Robs rant and rave thread against anything that isn't a Toughbook!

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! Well done DWAGON!!!

 

*m-m-m-monster kill kill kill*

 

LMAO! I LOVE It!!!!!!!!

 

The only thing I can think off is if your wife is mad at you for some reason and decided to throw away your notebook in the dumpster at least it won't get destroy, but it sure will SMELL!! HAHAHAHA

 

Whuff... talk about off-center. Methinks all the cheese fumes may have curdled his whey.

mnem
"And in other news, Chester Cheetah was found dead this morning, face down in a bowl of Cheerios. When asked for comment, his agent replied 'Do-Do-Dee-ooo!'"

 

Jesus christmas, I hope this guy does not bring any children into this world.

 

There's only one problem. I owned a CF-Y5. God I loved that machine. Now I have a Lenovo T420 and the previous laptop was a T400s.

Panasonic with the CF-Y5 and Y7 served a niche noone else did. They were always a little behind hardware wise but by now that got really bad. The F9 still sports a PC Card slot and the B10 has... three USB 2.0 ports to expand. eSATA, USB3, ExpressCard? No such fanciness for a Panasonic laptop *weep*. I want a Panasonic laptop again. (The CF53 is heavy and low res.)

 

Your truly missing the reasoning behind the Toughbook brand.

Panasonic has not "had" to always have the latest hardware installed for several reasons. For obvious reasons they had to use a low power CPU due to not having a fan. The lack of a fan is obvious as well. The fact that they are able to achieve the performance without a fan is pretty darn good. The most common users of Toughbooks run specific programs in there daily environment in which are not fully taxing on a laptop.

The CF-53 has a 720P HD LED screen. It also uses the latest 2nd Gen Intel processors. They also include USB 3.0, which is one of the latest I/O interfaces. You mention that it is heavy as well, there are reasons behind this that are obvious.

This is like me stating that I like the MBP, but it is too fragile, too dim of a screen, etc. They are each made for a specific market segment and it's totally off base for me to expect the MBP to have these features.

 

My experience in pre-toughbook times is limited to some Toshibas and Apples. I'm not going to talk about Toshiba in polite company, though.

I've spent many years servicing Macs, from the early 1990s until now. Hardware component quality is nothing above average, but hardware design is: they're generally very easy to service, because their uniform layout makes it easy to diagnose problems and replace parts (of course, there have been exceptions). In the olden days, Apple wouldn't let you buy part components, so you had to replace the entire part. Thank god, the components are just about everyone else's these days. There have been some howlers, particularly the first generation Intel iMacs, which looked as though someone had used a shovel to fill the case with random parts and cables. But generally, their layout is quite elegant.

The problem with Apple is that they're not very good with electricity - not entirely unimportant in a computer. I would estimate that around 90% of all problems with Macs relate to electrics, particularly the analog board (the demise of which means that you may throw away the computer, because it's usually soldered onto the motherboard). Whole generations of machines have been wiped out after a few years because all of them just shorted: the first generation of iMacs, the last G5 and Intel iMacs, the first white Macbooks - you hardly see them anymore.

That's why I would say that hardware design is generally more important than the individual quality of components. One look inside a Toughbook should tell you all you need to know.

 

Interestingly, we have gone through exactly such an evaluation. However, of all the factors taken into account, purchase price is just one. It's rarely just a matter of swapping one computer for another - the machine needs to be configured, you lose work when you break your old laptop, etc. Then there are more immaterial matters, such as the amount of trust you can have in your tools, the image you want to convey - as an institution - to your peers by outfitting your people with cheap junk or quality products, and employee satisfaction.

 

I have to agree with Rob's original post, most Laptops are built down to a price, the only machines I'd both with would be Toughbooks, Dell Latitudes (especially the D620 as it is available cheap now and is pretty well built - had mine apart a couple of times) the Lenovos and maybe Itronix stuff (or Twinhead). Everything else seems to be built to a price and built to fail. I'd rather by a 3 year old toughbook than a new anything else. I don't need the power of the latest hardware, I like the fact that my CF-28 which I used as a daily machine for 2 years and the CF-51 which I currently use as a daily machine have never failed me. If I wanted a powerfull gaming machine I'd buy a full desktop as it would be much cheaper for the same spec and far more reliable.

