So I finally got myself a CF-29...

I found one for a good deal on fleabay so I went ahead and got that, a power adapter and a caddy. The caddy I bought had a brand new 80GB Hitachi with a Mark IV pre-load already on it so my CF-29 MK V took it accordingly.

It's a CF-29NAQGZBM, when I bought it I left a note to the seller to avoid the rubberized keyboards since it was one of those auctions to where it's more than one PC available and I ended up getting one with a nice but heavily worn down emissive keyboard. The battery is at 75% health (160 charge cycles) and it's a yellow tab so at least I have somewhat of a good start above my CF-28P, the lack of good batteries and WiFi is why I started to move on to a better computer.

So far the screen is really bright and I still only use it at 30% brightness despite having 26K hours on the mobo.

One of the things I've noticed is that there are two Wireless Switch applications. The one that has the little yellow bolt and orange dot has supposed Bluetooth options (mine is not a BT model) but it does enable the FN+F8 for wireless toggle. The other has a green bolt only and no hot key support. They cannot be installed at the same time.

Other than that just messing with the second battery since I can swap them between my CF-28P. I'm still skeptical about hot-swapping secondary battery packs without AC power and I hope it's not nearly as pain in the butt as my CF-28 about that.

Of course I do have a CF-29 Mark IV/V as a present from a relative who has the rubberized keyboard since he can no longer use it, but the rubber keyboard alone is why I went ahead and rebuild another one for a decent deal.

 

Use the one with the orange bolt... Don't worry about not having BT... I don't think it will even show up on the switch app.

You should be able to hotswap the secondary battery without issue. I never had a problem.

 

Yeah, haha. I spent the better half of three hours trying to read the MK IV reference guide on Firefox so it confuses me (that and it implies the battery can be hotswapped despite Panasonic tech support advising against it when I emailed them). I suppose it doesn't feel natural since arguably hot swapping that battery is the same as pulling the wall plug but that only works on certain laptops (My CF-28 MKII also has this feature). Then again I'm just a worrywart in frying the Toughbooks internally since it's not the first time I've set a desktop on fire.

I think the only thing I don't like is that my CF-28's rubber cap allowed me to use my ASUS 4.0 USB Bluetooth dongle almost flawlessly whereas I can't do it on my 29.

Also would you know where I can get the DVD-RAM driver for the DVD Multi (Can't remember the P/N but it is '292' as the last three digits)? With the SD card slot I can move files across easily but I've taken to using DVD-RAM in my CF-28 instead of burning conventional disks. Unfortunately XP only supports FAT32 which I've understood is not recommended for continuous use on RAM discs since the allocation table hits the same spots on the disk. (I mean, I might use DVD-RAM in my CF-29 but my desktop can't read it. )

 

Not sure it warrants a separate topic or not but from what I've been testing on it that the machine definitely needs new heat pads.

I've searched a little bit but would the original replacement parts be better than say a third party heat pad for making it run cooler? I'm more into using genuine parts (especially AC/batt) but as long as the thermal pads work they work (well, at least on my Edubook anyway).

Edit: And if so, where would I get the pads (I live in Houston, so what store would possibly sell them) in terms of local vs. online.

 

here online.
1.5mm
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g8/c487/list/p1/Thermal_Interface-Thermal_Pads_Tape.html

 

What Shawn said...but...if the existing pads are smooshable you can gently re-shape them in an emergency. Personally I use new ones bought by quarter sheet minimum.

Definition: Smoosh...to gently squeeze from the sides to thicken the material in question.

 

With the 18 different choices which one is ideal. I see some that go from 6W/mk to 17. Or as long as it makes good contact that's all that matters?

 

I would go with this.

Fujipoly Extreme System Builder Thermal Pad - 60 x 50 x 1.5 - Thermal Conductivity 11.0 W/mK - FrozenCPU.com

 

That would of been my guess. Might as well order it before I forget. Thanks Shawn.

 

Well my relatives were getting rid of a bunch of stuff they could not use so I was given two additional CF-29s in my possession. One is a MK5 with 256MB of RAM w/o a touchscreen while the MK4 has a broken touchscreen (stuck on the bottom pixel). The MK5 machine made in 2007 still has stable pads however the other two with damaged pads the best 'temporary' fix is not to use the MP at all, the machine runs 16C cooler that way. Both machines have full caddies (although I plan on ditching the Seagate drive since S.M.A.R.T. is too stupid to trip the 300,000 head cycles) so I have a bit more wiggle room. Gonna try to install something to it later to see how it goes.

