Purchase advice wanted

Hi all,

I'm about to ask a somewhat contentious question, maybe, but I'm hoping that, even with being Toughbook afficionados, you´ll consider the alternative.

The point is that I now have two laptops: a Macbook pro to work on at home, and a CF-30 for field work. I respect the MacBook, but I love the Toughbook, and sofar the transfer to Ubuntu (11.04) has been a breeze. There are some limitations, particularly in working with PDF files, but I can see myself solving that by using a Windows application through WINE or somesuch solution. I'm not going to switch to Windows ever again, though.

However, it looks like my CF-30 needs some serious TLC to keep it going, though, which will set me back at least three hundred dollars or so (new SSD, RAM, soldering the connections to the speaker back in place, new battery).

This makes me consider buying a single to do everything on, and get rid of both the CF-30 and the MacBook in order to buy something new. The obvious choice would be a CF-31, but there is one slight snag that bothers me somewhat about the CF-30, and that is its screen resolution. 1024px wide is getting awfully cramped in today's world, even if the screen itself is fine.

The alternatives would be to consider a much cheaper (but not as rugged) CF-52, or to go with a (don't scream) Dell XFR 6420 - both of which offer better screen real estate. I've been comparing specs, but in my book nothing beats real-world experience. The important things to me are battery life, dust/fluid resistance (no avalanches, but I should be able to use it come mud, water or dust). And as much as I adore the CF-30, its trackpad is not ideal.

I haven't decided what to do yet, I may just update the CF-30, but I'd like to think over the alternatives. Thanks in advance, people!

 

If you don't like the low resolution on the CF-31, I would HIGHLY recomend a CF-53! It's got EVERYTHING that a 31 has nowadays including a touchscreen and a hard drive heater + you can get dedicated ATI GPU + an HD screen

Rob - trying to find his thread with the review and comparison of the CF-53 to my wifes Dell Latitude E6420...

 

We all love our toughbooks, BUT plenty of us have other computers. I am typing this on my Alienware M9750 right now. It does stuff that my CF-30 can't do and my CF-30 does and goes places it can't.

Both of those options you put up sound good. Depending on what you budget is going to be for what you want? In the toughbook world for wider screen you will be with CF52 or 53. There are a few differences like the backlit keyboard will work with the 53 not on the 52. Just depends on all you want to run on it.

It sounds like you will be running only Linux. I would do some hardware research on the machine you plan on getting to see if it looks like you can get everything to working like you want it too. Most of my machines are dual boot with Ubuntu 10.10 or 10.04

I personally haven't used that dell but I have seen good reviews on it. Start looking up reviews of the older dell models like it to see how long lasting that line is for a base comparison.

 

Hi, I did some checking on both the CF-53 and the XFR, and both appear to have no problems running Ubuntu. The longevity of the line is a good argument, mind.

 

I'd stick with a Toughbook if it has the capabilities to do what you need to. Toughbooks for me at least, have been all but problem free. The worst thing I've ever had go bad was a hard drive, and that's going to happen. I've had two plastic parts on my CF-52 break, the screen bezel and the cover on the right hand side that is over the hard drive slot. My wife likes Toshiba laptops, but we've had numerous problems with them, thank goodness for extended warranties. As for other common manufacturers, I hear about failures all the time. So it seems to me that Panny is the best bet for long term reliablility which I think is quite important in a laptop. As for battery life, media bay batteries are all good. I'm not sure that anything but fully ruggedized will take care of dust and fluids, I've never spilled anything on a Toughbook personally. I did pick up a CF-51 MKIII that had a glass of water spilled on it according the the fleabay seller. All I had to do to get it working was take out a bad stick of RAM. It's worked perfectly ever since and I've upgraded the processor, RAM, and hard drive. I expect to be using it for a long time yet. Lastly I personally love the carrying handle on the CF-52/53 and the CF-25/27/28/29/30/31. If any other laptop has this feature I'm not aware of it. I hope this helps and let us know what you decide

 

i'm a bit in the same position as you are. I'm using a macbook air 11" with a thunderbolt display for the office and a cf-19 for hauling around. I intend to do everything with the MBA, but it proved to be to hard (within 5 months the MoBo needed to be replaced, costs €1050, guarantee, but never the less not what I was waiting for).
So now I got the 19 for work on the road and away and very nice setup in my office.
The advantage of having two computers is that you have a backup. If one fails, burns, gets stolen etc. you always have the other and you are up and running in no time.
The disadvantage is that you'll have keep bot systems running and all the files in sync. Although dropbox and things like that makes it a whole lot easier for non-confidential stuff.

