining any damage from this set up?
Cap.

 

This antenna thing really has me confused. Yes, its early and I have not had but 1 Monster energy drink yet!

I have the internal Verizon card, and all the other Wi-Fi doo dads in my CF-30. I MOSTLY use my Verizon card since I am in my auto most of the time. Only at home do I use my wireless thats in my house.

My pull out antenna is only like 2 1/2 "s also. So, which device does this go too? Then what are the 2 black antennas that are built into the top for? The ones on each side of the top handle?

I do not have GPS. If that matters.

I am hoping the pull out antenna is for my Verizon, if so..... Where is the link to the Master's mod?

 

a 600w wifi card, now there's a concept

 

Grav,
I'm not a radio person and I didn't want to go somewhere to figure out if it was mW or kW or whatever . You know what I was trying to say. It was too early to get technical.

 

The pull out antena is for your Verizon card and the two black antenas at the top are for wi-fi.



ohlip

 

Thank you! I finally got a straight answer!

 

Cap'n -

You have a CF-30? I thought you were still slogging along with us CF-28 fans...

mnem
BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

 

Mnem,
Nope, I'm still slogging along at the back of the pack with the rest of the peons. If you got the impression from the 2 1/2" antenna, it came on a MKIII with a "Mobitex" modem. I can't see any difference in the modem, still RIM. I did your antenna mod yesterday, waiting for a pigtail to connect the RIM cable to the WiFi board, your adapter hack just seemed beyond my soldering skills. I looked everywhere for the 0 ohm resistor and then looked on an old Aztech modem and found a bunch. I must say, our friend Rick has got me thinking CF-30. If I hadn't just spent a grand on a new Dell for office and kitchen table use I'd be shopping for one right now. That screen brightness thing has me drooling. On the other hand, what first got me hooked on this group was the mini-Manhattan Project to make the internal GPS work that was going on when I first got here. I fear there will be a lot less of that going on when every one has a CF-30.
Cap

 

Yeah, I know what you mean about screen brightness issues; I've got an HP ZE2000 that is about 2 years old; it is STILL 3x brighter than my 28Mk3, especially in daylight & quite readable in all but direct sun. Now I've just received a Dell 1330M XPS laptop with the LED backlit screen as part of an insurance settlement; it BLOWS AWAY my HP. I can even read it in direct sunlight. I'm afraid for the life expectancy of the thing; but that screen IS amazing.

mnem
ZZZZZZZZT!