The best thing about the Toughbooks if you just want to work with it, is that they just go on forever, they don't require too much knowledge to make them do what you want, they take all the abuse you can throw at them and you can get away with buying a better specificaton machine but just a few years old. They aren't really obsolete after a year like most laptops, to be honest as a working machine they are still a good bet even 6 years plus old which you can't say about pretty much any other Laptop.

 

This is hilarious..I had never come across this thread before.

I am becoming like this..I really am. I don't have the experience repairing these various machines as Rob and many here do, but man can I *completely* appreciate every aspect of this thread.

Sounds like me these days. Ive become a TB evangelist..

Used to use a Toshiba (or whatever pretty model as I really didnt care) and after it died as a result of a power surge only then did I begin researching everything i could find to find THE laptop..

Became tired of them dying every couple years or so. Frustrated I once again decided to study some other unrelated subject and research everything to the in th degree to find some perfection that doesnt exist...sigh.

And I dont do games...(they seem very impressive, but I just dont find it healthy. I never was a game person, never was my thing..)

If Id known then what I read in your initial post about failed DC power ports, it was probably that and not the motherboard .. but then again, who knows, and that straw never would have broken the camel's back and I never would have gotten into toughbooks, so there you go..

Toughbooks are the best computers to do exactly as originally posted, " WORK WORK WORK and WORK" ...never knew the sort existed before. Very pleased they do. Will never buy another brand.

And as for price? Well, one can find a recent model in outstanding condition for around $500USD in the States. Absolutely under $800 ..


You just cannot beat that..


Soon I suppose Ill be after the perfect OS too .. learning TOO MCUH about all of this I find too many flaws in current OSs of sorts....but I just havent time for all of this!!

From what I read it seems that linux is something that would be right up my street...but i am really trying not to got there, although it is calling to me!

 

I love this thread

Thanks for all the input guys!

 

I fix laptops for hobby, and here is my list of favorable laptops that i have in my collection that are no toughbooks:

1 - Compaq Armada 1500 series (1592DT), the power connector is a 3 pin and rather durable.
2 - Compaq Armada 1700/1750 series (the follow up on the 1500s), also with good power connector (3 pin)
3 - Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600
4 - IBM Thinkpad 310 (old, but works okay)
5 - Dell Csx 500HT (also has a magnesium hull, (same as the toughbook ones). 500mhz might be slow, but its also rather durable. Only the battery seems to run down a bit fast.
6 - Digital HiNote Ultra II (same as Compaq Armada 6500) - Rugged as a house.
7 - Gateway Solo 9300 (made in Holland) - Rugged and very very heavy. Almost built like a tank.

 

In short, here is some good reasons why a ToughBook is a fine laptop. I am a wheelchair user part time/walk part time. I have Cerebral Palsy and spina bifida. I am a broadcast engineer. I have spasticity. Which is unpredictable, So, I take tumbles. I trip over my own feet easily. I sometimes must wheelchair mount my laptop. I am a broadcast engineer for a living. My laptops for work must do this.

1. Be Spastic Proof nee Spazz Proof
2. Must tolerate being dropped on occasion, and even fallen on.
3. Must be used without being put in a bag, often in rough weather at transmitter tower sites.
4. Must survive remote broadcasts. In all kinds of weather conditions.
5. Must work, work some more, and yet work even more.
6. Take lots of extra vibration, travelling, and run without issues.
7. Be wheelchair mounted, sometimes on motorized wheelchairs. (much rougher than any Police car ever sees)
8. Must last reasonably long lifespans. .
9. Must be functional and all business.
10. Survive being bounced around in Jeeps.

In short, be as adaptable and as tough as their gimpy engineer who uses them. No excuses or BS tolerated. Let's see your Alienware do that or your MacBook Pro? They won't. Even I can kill Getacs and DuraBooks. Spazz Proof or go home.

