WOW!!! CF 74 Arrived!!!

Please forgive me - as i am beside myself.

Having taken a $3,800 leap of faith, I have been having nightmares that I was he stupidest person on earth. I mean, buying a laptop that cannot be returned - and never having seen it!

Anyway, it arrived to day. After spending hours with the Toughbook 74 I will give you my biased opinion:

It is the best built laptop on the market. Not even the IBM comes remotely close.

The screen (much to my surprise and delight) is equal to the Sony SZ120. I find I perfer the non-glare screen. Plus the touchsreen feature is fantastic.

The keyboard is very close (but not above) the IBM.

Nothing, absolutley nothing, in my opinion comes close to the CF74's styling. It is sleek, sexy, powerful (no boy-racer flash, thank God).

For me - general user, non-gamer - I have found the perfect machine.

Oh, and did I mention that after 7.5 hours I still have 20% battery life left!!!!

I will provide more detailed impressions later

 

Nice leap of faith! Thanks for the feedback on the 74, and glad it worked out for you. Where did you buy it from and how come it's unreturnable? If you get a chance to post pics that'd be great, and a full review even better

 

Hmm, what do you need that notebook for? Obviously this notebook probably wont suit a lot of people at that price...

 

Yes, please. I would love to see a full review. So glad you are enjoying your new machine!

 

Please forgive my enthusias - I fully realize that most people are not about to spend, or cannot afford, a $4,000.00 laptop. And I certainly could have gotten a very excellent machine at half the cost (or less!).

Do I need a laptop that I can take through deep forests and rugged mountains - no. I just wanted something really special for general usage. And this is it. Owning the 74 is like having a Porsche or Mont Blanc pen, or any other item that represents the highest quality in its class.

As for a full reivew - I'm not very tech oriented (there's irony). I will take pictures (I'll ask my high school son for help in attaching them) and report on further observations about this machine. If I can figure out how to do a complete review I will be glad to.

 

Again, where'd you buy it where you can't return it? You might want to head over to the reviews section to see how to do a review. Not that hard, just say what you like and don't like.

 

You cannot purchase the CF74 or CF29 directly through Panasonic.

I purchased my unit through CDCE (one of their resellers). Because I custom ordered the CF74 with Bluetooth and extra RAM, they do not take returns. Although I never asked, I suspect it would be difficult to take back even a base unit.

I know if you order the "y" or "w" series though Panasonic direct they charge a 15% restocking fee.

Understand that the Cf74 and CF29 are considered industrial laptops. They sell them directly to businesses - placing 100's, sometimes 1000's of units to major institutions (homeland security, telecommunications, health care, militrary, etc). Here in LA, SBC (telephone) bought over 20,000 CF29's last year for their service trucks.

Panasonic rarey sells these ruggedize models to individuals. One, because of the cost, and two, they don't want the hassel of dealing with an individual who wants to return it just because they don''t like it.

It's a shame they make it so difficult to buy - or even see! I spent weeks just trying to locate one to view.

Trust me when I tell you there is nothing else like this in the market.

By the way, my battery finally ran out after 8 hours and 18 minutes!!!!

 

It's very easy! Just click on the "Review your notebook" thread at the top of each forum and abaxter will email you very detailed instructions on how to format your review. Give it a try. It can't be any worse than mine.

C'mon, give it a shot. I'm very curious to see your observations on this lappie. You may very well be the only one on the internet to submit one. Think of the thousands of potential buyers you'll be helping.

 

Yes pls, at least post some pics. I am curious too.

 

Congrats!
fyi- Portableone carries the Panasonic line, including these units I believe.

 

That would be the Toughbook 29

 

but the IBM doesn't come remotely close in terms of price (same specs) as the toughbook

 

IBM versus Panasonic... even with similiar specs two totally different philosphies, two very different animals.

When Ican get the the time, I will try a review...

 

I thought about using my gov discount for one of those but it is a pain in the a$$ to get.
I like them cause the toughbooks in our lab (Japanese postdocs bring in) are amazing. Maybe I'll sell the flimsy SONY,,, hummmm.