<<< The "Official" CF-30 Thread >>>

By cursing repeatedly?

-brendan

 

Rick, yes I simply split it off with a razor blade... enough of the double stick tape (which what is on their is SUPER STRONG) was intact that I didn't need to buy any more, but simply use the existing

 

Yup... I needed the CF-30 keyboard for a CF-28 project on ebay... I just split it off. It came off rather easy.

One thing I do LOVE about my CF-30... I have the media bay battery... With a fully charged laptop... I can literally use it all day long on a single charge... From 9am or so until 8pm or thereabout. I turn the screen down a little to save on 'tricity... but it works like a champ! All you 30 owners MUST buy one of these batteries!

EDIT - I've been on this for most of the day and I'm down to 41% on the main battery with 3 hours showing left to go.

 

I couldn't agree with TB more. I bought the media bay battery based on his earlier post. I used to put off a lot of work during the day not wanting to wait for my laptop to either boot our come out of sleep mode, now all I do is open the lid and go right work.

I did change my power settings to sleep after 30 minutes that way when there is no use at all like sitting on the floor it sleeps. I start my day at 4:30AM and do not plug the CF-30 in until about 10:00PM each night. I also notice that it comes out of sleep mode quite reliably even the WWAN reconnects right away. I have used probably 30 laptops on a daily basis including 4 other TB's but nothing comes close to the CF-30.

 

I used to run all day long back in the day with my cf-29 and the media bay battery... that was back when I worked at Proton Computers and I was in the field alot... My new job (as of April 7th) I'm at a desk most of the day and have a work computer so I don't use my toughbook nearly as much... When I do side jobs in when I mostly use it. That is the only reason I havn't bought the extra battery yet.

 

What ever happened to stick your hand out the door? If it did not get wet, you could mow the lawn.

 

what?:confused2: :confused2: :confused2:

 

'tis crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide?



mnem
Time is an illusion; lunchtime - doubly so.

 

'tis crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide?



mnem
Time is an illusion; lunchtime - doubly so.

 

Has anyone added the Fingerprint reader to their cf-30 as a retrofit? If so how difficult was it? I can't visualize where the reader installs on the Toughbook does anyone have a link to a picture?

Thanks,
Jim

 

It sits in the handle block on the left side partly covering the speaker. Adding it is pretty straightforward & easy to figure out as long as you don't have a wireless modem setup. If you have the wireless modem setup it gets a LOT more difficult.

 

Thanks Zero, I do have a wireless modem. I don't want to risk it if too difficult. My eyes and hands are not as precise as they used to be.

 

ZeroFlight how hard is this kit to put on a cf-30 if you have WWAN?

I am interested if it is worth the upgrade.

-James

 

It's a lot of moving things then putting them back. The wwan sled frame area can get a bit confusing by itself and the reader gets wired under it (as you look at it) so you pretty much have to completely move the sled frame first, which means putting it back correctly as well. It's not too bad if you've done the frame before but if you haven't, all of that can get frustrating.

 

Check it out now!: http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-TOUGHBOOK-CF-30-WWAN-SPRINT-REV-A_W0QQitemZ350113783269QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item350113783269&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

This guy is close to me (Janesville, WI)

 

Ya I saw that. I can get them for cheaper brand new. I will upgrade my rev.0 to a rev.A soon but the cf-30 put a small dent in my bank account after the price plus drive plus a new hdd etc.

-james

 

Ok so the internal WIFI card in the cf-30 is sub par. I have never liked Intel cards anyway.

My engenius 600mw card in my cf-29 can reach far out networks and even at my house i could go anywhere in my house and even outside and get a 100% signal. In my house the Intel only seems to get some of the bars even tho they call the signal excellent it still bugs me.

Does anyone know of a better WIFI card for these? I don't think they make the engenius 600mw cards in mini pci-e so i am out there. I wanted to upgrade it from and Intel to an atheros card but how is the Intel 4965 card?

I want to be able to pick up those far out networks even tho i have wwan i still like knowing i got strong wifi as a backup.

Any recommendations?

-James

 

BAM!!!: http://cgi.ebay.com/Panasonic-Tough...ryZ40992QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The Cf-30 Dvd Super Multi Drive Mod

I have a CF-VDR301U
I removed the UJDA-770 dvd/cdrw drive
I replaced it with a UJ-840 DVD Super-Multi Drive
I swapped out the front bezels to allow for the notch on the cf-30
(That was easy as the drives have identical mounting points for the bezels)
I removed the label from the top of the stock drive and replaced it on the dvd/multi drive
This drive now looks perfect, and it was easy so far

And it works fine , No soldering necessary



Alex

 

Awsome. Thanks Alex

How are you liking the cf-30 so far?