 

My thread lives on... :thumbsup:

 

My demonstration to sell a Toughbook is to take a CF-H1 and toss it across the room,I have done it on the concrete floor at the Ford dealer,they bounce very well.

Pick it up and its still running,I generally can't sell any other laptops on eBay to save my life,no matter what the specs.

I have had great luck with Toshiba

Older Dells are OK,the better half is on one now......cheap

HP......oh boy....what a pos!

I have also poured a bottle of water into 2 laptops,a CF-18 and a Toshiba A305 ,the Toshiba was an accident. A moment of silence for the deceased....

The 18 shrugged it off.

 

Will you guys hate me if I tell you that I don't mind Apple computers? I do audio recording, and it is very difficult to find a windows machine that comes as close to zero latency in a digital audio workstation. Also, their ubiquity in lots of creative industries makes troubleshooting extremely easy. Sure, I can't drop my Macbook Pro or pour water on it... so I don't.

 

nah, wont hate you just pick on you. All the people I work with in audio professionally now ( broadcast video and feature film ) use Portable workstations such as the HP Elitebook W and Precision M's that have ultra low latency and are actually preferred by AVID ( Protools ) and cakewalk. as for other creative industries??? Last 4 years have seen Adobe quit making good software for OSX comparatively and video editing has gone PC as well in a great deal of cases especially after the FCP-X fiasco. I myself was more or less forced to abandon a small fortune in Apple hardware back in 2011 to remain competitive in the graphics design/prepress and video editing industries.

 

What alternatives beat Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign? I'm asking that as a serious question, not as an Adobe apologist. Or are you saying that Adobe's software for OSX isn't as good as its Windows counterparts?

 

Adobe software is superior on the PC than on OSX in recent years. Most all of broadcast radio runs on Windows. More and more of the recording studio is going PC.

 

GIMP can replace photoshop, but I am not sure if they have a apple version. You can even use photoshop brushes in it. If you are already use to photoshop I have seen a skin for it that makes it look like photoshop and re-arranges the buttons so it's in the same place as photoshop.

 

Ehhhhh, no. No way Jose. GIMP is awesome for free software, but compared to Photoshop it is a pile of hot garbage.

 

Exactly. It is a case of the Windows 7/8 versions of Adobe CS6 and CC being far more stable and feature rich than the OSX versions. version 5 was about the end of Adobe products being more or less on par on both operating systems.

this was one of the reasons I was forced to more or less abandon a small fortune in Apple hardware and Adobe OSX software licences a couple years ago. The windows versions were FAR superior and MUCH more productive in my workflow. ( I spent 27 years as a hard core Apple girl )

 

And Apple MacBook build quality is embarrasingly bad. Fragile origami bad. Too much double sided sticky tape used, too easily hot when stressed.

 

two words ... HOT GLUE!

 

two words back...Not Durable!

 

I had been using Apple laptops for 5 years. I started when Vista came out and my Toshiba laptop craped out on me. But after 5 years and 7 laptops, i had the latest and greatest MacBook air 11" failing within 5 months. Little crack in the mobo and €1050 repair. Everything is soldered on the mobo; i7 processor, blade ssd, memory, everything. I have to say they did it for free, but what good is a free repair if I need to buy a new laptop because the old one is back in the shop for three weeks. Since that day I've been using my thoughbook with much satisfaction and pleasure. It's a lot like its owner: it might not be the prettiest around, but it gets the job done no matter what, reliable and speedy!

Another example: colleague of mine did buy a MacBook Pro 15" retina some months ago. Everything on it, every extra and option was selected, over €3000!!!! He had the laptop on his night stand the third day and the cat jumped on it. Laptop fell, all 40cm/16"!!! Onto a wooden floor. Result is a bent hinge and a deformed corner of the screen. He was lucky the screen didn't scatter.

My cf-19 dropped from a flight of stairs, from my desk, from a lathe and from the coffee table. Result? Nothing. After 2,5 years or daily (ab)use there is some paint worn at the bottom, I buy a new battery every year and use the old one as a spare. Oh, and I need to replace the screen protector. Much better than every year a new apple laptop. How nice the osx might be and how beautiful the design might be, it's not worth the trouble of replacing your laptop every 7-11 months.