What ever you choose, I wouldn't choose a Dell, there is such a large difference between the build quality between the Dell computers (that I see at my in-laws, other companies and the one's I've used) and a Toughbook that it wouldn't be an option for me. Then just find a good 31 and couple it with a large external screen for working at the office.

Oh, the 1024 screen doesn't bother me at all

 

Here is a review of the Dell
Dell Latitude XFR E6420 review | from TechRadar's expert reviews of Laptops and netbooks

Dell XFR battery life 145 min
CF-31 battery life 563 min
CF-53 battery life 273 min

 

Toughbooks have the lowest failure rate of any laptop on the planet! (Last I read it was 3.7% worldwide!) The next step up was more than twice that with most being 3-4 time that amount! (Dell's I think were close to 15%!)

I feel your pain with resolution... I have 3 desktops available to me but I still love typing on my CF-30... When I list ebay auctions I have to scroll sometimes... But the desktop is all on one screen with no scrolling.

Small price to pay (I think) knowing that all I need to do is grab and go and I have a 10+ hour battery life with my regular+media bay battery and SSD HD...

When I added the SSD to my CF-30 I fell in love with it all over again!

Just sayin'

 

Hi guys, thanks for all the advice; the dubious future of the line (anyone remember the Adamo?) and Toughasnails' summing up of battery life did in the Dell as far as I'm concerned.

My main dilemma is with workflow. Until about three years ago I worked exclusively on Macs, but I did have my fair share of problem with them (part. one first-gen Macbook that needed two new displays, had a hard drive failure, a new display and three (!) new top cases/keyboards). I don't love Apple hardware so much, but I do love OS X. More importantly, I have invested heavily in software for which I haven't found attractive alternatives elsewhere (partic. my writing workflow).

A couple of years ago I bought this used CF-29 when I started doing much more fieldwork, which I then replaced with a CF-30 that has been with me since. I just love the machine, but I'm not ever going over to Windows. Linux works fine for me at the moment, but an OS X Toughbook would be heaven. I've looked into it, believe me, but apart from through VMware Fusion it seems to be difficult, at least.

The CF-31 sounds most promising at the moment, despite the resolution. But compared to the CF-53 it feels so much more solid.

 

That was my consideration as well, the 53/52's have much nicer screens and are half the price (or at least in MSRP and the only dealer here that sells them just does do MSRP).
And I'm not a rich feller with money growing everywhere, but I still decided to stop the madness of buying a new mac every 12 months because the current unit was in repair under guarantee. When I started counting, I got to a Macbook Pro 17", 15", 13", 13", Macbook Unibody, Macbook Air 13" (but I wanted the 11" but that wasn't backlit nor SSD big enough) and then an 11" that crapped out on me in a new record time of 5 months. That are 7 laptops, and not the cheapest ones, in 6 years. I still love OS-X a lot, but more and more I got to dislike the hardware for traveling, no matter how good looking it might be.
A guy at the repairshop that I'm friendly with told me that I needed to stop hauling them around all day. I've carried them in slow-foam cases, in dense foam housings in regular bags, all in all around 2" of foam and a HDPE stiffener plate in between. I do not always travel in the best parts and I don't want to have my bags scream laptop-bag or photog bag all over, so I've used the regular boring commuter/business bags. Well, I needed to start using laptop bags according to him. I think my construction was a whole lot stronger than the crumplier bags they sell here in Apple stores, but hey, what do I know about stiffness, torque and bending with a bachelor-degree in that stuff?
Long story short, I want this computer to last for 3-4 years straight use, hauling and even accidental abuse. So I choose the sturdiest I could find and went for fully ruggedized. But the price of a new unit was hard to swallow. (Had I known rugged solutions earlier, I would have asked him for a good looking CF-19 mk3 or 4, saves 60-75%! and he lives only 200km away.)

Edit: +1 with Toughbook for the SSD, it was the first thing to replace and I was lucky to find one unused but cheap. It makes even a brand new computer a whole different game!

 

So what about OSx86? It worked on my CF19 and CF52 too It should work on an CF30 upwards.
And because of the license: u had bought an Apple....

 

Tried that a while back with VMware, but that didn't work. I´ll give this a go!