Y5 reviewed @ trustedreviews

http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2007/02/11/Panasonic-ToughBook-CF-Y5/p1

8hrs+ battery life, dvd playback ~5 1/2 hrs, good viewing angles and best of all 1.5kg! I want one bad!! :drool:

Nearly a whopping £2k for it but if you know the right places you can get it for around half

 

Which variant (i.e. country or regiion) of the Y5 did he review? Was it an American or European model? I assuming it isn't the Japanese spec, because they've now got 100GB hard drives!?

 

I believe its UK by looking at the keyboard layout.

 

2000 British Pounds (3900 US Dollars) is ridiculous amount of money to pay for Core 1 Duo 1.66 GHz, 512 MB RAM and Intel Graphics. Those who want thin and lite notebook should look for Sony SZ series. It is thinner, much faster and a lot cheaper.

 

That is just the same old "rip off Britain" pricing. That exact same Y5 unit is far cheaper in the US and even more cheaper in Japan. In fact, you could buy it from an importer, pay the customs duty and still land if for cheaper than 2000 pounds.

The problem is that Panasonic UK basically has only I distributor in the UK and they sell only to one seller, who in turn mostly deals with corporate buys. So its not exactly a wide market - and they mainting the high pricing to rip off corporate customers even more.

I'd also take the review with a bit of a grain of salt - the reviewer is doing decent job but he is not ALL that knowledgeable about Toughbooks or the unit in particular. And it shows if you know what to look for.

By the way, Panasonic's UK distributor told me today that they have signed an agreement to sell the Toughbooks to consumers through MicroAnvika ie one of the worst rip off merchants(albeit behind the facade of very shiny shops) on Tottenham Court Road. Boy there's progress for you!

Its as if Panasonic does not want to sell more of these.

 

If I was to buy one I can get it for less than £1100 delivered. That's not a bad price and even includes genuine Vista.

I agree, Micro Anvika is one of the biggest rip-off mechants. My current laptop I'm using was imported and I paid more or less the same price as the US for it.

 

So after reading the review, sounds pretty sweet. However, I also think Panasonic doesn't get a lot of feedback from their customers. (Probably because they are happy with what they have) I think sending them some input from users such as ourselves would do some good. Ie I suggested a widescreen display. So if you are interested in future mods for the toughbook line shoot them off an e-mail or letter. If they get enough of us, I am sure they will make some upgrades.

 

I just ordered mine from abroad. Will take some time to get delivered. Whoopee!