 

You guys be nice to Karen (KCETech1). She knows whereof she speaks and when I had to go forum diving over on the "Dark (Apple) Side" for some MacBook advice, she was one of the few who responded with actual advice as opposed to "Apple Fan" KoolAid.
CAP

 

One thing I know with a Toughbook, I don't need any additional protection, with everything else you need to be careful - smartphones get an Otterbox as did my Samsung Tablet.

Plus Toughbooks can even cope with my somewhat ham fisted approach to working on them (my fingers are definitely not pianists' ones - much too fat - mind you I have completely totalled a CF-19 motherboard by being a complete numpty that just shows that nothing is completely me proof.

 

Hello all

I have just signed up to become a member after reading this thread...some of you guys seem very passionate about your toughbooks and so i thought maybe if you have 2 mins spare someone could point me in the right direction.

I have about 6 or 7 thinkpads, including T40 (x2), T42 (x2), T60 (x3) a T410 and an asus low budget crappy thing that broke as soon as the warranty expired. All my thinkpads were bought second hand because i foolishly believed they would be okay, since so many consider them the ultimate in durability. Well out of the 6 or 7 thinkpads i have only 1 still works....this T42 15inch screen offering i am typing on now. I am so hacked off with broken thinkpads that I am going to buy a toughbook and see how that fares....I am in vietnam and have found a reputable website with a dozen or so toughbooks...all second hand and for the most part dirt cheap by the looks of it.. But i really have no idea which one to buy...I am very up to scratch when it comes to thinkpads (they are all crap is what I now think), but the field of toughbooks really is new ground for me.

If i post a link to the webpage below could someone please open it and take a quick look at the various models and tell me which in your opinion would be the one to buy...cos i really havent a clue. I did spend a few hours this morning doing some toughbook research but i dont feel any the wiser for it...It would be great if someone could just say "get that one because...." and i will get on my honda moped and go and get it...it's miles away so I thought it best to figure out which one is the one i want before making such a long trip...the roads here are a nightmare at best of times..

.I know this is a lot to ask...so for the purpose of me not coming across as a lazy git i have typed out the various models below....1 thru 15.....the link to the webpage is also below but it seems to me a bit of a pisstake to just waltz onto this forum and in my first post ask that people follow a link and give me free info from that link...I know it's not much but i have listed the various models below to scan quick, and also slapped the link on here too in case anyone is curious and wants to have a look.

BTW in vietnam the currency is dong...and 2,000,000 dong (2 million dong) is equal to 100 dollars USD. So most of the laptops shown are pretty cheap.

Just as a bit of a guide...all my computing needs are easily served by a standard thinkpad T60 with 2GB ram...I need nothing in the way of card slots or ultrabays or special graphics or infra red ports or anything like that. Just a basic no frills machine that can handle multiple site web surfing and photoshop and has 2 or more USB ports....screen not under 13inch would be nice but maybe the best buy is a 12 inch so fair enough....12 inch screen or 15 inch screen its all the same to me (nearly)...I just want a laptop that lasts a couple of years without breaking......I used to be a thinkpad fan but no more....I am hunting for 100% Jaoanese laptop that is built to last...durability being my top priority.

so based on that can anyone tell me which would be the best choice....really guys I would appreciate any light you can shed on this

the link is:

LAPTOP PANASONIC

and the list of models are as follows

1# Panasonic CF-N9 core i5

2# Panasonic Toughbook CF-C1 i5-2520

3# Panasonic Toughbook CF-30

4# Panasonic CF-S10

5# Panasonic CF-W7 2Gb

6# Panasonic CF-T7

7# Panasonic CF-R7 10"

8# Panasonic CF-W8

9# Panasonic CF-74 P8600

10# Panasonic CF-74

11# Panasonic cf-29

12# Panasonic CF-T8

13# Panasonic ToughBook CF-52

14# Panasonic CF-Y5

15# Panasonic CF Y7 (after the model number it says "these are just in and look like new")

