The future of rugged PCs with the end of the CF-31 and CF-19 lines

I just read through this piece on the new CF-33: http://www.ruggedpcreview.com/3_notebooks_panasonic_toughbook_cf33.html and was pretty surprised.The video they link to from panasonic describes the CF-33 as being the future of rugged PCs. Between this and the CF-20 replacing the 18-19 line (which is again a tablet with attachable keyboard) it appears that panasonic is banking on tablets being the future - all of the fully rugged laptop only style product lines are dead.

While I agree that it was time for a bottom-up redesign of their fully rugged lines (they were carrying too much baggage from maintaining physical compatibility with their old products) I am disappointed to see them commit 100% to a tablet only market. If you are using the keyboard 100% of the time their latest offerings are a clear compromise - awkwardly top heavy, to the point of needing to use the handle as a kickstand just so they won't fall over. To me this feels like a typical case of short sighted middle managers chasing trends, something I didn't associate with panasonic.

Anyway, just thought I see what you guys thought about all this, are tablets the future and I need to get over it?

 

I have the same concerns as you.

 

yeppers ... likewise .

this would not be the first time that someone's brilliant idea would be a flop .
in a rough environment ... how many busted screens are there on phones and regular laptops ?
hell , i wonder what the numbers are on phones popping out of back pockets or dropping from a purse ?
naaaa ...

 

Where is the market going with regards to the popularity of tablets versus desktops or traditional laptop computers? I'm no expert on that. Speaking only for myself I can only say that I have no use or desire for a tablet both professionally and personally. I am somewhat disappointed with Panasonic's decision to compromise on slightly reduced ruggedness in order to give in to the fondleslab trend.

I've always thought of Toughbooks to be aimed at professionals at the workplace with specific requirements, not at home consumers which is where I thought tablets were most popular. I guess everything's changing.

 

I've been a vehicle tech for the last forever years, I tried the 1st few years normal laptops and destroyed a few + problem with battery performance before getting a CF-18, ive worked my way up over the years to a CF-19 mk6.
I hate tablets, don't have one and would never buy one.

If Panasonic stop the rugged line then I'll have to change brands as I need a laptop that can cope with a harsh environment, i think they'll be shooting themselves in the foot

 

I can sort of understand the transition from the CF 19. The CF 31 baffles me though. Can't see how the new design will work for military or anywhere the laptop must be physically secured.
Sand, dirt , and water in the tablet to base connection will be a nightmare.
I wonder what Getac and other competitors are doing?

 

None of this makes sense. There has to be an actual CF-31 replacement.

 

My viewpoint is simple, One of my demonstrations is the take a CF-30, drop it on the ground and stand on it with a few bounces. Now I weigh 260lbs and it's a fun demo but can I do that to a CF-33? I have also stood on a CF-19 and I'm thinking a CF-20 might not make. We shall see.

 

Being that I am stupid enough to act before thinking, I took my CF-20 and put it on the ground and stepped on it and bounced up and down a few times. No problem. I can defintely see the benefit of having the CF-20 being a 2-in-1 even though I never use it as a tablet. The fact that you can't buy it as a tablet only (like you can with the CF-33) seems like a mistake. I can see MK2 and future iterations being better for the CF-20. I don't like that the CF-33 doesn't have a battery in the keyboard base like the CF-20.

 

I think the CF-20 makes more sense because that line has always been about convertible tablets, and the smaller size lends itself more to that. It's also good to hear there doesn't seem to be any loss of ruggedness, I recently bought a CF-54 and have been very disappointed in the quality, although I know I should be more charitable because it's only semi-rugged and a fraction of the price.
I wish there was more competition in this market, Dell and Getac seem to be the main competitors and my experience is their offerings have been sub par.

 

I have a Getac V100x i7 and a S400 i7, they are not bad and I have sold a bunch of Dell XFR6400's. The Dells weak spot is the drive and battery. SSD makes the drive survivable but the battery bites. Beautiful touchscreens on the Dell and Getac S400.

I think the CF-19Mk4 vs V100x is a close call as I have both here now, I don't like the oddball ac adapter on the V100. I have had CF-30's from the US Navy that were beat to pieces but they still ran fine.

Put a power port in a GD8000, what a POS.

 

I don't think that's completely accurate. I would like to know more.

 

This news is not good. Tablets don't work for all who need ruggedness.

 

Has anyone heard of or used the Gammatech Durabook line? I've seen ads for their stuff but they don't seem to sell enough for them to be common on the secondhand market.

 

I have had a few Durabooks that I got cheap, nothing special to say the least as they are far from rugged. About on par with the Dell ATG semi rugged. The S14Y is the most common one on Ebay ,slow as dirt with only a c2d 2.0, I think I have had 3 of them. They have the same problem with the gummy goo coming out of the rubber.

Given a choice honestly, I love the CF-52. I had one bail out of my pickup a good 4 feet to concrete on it's edge with no damage. Panasonic first. You would hate to see what I have done to a bios locked demo CF-30.

Getac would be next, very well built, but very expensive parts. Then the Dell XFR, too bad about the battery.

General Dynamics and Durabook are garbage, fancy name on a generic laptop that I would be afraid to sneeze at.

 

Semi-Rugged. Too easy for Kent T to kill. OK for Semi-Rugged, harder to find parts and accessories for.

