Over the toughpad - might go to cf19 instead

The fz-a1 is a nice bit of kit but it's limitations are getting the better of me and I'm thinking of getting rid of it and going back to an actual normal computer probably a CF19 which will be a lot bigger and heavier in my work bag but I can't keep using a device that regularly fritzes, locks up, and requires cold-starting to get it working again in the middle of what I'm doing!

The toughpad is wonderfully rugged and Panasonic has really arsed-up by dropping the large-screen tablet format in Android-based hardware to embrace the WIndows 10 based versions instead. It's especially arsed up because there has never been an updated Android 4.4 or better release made available for it, meaning not only is the hardware crippled, the software is also crippled.

Thoughts?

Craig.

 

The cf-19 is a good tool.
The question is, if it is the right tool for your job.
==> What is your usecase, operating environment and budget?

 

I owned a FZ-A1 for a short time. The CF-19 is MUCH more versatile. Anything Android based is limited. Reminds me a lot of MacOS. The hardware and software are married together. Too much for me.
Get a CF 19 and if you want an "Android" experience, load your favorite flavor of Linux on it. I am sure there is an "Android" distro or 2.

 

I understand what you mean. For me just using GPS and watching movies it works great but for work I would go with the CF-19. At my work we have 20+ CF-19 MK8 (W7) mounted on our forklifts and they work great. I think this will be a better fit for you.

 

I would look around for a 19 MK4 or MK5 . The prices have dropped a lot on them. I have found them for $300.00 -$500.00 USA

 

I have a mk4 for sale, I am in USA. I ship overseas. PM if interested.

 

Mk3 up at least. That is when it had the first case revision and LED screen for the CF-19. I sold my H1 for it being underpowered and no USB port and kept the 19 as my travel / work laptop.

 

I see that Ohlip does CF19's as well as CF31's. Most CF19's for sale here in Oz are not very high spec'd. I haven't seen any toughbook's with built-in 2g/3g/4g modems here but I think they do exist.

With the toughpad, I've noticed that most of it's bizarre behaviour appears directly related to any time it's using a 3g wireless broadband connection as when I use it at places where I've got wi-fi access and the 3g SIM card connection is not being used, the unit has far less hickups, lockups, frizting moments, etc. and generally if it wants to play up it's only the touchscreen input drivers that seem to be going psycho.

But I'm still finding the lack of an external volume controls to be a real usability problem. Having to exit apps and go back to the Android settings menu just to access volume settings is an absolute PITA.

I'd put up with that if the Android OS was up to date and the whole firmware + OS setup was reliable. It's not.

 

I just had a guy I sell to ask about Toughpads for his diesel shop,I told him to stay away from the FZ-A1 and I know he doesn't want to spend what a newer model costs. It would be fun to get a junker and try to root it just because.

 

i'll throw in my .02 USD on the subject of '19 vs toughpad running a 'nix based OS ...
i have had hands-on experience with two types motorola hand-held tag scanners , one with windows CE and one with some type of 'nix kernel with the shell being used to run the human interface and hardware stuff .
i will take the CE version any day ...
while the graphics on the 'nix unit is better , the thing goes off into never-never land frequently and the fix is a "cold boot" ... the windows CE unit is older with a slower processor but at least it doesn't seize up .
my opinion of the 'nix based OSes (the handheld stuff anyway) is that it is "not ready for prime time" .
if you don't need the "golly-gee-whiz" factor of those cutesy hand-helds , go with the '19/W7 .

 

The irony is that my old CF18 Mk 2 running Win XP pro is still a more reliable system than the much newer FZ-A1 running embedded Linux. The only issue with 18 is that the graphics hardware isn't supported by some applications (notably Google Earth) and it's not a zippy system, but as a similarly sized screen device to the FZ-A1's, it's eats the pants off the Toughpad.

I really do like the tablet format of the toughpads. I know some people who love the Windows-based ones. But I think it was so rushed to market that lots of 'production' usage issues have been ignored. An el-cheapo Android-based Pendo pad is going to be more reliable than an Android-based Toughpad costing 10x the price.

Neither the Toughpad nor the CF18 nor even my CF29 are really up to spec for any type of streaming media - they just do not have the processing throughput. But even the Toughpad when it doesnt fritz up is good for everyday internetting. It's lack of volume controls and outdated Android GUI OS wrecks it.

 

That is the only thing I don't like . Makes you wonder what they were thinking of when they designed it.

 

Lack of volume controls most definitely. The wierd behaviour of my FZ-A1 is almost non-existent when it's running over a wi-fi connection - it almost only ever happens when it's running over a 3g umts/hsdpa connection.

Makes me think that a large part of it's issues relate to the software/firmware/hardware associated with running the mobile broadband connection. Whether that's something specific to the old version of Android OS that Panasonic supports, or 3g radio hardware/firmware, or something else, is unknown.

I use Telstra here in Oz for my toughpad's in-field connectivity because it's the only network that gives enough coverage for the places I go to for work in my present job. Telstra's 'mobile data pass' SIM's specify that the tablet hardware must support Telstra's 3G 850 MHz band. Obviously the hardware in my FZ-A1 does as it can and does work in the field away from my home wi-fi setup.

And there is still no way to use the SD card as it seems Panasonic's default configuration deliberately blocks factory-supplied apps from using it (so can't use the SD card to store images, music files, etc.), even though the OS knows about it and it shows up in the 'storage' sub-menu under settings.

 

All i do is move them manually to the sd card. I have short cuts on my 53 desktop so it takes me no time to move them to the card or to add videos .