I dont really want to spend more than 300 bucks, so thats 6 million, but I mean if anyone thinks there is an absolute "must-buy" among that lot and its over 300 bucks then fair enough I will definitely consider it.....dont need anything totally bomb proof...just want something that wont fail under normal day to day usage....it will be used at home for the most part..no sandstorms or arctic expeditions etc...im not in the military

so can anyone help me out here.....like i said anything about the same as a standard T60 with 2 GB ram is fine.

really would appreciate this...i gotta clean the house before my other half gets back from work but i know i will still be scratching my head and looking at multiple reviews and threads come 8pm tonight....that is unless one of you guys can point me in the right direction.....

okay.....cheers and all the best

 

Welcome to the forum. I'm not up on Thinkpads so some one else will have to advise you on the best replacement. When I convert Dongs to dollars your budget seems to be around $150 so the guys won't have to figure that out. The only Rugged model in your range would seem to be a CF-29 (" Rugged laptops of the American military, unspoilt rolling car, tiger bite elephant crushed but still works fine,"). I don't know much about the smaller Toughbooks either and I'm not sure the little ones are much more durable than the Thinkpads.
CAP
(I couldn't help myself, really)

 

I'd agree with the Capt, CF-29 or possibly a CF52. The CF-52 is pretty tough - used a 51 for quite a while as an everyday machine and it's certainly tougher built than my Work Thinkpad. Now got a CF-53 as an everyday machine and it's great. My 51 was running 4GB memory (only 3.6 accessible with 32 Bit Windows 8) but was pretty fast (Mk3 running with a 2GHZ Core Duo).

Good luck, wouldn't bother with the smaller ones as they won't come in any tougher than the Thinkpads which are pretty much the toughest non-rugged laptops out there.

 

I use a CF52 everyday..It is considered semi rugged.
15.4 inch screen...
When I got it, it had less than 50 hours..Now it has 7,700 hours and it still works great.
I think a CF52 would fit your needs perfectly......

Shawn

 

For general use I would recommend #13 - CF-52. It has full size keyboard and battery, larger display than most, and SATA hard drive so easy to upgrade. CF-29 is more rugged but older so performance is less with Centrino cpu and 1.5 GB maximum memory.

 

I would pay the extra money for the CF-30. You will use it more than you think and you will enjoy the fact you can't break it in daily use. PLUS... If you do need to take it outside... You can actually read the screen!

I think that CF-52 is too old at 1.8GHz... The CF-30 has 4GB RAM and you can swap in a better hard drive later and still use it for years to come!

 

They are both listed as Core2 Duo's

 

hey guys, thanks so much for the quick responses....Definitley will sit down tomorrow and take all your input into consideration and choose what comes out as best..from your replies i am already way more informed on toughbooks compared to the lengthy research session of this morning.....really, thanks hugely guys.

BTW..captain dogfish mentioned that my budget is 150 bucks...I am actually happy to go as far as 300 bucks for something worthwhile. For anyone opening the link then that comes to around 6 million dong. I could stretch to 9 or 10 million but with the amount spent on duff thinkpads over the past 5 or 6 years I dont want to overdo it.

My long term plan is to acquire a second hand toughbook at under 300 bucks, and if its still going strong after 2 years or so, without any major unfixable faults, then I might buy a brand new one with modern specs and hope that sorts my computer needs for the next 5 to 7 years, perhaps even longer.

