What is the best Toughbook for family/kids use

Having watched a new Sony Vaio disintegrate over the last five years, the same five years i used an already second hand CF-18 with no noticeable ageing, there is no way i'm buying a non-Toughbook laptop again. But i don't know which model is most suitable.

I've got 2 kids under 5 and another on the way so it needs to be fully rugged or they will test it to destruction. Needs to have a DVD player. Doesn't need to be touchscreen but it might be useful if it's not going to be much more expensive. Something that can run win 7 easily will future proof it.

Any suggestions welcome and i can do some research from that. Thanks

 

cf30..........

 

Actually does it have to be fully rugged? Are the semi ruggeds milk and small fist proof?

 

The -T -W and -Y series are not rugged enough -- easy to break keys off the keyboard. CF-73 should work OK, has DVD and pretty cheap now but batteries are relatively expensive. CF-52 low end models are also getting pretty cheap, much easier to find decent batteries for. Also CF-29 are at a good value point especially older 1.2-1.3 GHz models sometimes on the auction site for well under $200 complete.

 

I have 6 grand kids and 3 of the girls (5-9 years) have CF-29's (1.4-1.6 MHz) and they love them. I put about 15 Pop Capgames on them and they are all smiles. Two of them has Barbie stickers all over them and the other one has Princess stickers on it. The 2 older girls (11-15 years) have CF-51 and CF-52, both Core2 Duo 2.0 mhz. My grandson (10 years) has a Itronix GoBook III . As you can see the younger one's have the "milk and small fist" proof fully rugged laptops and the older ones have the semi rugged

PS: I also like Shawn's idea of a CF-30 but it will all come down to what your budget is.

 

For girls every toughbook will be good enough.

If you have boys, I will vote NOT for a laptop at all. Even they look to you too young now (as you said under 5), they will get used to play action games very soon. And the laptop performance, input and displays are not good enough. Believe me - they will quickly want the "high end gaming" - best graphics and frames per second, etc. and they will compare with the other guys in the hood. So I vote for a good desktop PC from the mid-end with upgrade options.

Toughbooks are toys for older boys... like us

 

My mkIV CF-52 with discrete ATI graphics keeps up with my desktop just fine for gaming. 100 fps on the same game on both. The only reason that I even still have the desktop is for the 27" screen. Yes, I know I can hook up the laptop to it, but I use it as a laptop too and I don't want to have to move everything around the screen on my games when I switch.

 

I've no space for a desktop and will keep them off hardcore gaming as long as possible. Plenty of time for that later. Mostly it'll be watching DVDs and interactive learning DVD games. Touchscreen would be good for that i guess.

Looking at the CF-29s and 30s seems like the best value for money is the later CF-29s with a worthwhile step up for the CF-30 mk2 if i wanted to spend more.

I see a UK seller has lots of CF-29s mk4 or mk5 1.6GHz, with Win7 loaded, 80GB, 1.5GB ram, DVD drive, good condition for 145 pounds. Seems silly not to buy one. Will it run everything on 7 do you think?

Looks like i can get a faster CF-52 though for similar money to a CF-29.

Is the keyboard of the CF-29 more spill proof than the CF-52? Spilt drinks is more likely than full submersion.

Thinking the DVD drive door on the 29/30 will be usable by a five year old but might keep younger ones out for a few years which could be good.

 

I had a 29 and it ran movies just fine- but never tried it under Win 7. Can't imagine that it woudl be an issue though. However, a CF-30 would be a better bet, going back to your future-prooof thought in OP. They have SATA hard drives and can accomodate 4GB memory vs 2GB max (only on certain MkIV & V models). Much better for Win 7. For cost, there is a decent jump in price between the CF-30 MkI and MkII. For your purposes, a MkI is probably the best bet for cost/ benefit balance.

As far as CF-52 vs CF-30, the tradeoff is speed for ruggedness- but nothing you have listed requires a really fast laptop. I can't say the keyboard itself is better spill protected, but the entire laptop really is and also designed to take more of a beating in general. I have had both, and I would say the fully rugged 30 is a better choice for young kids. I love my 52 and traded my 30 in to get it. But when my granddaghter is 5 years old, I will break out my old Cf-28 or buy another 30.

 

Does the touchscreen on a CF-29 or 30 work with finger swiping or does it need a good push or a fingernail to work it?

 

I started my kids out on the 28 series, when they learned how to treat a pc better and needed better specs they got a mixture of CF-73,50 and 51. Now they are on the 74 and 52 series. If you think they are going to need the fully rugged series the 19 or 30 will be the way to go. As you know having a 18 the 19 just doesn't have the dvd drive you want. The prices on the 30 have dropped way down from where they were before.

 

I know between my line of work and two girls one soon to be seven and one soon to be two, ive had both a 29 and now a 30, they pull twist yank...havrnt been able to kill it and fluids at eork and thrm.... well its lasted fluids etc...and after watching a toshiba get torn up hopefully getting a 52 for the wife soon

 

That seems the sensible way to go. The 29s are so cheap and they don't need much spec i might as well start on that and as the older boy needs more or just his own one then i can invest in a faster and maybe less robust one just for him and keep the 29 on the table for all to use. Not sure Panasonic shouldn't issue a certified BABY-STD-810H series with a milk proof keyboard and peanut butter resistant DVD drive. Every laptop used in any house with toddlers is at risk from being below this standard of ruggedness.

There is a bit of life left in the Vaio still so i can keep an eye on ebay to see what comes up but so far the 30s are 3 or 4 times the price of 29s here. The corporations maybe haven't dumped them onto the second hand market yet.