-james

 

James

The cf-30 mk-2 is worth every penny I spent on it
Its brand new with 0 hrs on it

In comparison to my cf-29 mk-1 is is a giant leap forward
I will be using this as a desktop replacement just as I used my cf-29 mk-1

Mods in the future are

Ram upgrade from 1gb to 4gb
The 80gb standard hard drive is fine but I have a spare caddy and want to have both xp & vista available so I will buy a 64gb ssd drive for the spare caddy
I have this same setup on my cf-19
It came with both vista and xp restore disks
I also need a lighted keyboard like you have
Maybe a fingerprint reader
That would max it out other than wwan options , that I am not interested in as I have that on my cf-19 already



Alex

 

I see that you got a SSD drive. Is the speed differance really noticable? I have heard they are quick but are they worth the money?

Also they should be better on the battery too right?

-James

 

I have a Samsung 32MB slc sdd drive on order
I will let you know what I think after I install it
Lots of Discussion on these drives in the hardware forums


Alex

 

I was really surprised that there really wasn't much difference between 1GB of RAM and 4GB of RAM as far as performance goes... But then I also upgraded to a 200GB, 7200rpm SATA hard drive too.

I love my CF-30.... I used to have a maxed out Dell Inspiron as my family room laptop... I just keep it on my ottoman. But when I got my CF-30 I reformatted the Inspiron and stuck it downstairs to go into the ebay pile. I just haven't gotten around to listing it yet.

I rarely use my fingerprint reader. Maybe I didn't scan my fingerprints right but I find it a lot easier to just type in a password to get into my laptop. Of course when I show my friends and family... I have to use the fingerprint reader as it is just soooo much cooler!

I'd also be interested in hearing about the solid state drive. I'd also like to get my hands on a Vista Recovery disk for my CF-30... Just to play around with. I don't think I'd want to have "Vistaster" as my main OS.... But it would be fun to play around with.

 

Well I ordered 4gb of cas4 5300 g.skill ram. I will pull out my 2gb and put the 4gb in soon. I will let ya know if i see a differance. It will be 2gb more, faster and a lower cas so we will see.

I also am still debating the fingerprint reader. I want it but i am not sure that i want to install it lol. I know i can do it i just dont want to pull the bottom of when everything is working so well.

-James

 

Just load it as a 2nd OS... partition off 15GB or so as a 2nd partition and install it their... thats what I did on my CF-30... I got a legit version of Vista Business edition

 

Hi,
I am situated in London England (UK) and would like to know if anyone can recommend a good outlet, in the London area, where I can purchase both an CF-30 and CF-U1?

Many thanks in advance.

 

Where did you get the UJ-840 drive from? I found them on ebay but i know that they have to be set at master to work. I am not sure if other manufactures have there UJ-840 drives set to master.

-James

 

I have had it for over 4 years now
I modded a cf-28 caddy and had it installed in a cf-28
I took the dvd/cdrw drive out of the cf-30 caddy and swapped them
No problems

Alex

 

Was the UJ-840 From a panasonic computer in the first place.

-James

 

No it wasn't
If you want me to check I will look what the dvdr/w drive is in my cf-29
Its the same brand different model #




Alex

 

I wonder if the CF-30's need a drive that is set to master?


That was the problem with the CF-28 and CF-29. That is why we had to solder something.

I wonder if that is gone on the CF-30.

I found a ton of UJ-840's on ebay but I dont know if the drives are set to master or if they even need to be.

Wait a minute. You said that the drive was in a cf-28 caddy? If you had to solder the caddy to make it work then the drive is not set to be a master. Then if it is working now on the CF-30 without soldering anything then we can put whatever drive we want to in there.



-James

 

Yes , on the cf-28 caddy I had to mod the caddy
I did not touch the uj-840 in any way

Alex

 

HUH so this means the cf-30 does not need a master set drive. Interesting.

I might just order a drive off newegg and confirm this.

I have to make sure the face plate mounting is the same tho.

-James

 

Remember that almost all the slim cd rom drive of panasonic has the same mounting frame of its faceplate even it has different face or appearance.


ohlip

 

I wonder what other drives have the same mounting.

I used an LG DVD drive in one of my CF-29's and it worked great and was one of the fastest slim drives made.

-James

 

Look at pictures of the faceplates on the drives you are considering and compare the placement of the eject and the activity light, with yours
Even if you don’t get a drive that has the same pattern to swap the faceplates
You can notch the faceplate with a dremel


Alex

 

Bump! Any London (UK) users here at all?