Its interesting that some of you guys rate thinkpads as the next best thing to a toughbook...I mean since the R51 model, thinkpads have been largely a lenovo thing with everything coming from china and including assembly too.....me personally I would rate the thinkpad T60 as physically the most rugged of the thinkpads i have, with zero flex on the chassis...but the components are nothing that you wouldnt find on any other laptop of that era (2006/2007). My T60s have had loads of harddrive issues, screen issues, ram issues, and 1 was even rendered dead due to ants making a nest inside, which basically screwed the motherboard. .the Thinkpad t40's that I have suffer from the infamous GPU issue, as well as one booting up and then turning itself off, but not before claiming that a "fan error" is the cause just before it zonks out....my x2 thinkpad T42's appear to have fared the best because I have the 15inch models which people say are less prone to the GPU flex issue, and also seem to have a semi-durable array of inner workings...that said, one of them has also succumbed to the "fan error" fault as with the T40...I have had different fans in both the T40 and the T42 but it doesnt seem to cut any ice...regardless what fan i throw in there, they still claim "fan error" as the cause of the problem before promptly shutting down...I dunno, maybe I am just not lucky. My mate in the UK HAS BEEN USING 2 X T43'S HE BOUGHT SECOND HAND OVER 4 YEARS AGO NOW WITH THE ONLY FAULT BEING THAT ONE HAD A HARDDRIVE DIE ON HIM....Ooh blimey..please ignore those caps i didnt realise i nudged the caps button....

As for the worst of my thinkpads..that accolade goes to the T410...I only bought it 4 months ago and was confident of the next 2 years being laptop fault free, but within 4 months the power input socket at the back has come totally loose, the screen has developed a serious issue which got increasingly worse until all i can get from youtube vids is a bunch of erratic and meaningless verticle lines (apparently a common issue with T410), and it also seems to have some major heat issues.. ..I forked out 350 dollars for that thing second hand and i think its the T410 that finally broke the camels back as far as my obssession with thinkpads went. I figured that most of my thinkpads were around 10 years old which was pushing things a bit too far, and so went for a 3 year old model. When i got it the exterior looked mint, and it still is, but the innards have been a huge let down.....i wont be buying anymore recent or historical thinkpad laptops anymore because everyone seems to say the same thing.....thinkpads have gone downhill since the T60 and they continue to go that way, and the older, supposedly more robust thinkpads are all over 10 years old now.

Not long ago I did some extensive research and i came away with the idea that the last 100% IBM thinkpad was the R51, which i suppose includes the T40 and T41as pure IBM laptops as well. So anything from a late T41/R51 is a lenovo machine to varying degrees. The T41 and R51 are 11 year old laptops..so you have to go back at least a decade to get a bonafide IBM thinkpad. People often think the entire T4x range was IBM's swansong, with lenovo taking over from the T60 onwards, but apparently not.

Before deciding on a toughbook i did a long search into 100% japanese laptops but came away with the impression that panasonic toughbooks, and possibly NEC laptops, are the only fully Japanese made laptops left nowadays....fujitsu are supposedly no longer an exclusive japanese thing anymore..neither are toshibas or any other "japanese" brand. I could be wrong about the NEC laptops being 100% japanese because I couldnt find any rock solid evidence saying they were still entirely japanese...which just leaves the toughbooks. Luckily the more i look at them the more they are growing on me actually. I used to think they were only for military types or people on expeditions, or just eccentric types, but i see now that they have a semi-rugged line catering to the mainstream business market. The bottom line for me is that I figure they cant be worse than thinkpads, esp the latter thinkpads (T400 onwards). I once had an 600E IBM thinkpad and that had an air of durability about it that I have only seen replicated in the T60 with its no-nonsense rock solid chassis and very firm but nice keyboard....the T4x range has major flex issues regarding the outer shell, mine are mint condition yet creak badly even when picking up carefully with 2 hands, and that is a bummer when you have the dodgy GPU thing hovering over one's head....how IBM ever got away without a money-back total recall over that GPU issue is beyond me. Its the reason i got the 15 inch T42 machines I have now.....mind you they were absolutely mint condition and I considered tham to be a steal at just 100 dollars per laptop....a real bargain considering the overall pristine condition...until the fan error kicked in on one of them. Great keyboards though. I guess that one of these days i will lug all 5 of my "hopefully repairable" thinkpads to a decent repair shop and have the lot put back in action.....still....I am now hot on the toughbook trail. With those cheap prices and my budget of 300 bucks i might even pick up 2 of them.....likely the same models so if one becomes faulty I can raid spares from the other one.

anyway...thanks again guys....well appreciated.....will let you know how i get on

One question...those toughbook prices here in Vietnam...are they cheaper or largely the same as similar toughbooks go for in the west? The Vietnam prices seem pretty cheap to me when you consider how much toughbooks cost brand new.

cheers

 

mklym is our resident Thinkpad expert. i am sure he will join the conversation later today.

