Panasonic "Let's note" series

I am wondering have anyone used the panasonic let's note series notebook? I believe it is only sold in Japan but on paper it is very good for a ultraportable with long lasting battery.

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Basically it is a 12" notebook that comes with a i-5 CPU, weight about 1.3kg with DVD drive. It claims the battery can last for around 15 hr. Is this battery life for real?

 

I do not have an S series model, but have for several years used the W (W2, W5, W7, W8) and Y (Y2, Y7) models. I really like them because of their light weight, built in DVD, long battery life and reliable operation. In the eight or so years I have been using them, I have never had a system nor any component fail (aside from one third party memory board).

While they may not be enough for a serious gamer, they have all the processing power I need. I like them so well, I choose to buy my own Panasonic rather than use a company supplied Dell, HP, or Lenovo model.

As I mentioned I so not have an S model, but I have seen 5+ hours on my W7 and W8 - depending on what I have been doing.

Good luck,
Dave

 

The only Let's note I have is a CF-T1. Besides the name it is just like the W, T and Y series we get in the states like Dave said. It also has Japanese and English keys on the keyboard. I have a CF-t5 I carry to work with me with my cf-29. The battery life is good on them, but I don't know about 15 hours good. Even getting some used Panasonic batteries on ebay they still last me 3+ hours. That is more than some new laptop batteries I have owned before and seen.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am considering the new S-series together with the thinkpad x220 (and maybe the next update of macbook air). One issue that I am not so sure about this machine is linux compatibility -- have anyone installed and used linux on their panasonic notebook (not restricted to the s series)?

 

I have run ubuntu 10.10 on the cf-t5 only as a test. It has windows only now. That is the newest in the series that I have.

 

If you want to see if Linux will run, download the ISO for Puppy Linux, and boot to the disk. It does not install anything, but runs from RAM. You can try it and install only if you like it. On my CF-29, WIFI, sound, video, cardreader, DVD-drive, USB all work "out of the box" other than setup. It sees GPRS modem and loads a module for it, but I don't have an account, so I cannot check how well it works. Touchscreen responds to pokes, but I have not looked into how to calibrate it.

Another easy Linux that runs from a live CD, without installing is Linux Mint.

 

PCMCIA also works "out of the box" (in Puppy). I plugged in a PCMCIA to CF adapter with a 16 GB CF Memory card, and it immediately showed up as sdb1. It also sees the 56K modem (for what that is worth), and ethernet ports. Not sure about GPS. Will have to look into it.

 

I agree. When I need Linux, I use Puppy Linux. I have it on a USB stick (4 GB) and boot from it so that I do not have to disturb the HDD-based XP system.

Dave