allright, I drank the ToughBook coolaid

Hi guys. First post here. I have drank of the ToughBook coolaid after finding how cheap a refurb unit is. I bought on from Tigerdirect but it looked like it was drug behind a truck when it came in. The cd drive did not work and the battery was missing. So I returned that one and am looking at buying another. They have 2 in stock now, had a touch screen earlier but they are gone. Panasonic ToughBook CF-29H3 Rugged Notebook PC - Intel Pentium M LV 738 1.4GHz, 512MB DDR, 40GB HDD, CD-ROM, 13.3 TFT, Windows XP Pro (Off-Lease) at TigerDirect.com This is the first one I bought from them and this Panasonic Toughbook CF-29L3 Rugged Notebook PC - Intel Pentium M ULV 778 1.6GHz, 512MB DDR, 60GB HDD, CD-ROM, 13.3 XGA, Windows XP Pro 32-bit (Off-Lease) at TigerDirect.com is the other one.

I have a Lenovo I have used since 03 with 2gb ram and a 1.66ghz processor that works fine for the business I use it on, but now I want a toughbook.

Which one should I go with, I was thinking the second one with 60 gb.

I looked at the configurator and could not get either one to come up.

I'm a noob to toughbooks and I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer on PC stuff either.

Thanks for the help.


Does the touch screen really make that much of a difference?

 

Well you want to know what you are in for check this search out TEST site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic - Google Search
We have had a few members that bought the tiger direct 29 (many returned them) and have had lots of problems with them, these are off lease SBC and they were well used and abused. Touchscreen, battery and all beat to #$%@. Most likely the second one is a touch too but was a return because the touch was not working . If you are smart stay away from the CF-29HTM50BM

Also that is to much to pay for a non touch. You could find a better deal on flebay CF-29 items - Get great deals on PC Laptops Netbooks, 500 MHz or more items on eBay.com! but remember to get one with the caddy + hard drive....if not it will cost you another $100-$150 more

 

The touchsceen is quite important for a tablet , but on the cf-29 series it is most commonly used in vehicle mounted units with software that has large icons

I hardly use the touchscreen on my Toughbooks , so I would say no


Alex

 

I bought a touchscreen CF-29 to use for navigation in my Jeep but I still find myself preferring to use keyboard shortcuts rather then touching the screen itself. Touchscreen is a neat feature, but not necessary on a notebook IMHO...

 

This is most likely a retired SBC unit:

CF-29HTM50BM Description:
***SBC ONLY***
Pentium M 738-1.4GHz LV (Centrino), 13.3" Transmissive touch XGA, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, WLAN 802.11 a+b+g, Win XP Pro SP2, Tempo VIP Sidekick Tester I/F, EDGE(GC83) WWAN, SBC Logo, Asset tag, Replaceable RJ11 jack

 

Welcome!

My first machine was from the tiger people. I got lucky I guess, it worked fine, not too beat up. I was soon hooked however and ended up getting a slightly newer version of the 29 (MK4). The SBC off-lease models are an MK3.

 

I use touch sometimes on both units. Sometimes I forget it's there till someone touches the screen pointing @ something and fubar the program.

 

FWIW - I refuse to sell and deal with those SBC models because of the terrible condition that they are in! I've made it my policy.

I have several CF-29's in stock in perfect condition. PM me if you are interested man

 

I spoke with a couple of at&t (formerly SBC) techs yesterday and one of the things we discussed was the CF-29 Toughbooks they recently retired from service.

While these two particular service techs didn't use the Toughbooks, they were certainly aware of them and their intended usage when adopted (sidebar: at&t is going away from the multipurpose ruggedized laptops to dedicated hand-held testing devices).

Neither of them could fathom just why so many of the retired SBC units have cracked palm rest areas.

They acknowledged that the units were dock-mounted in the service trucks, so it wasn't like the unit was setting in the seat and the tech used it as a "push-off point" in exiting the truck.

SO; the "mystery" continues ....

 

Maybe since they did not look after them they were getting a little ticked off at it

Did he happen to say where it was dock-mounted.......like in the tool box
I was looking at some on ebay and man they had a hard life. You can't blame the 29's but them SBC workers should be fired

 

Well I guess I'm a idiot, I don't see a PM option.

 

Ahh crap, you are too new... hmmm... Here is my inventory...

Currently in STOCK:
~1 x CF-29NTQGCBM – 1.5GB DDR2/NON-Touch/Floppy/1.6GHz/80GB/Normal keyboard/Verizon - $399.99
~1 x CF-29LTQGCBM – 1.5GB DDR2/Touchscreen/Floppy/1.6GHz/80GB/Normal keyboard/Verizon - $499.99
1 x CF-29HTLGZBM – 1.25GB/Touchscreen/1.4GHz/60GB/Floppy/Normal keyboard - $599.99
3 x CF-30CTSAZBM – NON-Touch/1.6 Core Duo/2GB/80GB/NO OPTICAL - $1100
1 x CF-30CTQAZBM - NON-Touch/1.6 Core Duo/1.5GB/80GB/Combo - $1100
13 x CF-T5MWETZBM – Touchscreen/12”/1GB DDR2 MicroDIMM/60GB/1.06 Core Duo - $499.99
1 x CF-74CCBAXBM – NON-Touch/1.86 Core Duo/2GB/80GB/Combo - $600
1 x CF-74DCEDZBM – NON-Touch/1.86 Core Duo/2GB/250GB/DVD BURNER - $800
1 x CF-74ECBAXBM – TOUCHSCREEN/2.0 Core Duo/2GB/120GB/Combo Drive/Brand new condition/Brand new battery/520 Hours - $1200

 

All new members will need 15 post to PM , forum rules , sorry

 

3 x CF-30CTSAZBM – NON-Touch/1.6 Core Duo/2GB/80GB/NO OPTICAL - $1100

Where would you find a optical drive for it?

 

I have one combo drive available for $100 as well.

Thanks