 

I didn't go to the link, but will give my thoughts on each model.

1# Panasonic CF-N9 core i5

I haven't personally used one, but have used the older series up to series 8. Thin and light weight, 12" screen. Nice for traveling, but have seen some of them with busted cases after high drops. This would give you a newer processer and SATA hookup.

2# Panasonic Toughbook CF-C1 i5-2520

Several other member on here have or have had them and liked them, haven't put my hands on one yet. Small and light business class machine.

3# Panasonic Toughbook CF-30

I have had several and currently have 3. Very strong fully rugged machines and can be customized in a lot of ways. Older tech but still works well.

4# Panasonic CF-S10

another small and light weight business class machine, haven't had one yet.


5# Panasonic CF-W7 2Gb

I have 2 left and have had 4 so far, small and light weight 1.05 or 1.2 core duo machines, takes full sized laptop ram. The 5 series back took micro ram. SATA hookup on the hard drive. This one doesn't have a touch screen, but has a built in DVD player.

6# Panasonic CF-T7

Same as above but with touch, no built in DVD, good for travel.

7# Panasonic CF-R7 10"

Another small and light weight business class machine.

8# Panasonic CF-W8

Upgrade of the 7 series small and light weight business class machine. 1.2 or 1.6 core 2 duo, some of these even come from the factory with windows 7, sata hook up. Good for travel.

9# Panasonic CF-74 P8600

Not looking at the specs but will give you a basic run down of the 74 series. Semi rugged, all core duo or core 2 duo. Look for a Mk3 or Mk4 with 2.0 and 3100 or 2.4 with 4500 intel graphics. DDR2 ram. Good basic laptop in a semi rugged shell. All my kids are using one right now. Lower resolution screen though.


10# Panasonic CF-74

read above

11# Panasonic cf-29

Good, fully rugged, but I would skip is as a every day pc because of the age, ddr 1 ram, single core, ide hard drive.

12# Panasonic CF-T8

read above on the 8 series

13# Panasonic ToughBook CF-52

I am thinking this will be your best bet. Early ones were core 2 duo, later ones i3 or i5. DDR2 or DDR3 ram depending on the age. Some have higher resolution screens and ATI graphics. Semi rugged shell, wide screen. I have three and like them.

14# Panasonic CF-Y5

15" thin and light business class series. Think it take mico ram, expensive and harder to find. limits ram upgrade, ide hard drives, Unless it's a very good deal price wise I would skip it. has a dvd drive though.

15# Panasonic CF Y7 (after the model number it says "these are just in and look like new")


read up on my thoughts above on the 7 series above. The Y is 15" not 12" and has dvd drive.


Also for temp if you have a few laptops just laying around you can't use because of motherboard issues you can try the "oven" trick on them. Google it. Please just don't sell them as good afterwards because it may last a day, it may still be running a couple of years later. But before you find your perfect toughbook it may get you by until then.

Also in Japan in the panasonic business class series they them "let's note" so that may widen your search some.

 

Not to start an argument but the only 52 I would go for is the 52GUNBRAM or similar.......if it is going outside a good deal of the time. Same screen as the CF-30. Wide bezel around the screen. Red leds shining on the keyboard from the screen bezel. Handy SD card slot. Synaptics touch pad. My daily user is at 26,000 hours. (The other four have less)
If it's really going outside the CF-30 no question.

2 cents......easy guys.....

 

My THREAD LIVES On!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My personal experiences, as someone who spent 15 years with ThinkPads and about a decade with (selected) ToughBook/Let's Note models...

Used it in the field for two years and had zero issues to report. If you're happy with T60-grade-performance, CF-30 will do just fine. My only complaint was the (lack of) screen resolution. Heavy little ba$tard, though...

Versatile little machines, with W7 being my personal preference due to an on-board media drive.

The toughest 10" notebook you're likely to find anywhere. Keyboard feels quite cramped, though, and the typing feel is sub-par due to the short key travel.