 

That Mk5 with 256 mb of ram is the one where you can add a 2gb stick for a total of 2.25 GB of ram.

 

and you can switch the no touch screen with a touch. Just change the whole top end. It's been done a few times here.

 

I've always been curious if it's easier to take off the top completely or rather just unbolt the back of the LCD and just swap the panels out themselves. I simply swapped the LCDs themselves on a pair of CF-28s because it was easier to remove those 22 screws than it was to go through the keyboard assembly.

I can indeed add 2GB to that unit for a total of I think 2GB usable (or is it 2.25 in Windows Vista and newer? I heard it was only 2GB total) I've tested it out with Windows 8.1 on 1.25GB and it installed which is a good sign. Just took 20 minutes to initialize.

I think right now is that all the other CF-29s are fully loaded with RAM sticks and I'm not in a position to buy more parts to lie around. I might get 2GB later on once XP passes on.

 

Hopefully according to USPS the pads should be here Monday so I took the time to look at the Service Manual. Remove the DIMM plate, remove the DIMM, what is the radiation sheet, unplug the speaker and unscrew about 16 screws.

Looks like cake compared to the complete disassembly of the CF-28P (which is why I never want to do that again).

I'm mostly confused as to the radiation sheet and/or if I have to remove it and if so if I have to replace it.

 

Don't get lost in talk or "panny-speak"... Most likely it is the copper sheet that is in with the RAM... No sweat... Just move it to get to the RAM.

 

Switching the touch panel you have to add a TSPCB....the wires are in place.
Switching the top half you still have an old touch panel....could quit any time.
New touch panel is very bright but requires a screen protector.
Old panel not so clean looking.
Overall for me and I did it several times is to replace the TP with a new one and drop in the TSPCB.
FWIW.

 

I just wanted to double check since the diagram shows needing to peel it off just to remove the back casing.

As for the touch panels I only have one functional touchpanel and I plan to just leaving it in a machine that it already works with.

 

Radiation shield !! Does that mean if I use my CF30 too much I'm going to turn into some mutant being!

 

Perhaps you already have.
CAP

 

Ouch! If I had feelings they might be hurt..
My feelings have been surgically removed. It was a requirement when I was driving school bus.

 

You know I'm just kidding.
CAP

 

yes, I was just playing along.

 

I got the thermal pads and installed them into one of the machines. Still makes me a bit nervous that unlike my CF-28P these things heat up rather quickly (3 hours of 100% CPU load until I hit around 83C or so on mains, which is about right from my searching). I have to keep reminding myself that the hot base is better than the CPU chugging at 90C. I also feel like I added a little too much (next time I'll just only make enough to just place on top of the die) but overall I think it'll hold for a few years.

In a lot of ways I feel the 29 is a step backwards but the battery life and raw power is pretty much wanted for what I like to do.

 

Arkor.... Wait until you get a CF-30! You'll love it!

I remember when I started switching from the CF-28 to the CF-29... I was a little disappointed. I thought the CF-28 was more robust and had a cavernous interior for mods as opposed to the CF-29. Though the brighter screen and longer battery life won me over... Then I got a CF-30 and it will blind you when compared to the 29.

 

Interestingly enough I have both a ThinkPad X31 and a T60. Which analogy wise is similar to the CF-29 and 30 respectively as the former has a Pentium M and the latter has a Core 2 Duo. I still use my X31 significantly more but that's probably because the roll cage in the T60 makes it unwieldy to hold. I dunno. I do like to at least play some of my dedicated GPU games so the CF-30 wouldn't cut it. That and I still have plenty of MP devices (1 multi, 2 combos, 1 DVD-ROM and two batteries) so I still got stuff that the CF-30 wouldn't use.

But yeah, I prefer the big bulky doors of the 28 among other things, even if my X-JACK won't stay in a latched position (the wifi antenna pops out every time I drop the PCMCIA door).

I just like the fact the CF-29 will actually turn off the emissive keyboard. My 28 can't do that apparently.

Also my DVD Multi (VDM292) apparently hates certain kinds of stamped discs, it won't read my Brood War disc regardless and has major difficulty in trying to load up the recovery CD. Is this a known issue with them?