Which one should I buy? CF-30 or CF-19?

Hi,

these days I find myself looking for a new (to me) Toughbook as I just moved my CF-29 from my personal/car use to a permanent position in my dairy farm - literally into the barn!

so what do you guys recommend I get?

first: here is my proposed budget: $900 max.

second: since I already have the car port installed in both personal vehicle and farm truck I like the option of using both the 29 and the 30 in whichever vehicle I happen to be driving.

BUT, that being said, I like the size and portability of the CF-19.

I am considering either a CF-30 MK2 or a CF-19

open to all suggestions and also would like to know how much to spend for either toughbook.

thanks in advance!

 

If you milk out a cow now and then your hands won't fit that CF-19. Shop around for a 1,000 nit CF-30.
I'm typing this on a CF-18. It's like working on a watch for my big club fingers.

IMHO

Jeff

 

With a $900.00 budget the 19 is in your range but the 19 has a very small keyboard. If you do a lot of typing you might not like it. The 19 is a lot lighter and easy to take anywhere.
The 30 I like and am typing on mine now but a MK2 for $900.00 is going to take a lot of looking, without a touch screen no problem.

 

How about $902.50?

Panasonic ToughBook CF-30 C2D L7500 1.6Ghz 2GB TOUCH BACKLIT KEYBOARD!


However; no Optical Drive included.

For that you'll be out another $139:

PANASONIC TOUGHBOOK CF-30 CD/DVD COMBO DRIVE CF-VDR302U

The PLUS side is .... no need to spend money on another vehicle dock.

See above. ↑

 

Damn, I have been watching his auctions. I see he took almost another $50.00 off it now . The only thing is he uses the same picture for all his 30 auctions. Best price on fleabay for a CF-30 MK2
You could do a mod to a CF-51 cd-rom and save yourself a $100.00 http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/264961-official-cf-30-thread-12.html

 

Here's a brand NEW CF-19 Mk2 starting at $900 today on eBay.
Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 | eBay

I purchased an identical 19 from this seller a couple of weeks ago for $1050. From the feedback, it looks like Rob's Proton Elec. did the same a few months back and also left good feedback. The item is new, and as advertised. The seller will seldom answer emails and is very slow on shipping but does eventually deliver what she promises.

 

96.3% feedback rating??? Hmmmm I donno about that one...

 

Looks like Proton Computers bought one from them.

 

thank you for the replies.

It looks like I am leaning more towards a cf-30.
one question that remains is: is the difference in speed / power between a MK1 and a MK2 significant enough?

I will be using this as my primary laptop as I just sold my everyday Vaio recently.

 

AHAHAHAHA... Yeah, my boss (Matt) will take ANY risk because it's the company account! I personally would never do that lol!

Thanks

 

I have a CF-30 with a SSD in it with boot time 28 sec into windows. I find it does everything I need it to do. If you want more speed then go with the MK2...I would

CF-30 MK1 -L24001.6 Core Duo
CF-30 MK2 - L7500 1.6 Core 2 Duo
CF-30 MK3 - SL9300 1.6 Core 2 Duo

 

there is a slight improvement for those processors, not sure how noticeable it would be