 

London ?
A chain in Canada here called London drugs sells the non-rugged notebooks
As to your question
Micro Anvika is listed as a dealer in London
If they don’t have what you need they might be able to order for you

Alex

 

Many thanks for your reply, Alex.

I should have stated that I am actually looking for recommendations of outlets from which purchases were made by any users on this forum.

Many thanks in advance.

Andrew

 

Hi,
I have spent the better part of today trying to source a CF-30 with an Emissive backlit keyboard, only to be told that the option is 'Not available in the UK, except on a project basis involving 50 units or more.' In fact I was also told that the 'Rubber' backlit keyboard option is not available in the UK unless I purhase 50 units or more, as well!!

So may I ask the learned panel what the best way is to go about getting a CF-30 without having to block purchase 50 units, source a keyboard privately and fit it myself?! And if so, which is the better option to go for, the Emissive or the Rubber backlit option?

Many thanks in advance.

Andrew

 

I would go emmisive all the way. The rubber is hard to type on.

You can always buy a keyboard aftermarket and put it on yourself it is fairly easy.

Also there are a few units on ebay right now that have emmisive keyboards.

-James

 

Many thanks for the reply, James.

May I ask:

1. Which outlet would you recommend to source an Emmissive keyboard from? (I am aware that I will have to import this component).

2. Will the keyboard be supplied with instructions on how to install and fit the unit or can I download the instructions for this operation from somewhere?

3. Will fitting the keyboard adversely affect my warranty?

4. Is the Emmissive keyboard a sealed component as the 'Rubber' keyboard is?

Many thanks in advance.

Andrew

 

1. Which outlet would you recommend to source an Emmissive keyboard from? (I am aware that I will have to import this component).

A: Honestly I would go with ebay for the emmisive keyboard because new they are extremely expensive.

2. Will the keyboard be supplied with instructions on how to install and fit the unit or can I download the instructions for this operation from somewhere?

A: Probably not but if you surf around this forum you will find quite a few threads talking about changing keyboards. It is almost the same as changing a CF-29 keyboard.

3. Will fitting the keyboard adversely affect my warranty?

A: Probably not unless they know that you preformed the work. If you work on the cf-30 yourself most of the time they can void the warranty. But that is only if they know about it. if you tell them an authorized panasonic servicer did it then how would they know.

4. Is the Emmissive keyboard a sealed component as the 'Rubber' keyboard is?

A: yes it is sealed against dust and liquids but there is no protective cover that you see like on the rubber keyboards.


-James

 

Actually it’s not that easy to change them
The cf-30 has a slotted metal base under the keyboard
The keyboard is double sided taped to the base
I changed mine to the emissive keyboard but it was not as easy as others that I have changed.
If I had not used the base, and just double side taped it down it would of been a lot easier.
I paid less that $200us from a ebay seller for mine
pm me if you want details andrew


Alex

 

Follow up on keyboards

The rubber model is the most water and dust resistant
It requires more pressure on the keys and for some people that might be a problem
I have the rubber keyboard on my cf-29
I personally would prefer the rubber model if the toughbook was being rained on outside
I would install it without the slotted frame with just double-sided tape to secure it
The only issue with installing would be the retaining clips on the pc board that the flat ribbon cables connect to.
You do have to be careful when disconnecting and connecting the cables
I ruined a cf-25 hard drive retaining clip once by not being careful enough

Andrew if you decide to do this yourself, I can work you through it step by step


I think Teo, forum user name (ohlip) has some new keyboards
They were for cf-28s I think, but you could check with him for compatability


Alex

 

Hi Alex,
many thanks for the information. I will PM you should I decide to throw 'caution' to the wind and fit the keyboard myself

Can I confirm with you that the product codes for the Emissive and Rubber keyboard options for the CF-30 are as follows?:

1. CF-WKB303VM - Emissive Backlit Keyboard
2. CF-WKB301VM - Rubber Backilit Keyboard

Many thanks in advance.

Andrew

 

Yes the part numbers are correct
They are the most recent
But the older model keyboards are compatible as well
CF-WKB293AM Emissive
CF-WKB291AM Rubber
They were for cf-29s and will work
And probably every backlite keyboard for cf-27s,cf-28s as well

If the toughbook techs here could confirm this that would be great


Alex

 

Many thanks, Alex.

--
Regards

Andrew

 

Andrew,
I actually found installing the emissive keyboard in my CF-30 easier than either the CF-27 or 28. I got mine used on eBay and it came to me with the attaching lugs on it. The ribbon cable connectors were MUCH better than the older models and there was no wrestling the folds in the ribbon cables into a tiny slot under the palm rest. I certainly like it the best of any of the keyboards from a tactile point of view. I paid $125US for mine and it was just like new.
CAP