Newer version of W7. Likeable unit.

Nice machines, business tough and then some, but once again available as XGA (1024x768) only if this matters to you.

Great machines for their day, severely outdated now IMO. Think T41/T42 era...

Likely the best pick of the litter, especially if you can find one with a WUXGA (1920x1200) LCD.

Another T60 contemporary with similar performance, but I'd avoid it due to the fact it utilizes PATA/IDE drives.

One of my favourites, due to the 14" SXGA+ (1400x1050) LCD and SATA drive standard. While somewhat of a lightweight offering, it's still quite tough.

My $0.02 only...

Happy shopping.

 

Impressions on laptops I have owned or repaired.

IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads. Generally good boxes. Not too bad to repair or upgrade. Well made most of the time. The T60 for me is really the last of the classic ThinkPads as we know them.

Toshiba Satellites. They feel bendy, are cheaply made. Battery life is horrible when new (1.5 hours the best you get). AC Charger jacks weak items, occasional motherboard and BIOS woes. Support from Toshiba is horrible bad.

NEC Versa. My only experience has been with my 1997 6230. It was very ergonomic. Very well built (one of the few Non-Toughbooks I ever loved). Mine lasted nearly 8 years of heavy use. Support from NEC superb. Screen backlight did fail when 3 years old.

Dell. Not very impressed with most Dells. Inspirons only fair build quality. AC power jacks very common failure items. Keyboards on Inspirons often on the frail side. Common weakness is user abuse. Dell Latitudes. D620 and D630 good well built old boxes. Usually don't see a lot of them with issues. Cracked bezels occasionally. Dell Latitude E 5500 and E 5510. My favorite Dells since the old Latitude CPi lines. Very well made. Reliable, easy to repair and upgrade (they rarely need repair unless dropped or liquid spills). I have and use a E 5510 (neighbor works for the town dump, saw this and rescued it for me. Fixed the bent keyboard. Cleaned the cooling vents. Cleaned the keyboard and replaced a key cap. Reseated every connector. Reloaded Windows 7 Pro, upgraded small HD and RAM and installed DVD-RW. Works great.). Easy to maintain.

Sony. Well built and reliable up to 3 years ago. A beastie to repair. Upgrades much more difficult. Driver support horrible. Never liked AMD models and they were the least reliable Sony models.

HP. Pavillion DV series motherboards guaranteed to be bad. Screen hinges often loose. AC sockets usually reliable. Flexy and build quality poor. Same go for most Pavillons and Envy models. HP Support bad. Commonly makes me want to shoot one with my 'lil friend. HP ProBooks usually decent (do see a few models with keyboards which get sticky easily like the consumer lines). Reliable otherwise. AMD models seem to have the rare bad motherboard. EliteBooks. Excellent machines but not as good as the best IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad lines. Dislike the oddball case screws (do have the drivers for them). Well built. Don't see many to repair. Do see occasional models for upgrades. As the Lenovo ThinkPads get worse on build quality, most of the users I support in IT are getting HP EliteBooks or getting Dell Latitude 5000, 6000, or 7000 series unless they need ToughBooks.

Compaq: See lots of Presarios. Even worse build quality than Pavillions. Every Pavillion weakness even worse. Cheap and flexy. Keyboards among the worst on build quality. Motherboard issues common (AMD models especially so). AC Power Jacks a weakness. Cheap and Nasty.

Acer: Keyboards on some models get junk in them easily and dust and dirt. Generally decently made. Motherboards usually reliable. AC Power Jacks sometimes prone to repairs (less so than on HP, Compaq, and Toshibas). Some models feel a bit too flexy for my taste. Aspires good cheap laptops. But must be babied. Same goes for E-Machines and Gateways (usually see more Gateways with problems)

Saved the best for last. Panasonic ToughBooks. Both my ToughBooks have been trouble free. And they have survived spastic life in wheelchairs and every fall and tumble I ever could not help happening to them. They work, work more, and work even more. In bad weather and good, and stable and reliable as there ever was made. My CF-30 has been to hell and back without one complaint. Works every time.