 

We have a few Durabook GD6000 models floating around our warehouse. They seem decently built, but I think these came out in that sliver of time between when General Dynamics bought Itronix and when they ruined/shuttered it. We were never able to sell them, and at this point they are too old to be a viable alternative to any current Toughbook model.

Has Panasonic said anything concrete about the CF-33 replacing the CF-31? Or are we just assuming (albeit reasonably) that the CF-33 announcement means the end of the CF-31?

 

Or maybe the 31 will eventually be replaced by a fully rugged CF-32. Maybe that is why they jumped the 32 leaving it available for an upgraded 32 ?? I just can not see Panasonic doing away with the fully rugged laptop like the 31

 

That's what I was thinking

 

So this topic started because of some article on ruggedpcreview.com ?

 

That also, Panasonic is so dominant in rugged PC manufacturing, that ToughBook is a synonym for rugged laptop practically.

 

I know next to nothing on the topic but another possibility is they will go black- meaning the fully rugged laptop will completely change form and be a military/police only item.

I could see something advanced and therefore "too cool" for the great unwashed masses... "let them eat tablets"

Hopefully the spare parts keep flowing for old ones.

Or th competition steps up their game, fills the new void and bumps Panasonic off the top. Somebody would get fired by then, if not sooner...

 

It doesn't directly state that the CF33 replaces the CF31. It says it is an evolution of the CF20 and CF31..That statement is open to two interpretations.

From Panasonic UK

http://business.panasonic.co.uk/computer-product/cf-33


The official press release

http://shop.panasonic.com/about-us-latest-news-press-releases/02272016-cf33.html

WIESBADEN, GERMANY 02/27/2017
Panasonic today announced the world’s first 3:2 aspect ratio, fully rugged 2-in-1 detachable laptop*1 as its latest addition to the Toughbook family of products. The device is Panasonic’s 7th generation rugged Toughbook laptop and is the culmination of 20 years of innovation in rugged PC design and manufacturing.

This larger 12” display design with 3:2 aspect ratio brings unrivaled flexibility and performance for mobile business computing with its highly configurable capabilities. The Toughbook CF-33 detachable laptop offers the best of all worlds for mobile workers – a fully rugged laptop with detachable keyboard and larger display tablet that can be used in multiple modes to meet a variety of business needs. Target industries for the device include police, emergency services, government agencies, defense, field service workers, maintenance and service technicians in the utilities and telecommunications field. An evolution of the best selling Panasonic Toughbook CF-31 and CF-20 products, this latest 2-in-1 detachable device is one of the first laptops powered by the latest generation Intel® CoreTM vProTM processor, delivering incredible performance, and is available with Windows 10 Pro Operating System (available Windows 7 Professional downgrade option). It also has a rich set of business interfaces with additional customizable options to meet a worker’s needs. For the tablet, these include USB 3.0, HDMI, LAN, micro SD-XC and headset ports. On the keyboard dock there are 2x USB 3.0, USB 2.0, LAN, Serial, HDMI, SD-XC and VGA ports. Additional tablet configuration options include second USB 2.0 port, Serial, Barcode Reader, Smartcard Reader, Contactless Smart Card Reader and Fingerprint Reader.

Two models
With its glove and rain enabled touchscreen and versatile ecosystem, the Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 laptop comes with a choice of two models, CF-33 2-in-1 detachable laptop (tablet with keyboard dock) or CF-33 tablet (tablet only), as well as an o ptional vehicle docking adapter for existing CF-31 vehicle docks, making CF-33 backward compatible with its predecessor’s vehicle docks.

 

This thread just took an ugly turn.
I, as a german, feel that Germany should not be associated with the cleansing of Panasonics fully rugged line.

 

"... and is available with Windows 10 Pro Operating System (available Windows 7 Professional downgrade option)"
at least they got this much right ...

 

Most of my concern comes from this youtube video made by panasonic: which again describes the 33 as the "next generation" in the 31 line. Ruggedpcreview is a pretty ridiculous industry rag, but as an industry rag they can at least be relied on to parrot press releases and their description of the release of the 33 sounds pretty clear. But this may be misinterpreting what they are saying, and even the worst case scenario if Panasonic does intend to go tablet only for the moment that doesn't mean they won't change their minds in a year or two.

 

Yikes, hard to argue with that. I'm guessing no CF-32. And Larry, I just got done running Windows 10 for 3 days.

OMG does it suck, I have a brute of a desktop and it was horrific.

 

try a program called "classic shell" .
it is much akin to putting a dress on a pig ...
but you have to supply your own lipstick .

 

Don't. Win10 is much better than Win7 and it's start menu and all controls are better too.
Had to install Win7 on mk7 yesterday and that wasn't a cool experience to tune and use )

 

I'm running a W3550 Xeon with 12gb of ram and a 525gb Crucial SSD, windows 10 looks like a child designed the interface with its clunky icons and it freezes up.

Ok, here I sit, restart and try again. Wretched piece of garbage, repeat everytime I multitasking and so on.

No thanks.

 

Something is wrong with your settings or hardware
I didn't have any freezes running cf-19 mk6 16gb ram and samsung ssd. Sold these parts with mk7 and now, on 4gb ram and 500gb 7200rpm hdd, I really have speed problems. Grrrr, ordered sandisk ssd and going to buy 2x8gb sodimms today, because current config is unusable )
Children do very cool design

 

If you drop the new rugged CF-33 is the tablet / screen not going to fall out / off?