Toughbook Power Supply- indestructable!

I thought I would share a humorous story, even though it makes my hoo-haa pucker just thinking about it. I carry a CF-29 and a Motion LS800 Tablet to work everyday. I keep both AC adapters in my laptop backpack. Upon arriving home one day, I reached in the backpack, and pulled out what I thought was the CF-29 AC adapter. I booted the TB, and it worked for a little bit, and then I got the "red light of battery death." I was very disappointed that my battery had failed, but I continued to use the TB for a little while longer. After a little while, the screen started to flicker, almost like unplugging a power cord part way. Next thing I know the TB shuts down and would not reboot. I packed up the TB and got ready to use one of my other notebooks. Imagine my horror as I unplugged the AC adapter only to realize it was the 19V adapter from my LS800!! Thinking of what horrific damage I just inflicted on my beloved CF-29, I wiped a tear from my eye as I declared "Time of death- 4:15PM." Just for kicks, I plugged in the correct AC adapter. I said a little prayer as I slid the power switch. To my surprise, it came to life! <cue angels singing>

To anyone with a Toughbook, or anyone considering purchasing one: these are the most forgiving laptops I have ever used! Most PC's would not survive the abuse that we give them, but my trusty CF-29 is still kickin'!

<whew>

 

There are not too many times when a new term gets coined on this forum.... But I think we now have one... Because we have ALL experienced it... The HHPF (Hoo Haa Pucker Factor)

You are right... The Toughbooks are the most forgiving of a lot of things... Things the average person might do... Such as you just described... Even when modding them and poking around inside in my early days.... I'd close my eyes and think, "Please tell me I didn't just do that.".... Declaring toastage at about the same time... Only to find it bouncing back as if to say, "Is THAT all you've got?"

Then there are the magic smoke and brick stories we've heard... There are less stories of those... But the closer you get to the insides... The less forgiving it is...

Glad you made it out alive!

 

TB- I love the "HHPF" acronym! The HHPF was definitely at 11 that day. I finally had my TB configured the way I wanted it, and then this happened. Ugh- Thank God it really is a "Tough" book.

The other thing I forgot to praise, is how rugged the AC adapter jack is on the TB. It is easy to take for granted the finer design details. I once had an HP laptop that got "bumped" from its resting place while the AC adapter was plugged in. The internal jack cracked in half, and since it wasn't worth fixing, the only solution was to carry around a docking station to charge it. I have never had any time when I have feared an AC jack incident with the TB. My Thinkpad is pretty good build quality, but I still get nervous when the kids get too close to to power cord.

 

As you'll see by the CF-25 threads coming out.. The toughbooks are NEVER too old! Someone will ALWAYS have a use for them!

 

As you probably already know, there are flavors of Linux that will run on very minimal hardware, all the while providing the same functionality of a new "netbook." While you cant run AutoCAD, you could run OpenOffice, a web browser, email, etc- all at respectable speeds considering the age of the hardware. I have a USB stick with Puppy Linux, and a variety of utilities for when things go wrong. I have run Puppy on older machines, and the speed amazes me! A person could take the oldest TB, install something like this on it, and have an indestructible work laptop. This was my original intent when I bought my first TB- to install Linux and some open source utilities, to make a work laptop (with a serial port!) that was inexpensive, yet functional. My CF-29 dual-boots Windows XP and Fedora 12. The CF-29 is old technology by todays standards, but I love it! It has a PC slot, and a real serial port! I don't know why manufacturers think that nobody uses a PC slot or a serial port anymore... a lot of the equipment I service, and the test equipment I use, still uses serial... Long live the TB! If I ever start my own company, I figure I will outfit the field guys with older toughbooks running Linux. The cost to function ratio is awesome!

 

Great Post!

 

A buddy of mine got a MacBook Pro and they have the neatest power plug. It is magnetic so that if one were to walk by and bump it, it would simply come off. I wonder how many computers have been toast because of that freakin power plug being part of the MOBO. Thank god for Panny putting it on the sister board!

 

My mother has a Mac that has that style, its brilliant!! Much less of a chance to break either the computer or the cord.

 

I figured the Toughbook jack was so strange no other laptop adapters would plug into it!

 

Aaron, you would be surprised... the power supply I use for my Motion LS800 tablet pc (an HPf1781a) which is 19V, is exactly the same outside barrel diameter, and the inside looks to be slightly larger, but it does plug in. Thank goodness I didn't fry the TB Jimi Hendrix style...!!!

 

Just because it fits, doesn't make it ok. If you use multiple notebooks, make sure you grab the right power adapter. I almost learned a very hard lesson by being in a hurry.

 

try my stunt, tag all your power adaptors right behind the plug. I just use electrical number/letter bands eg PAN CF19 or DEL D620

 

Great idea!