Question about Toughbook CF-30

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to purchase a CF-30 on Ebay. The only problem is that most of the models do not come with all of the components I am looking for i.e. fingerprint reader, gps, Sprint evdo, etc. My question is if I buy any of these laptops, will be able to "retrofit" these Panasonic components into my CF-30. I would like to stay with OEM parts if at all possible. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and feedback!

 

The retrofits for 30's are a severe pain, even for people who know what they're doing. I've done a couple dozen of each (gps, fingerprint, smart card, evdo, etc.) and even after getting experience and knowing how 30's are put together, it still took a long time for each. The way they're set up, it's extremely easy to mess up the 30 or the retrofit parts. My advice is that if you choose to go that route, do whatever you can to have it done before you get it.

 

What kind of budget are you working with? That may dictate what you can/can't do.

Anyways; http://cgi.ebay.com/Panasonic-CF-30...ryZ42205QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That has everything you said you wanted.

 

DAAAAAYYYYUMMMMMM That's a NICE laptop! When I hit the lotto.... After I paint the trailer... I gotta get me one of those!

 

Yeah... That's what I thought.

That cost more than my new Mac Pro (Which the insurance co. spotted for).

It doesn't have GPS though

 

You know.. as cool as that CF30 is.. they're still just coming with 13" screens? Most of the guys that do what I do have those ultra-wide theater screens on their notebooks. The more rungs (lines of code) on the screen, the better.

 

I was thinking the same thing myself... Why isn't the CF-30 available with a 15" at least by now?

The only laptops with a 13" or smaller screen are ultra-portables, which this... weighs 5 times more and could be classified as a weapon in a street fight.

Not that I could afford a $6000 version with a 15" screen, so panasonic should probably not listen to me...

 

As a demanding consumer who always wants the best stuff, I tend to agreed with you there guys... but I suspect that perhaps it has to do with the cost of retooling for a new touchscreen... or perhaps more to do with keeping the same form factor (X inches wide by X inches deep by X inches high), so their big corporate/govvamint customers don't need to look at upgrading EVERYTHING AND REDESIGNING the places they put these things when they want a newer model notebook...

mnem
*Maybe-ily*

 

I know touchscreen panels are expensive, which may be part of it... But 15" screens aren't too bad now a day...

I did price out how much they charge for the touchscreen option though... ouch. $690 from most dealers. That's just nuts!

 

Mmmhmmm... but that's retail, as an add-on option, right? Usually that cost includes a hefty mark-up plus labor. I don't think that's likely the reason Panasonic doesn't want to change to the widescreen form factor... more likely keeping their big customers happy as I suggested before...

mnem
Money - It's a gas! Money can buy you gas! Money can buy you beans, which... ahem.

 

Also remember they haven't made too many mark 2's yet and the ones out there are extremely rare. They could still do 15" for the mark 3's, though I doubt they will.

 

I just purchased a MK2 CF-30 with a 1.6GHz core 2 duo, 80GB HD, 1GB RAM, emissive keyboard & GPS. Best price was through CDW, but I had to get it built to order. Took about 3 weeks. Had to buy a DVD-RW after I figured out the one from my CF-28 wouldn't work in it.

Screen size: The reason that was given when I inquired about the screen size is the price & availability of touch screens in a size that would work correctly with a MK1 finger. Bigger is available and viable if you don't want to stay with a finger and move to an active stylus. Same reason they supposedly are staying at 1024x768 for a screen resolution. Dunno, just what I was told.

That said, the CF-30 video supports external wide screens quite nicely with the intel drivers that come with it. I'm using XP. It does really well to my Gateway (yes, they still exist!) 24" widescreen monitor. It pretty much requires a mouse when I use it, trying to use the TS is too confusing. Using it via wireless 802.11g to watch House & Bones is pretty cool!

 

Can/will you tell us what you paid for it?

 

LOL... "Microsoft Windows Vista Business with XP Professional Downgrade" on the CF-30F3SAZAM. Those must've been manufactured in the last 4 months or so. I never saw a 30F at service, only 30Es. Maybe they fixed their big issues with those... hope so at least.