inherited CF-18 MK4. have questions

Hi,

I was given a toughbook cf-18 MK4 from someone who shattered the screen, corrupted the windows installation, and didn't want to fix it.

I have gotten windows 7 running on it (except graphics driver) using an external monitor.

model # is CF-18KHHZXBM

From what i can gather from the forum this is a non digitizer model, is that correct? Does anyone know what the part number is for a replacement screen?

I found someone selling the whole screen assembly for a CF-18 but it's a digitizer model. Would that be compatible with this notebook? Are there any pro's or cons in doing this?

This forum has been a great resource so far to me, thanks to everyone in advance.

 

The screen assembly is compatible. The you'll lose the digitizer/touchscreen though. i'm pretty sure you can rewire it. but it wont work plug & play. and yes, it is a touchscreen model. not digitizer.

Now i might be pulling this out of my ar$e, but the way i remember it, the digitizer is hooked up to the serial port. ergo, that's the reason the digitizer model doesnt have a usable serial port.

 

so whats the difference between a touch screen and a digitizer screen? happen to know the part number of the touch screen?

I'd prefer to keep it non digitizer but am having a heck of a time finding a replacement.

 

a digitizer only responds to the stylus pen while the touchscreen can be used with you finger for instance. digitizer has a (slightly) brighter screen and its more accurate when you draw, write or whatever on the screen.

the technology is roughly the same. touch input. but while the touchscreen panel is in front of the screen (see through plastic like panel), the digitizer is behind the lcd itself. it responds to the imput from the digitizer stylus. if you try a pen or whatever, it wont work at all, since its not pressure activated.

 

ok that makes sense... I had a tablet laptop before that was a digitizer type display.

So since the touchscreen is in front of the LCD, i'm going to need a complete assembly (touchscreen + LCD). Any idea what that part #'s are or what this would run me to fix? I'm still trying to figure out if it's worth it or not.

 

You may want to consider working with member Finemedic:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/616737-dead-cf-18-need-help.html

If I'm reading right, he needs a replacement Mk-4 touchscreen mobo, which you have. Maybe one gets the parts and another can use the proceeds towards a complete unit.

Just saying ....

 

I saw that, I'm considering parting this out depending on what the costs would be to replace the screen

Is there a good way to visually determine the difference between a digitizer screen and a touch screen? I've been talking to the seller of the screen assembly i mentioned above, and he mentioned that he's only assuming it's a digitizer because it has the stylus in the assembly. But mine has a stylus as well and is a touch screen model.

I'd like to see if i can talk him through determining the actual screen type but wouldn't know what to look for... Any pointers?

 

i'm not certain if this covers all digitizer unites because i've only used two. but those had buttons on the digitzer stylus. while a touchscreen stylus is simple plastic. now, dont take my word for it, because i'm honestly not sure of this.

 

That was the case with my digitizer tablet. After talking to the seller he was able to get me the model # of the original toughbook and it's definitely a Digitizer model.

So is Ebay the best place to find used parts for these things?

 

Also the factory digitizer pen for a toughbook is grey, the touchscreen model pen is black. I can put up pictures if you need it.

 

Appreciate it but not necessary, just that factoid will help me out.

Thanks

 

You can also tell from the length of the stylus slot. The digitizer has a longer slot because the stylus tab/tether hole is not at the very tip. The touchscreen has a stylus slot that does extends to just the center of the (covered) screw position immediately above it. The digitizer slot is longer and extends to the right of the screw hole. You can see the difference by looking at both side-by-side (on Ebay ).

HTH

 

Panasonic CF-19 Tablet Stylus Pen for Digitizer (CF-VNP010U)

 

Seems I was spot on. Ta for the confirm.

 

Check fee-bay for a nice 900mhz 18 they usually go cheap and you can just
swap the whole screen assembly over. Make sure to get a touch model if thats
what you want. CF-18B or C then H,J or T will be the touch models.

It's always nice to have a parts machine laying around even if its just for those missing screws and other small bits.

 

Look at the slot where the stylus goes. The slot is @1/2" long on a touch screen. The slot is @3/4" long on a digitizer.

Look at the picture. Touchscreen:
PANASONIC TOUGHBOOK CF-18 INTEL PENTIUM 900MHz 512MB #200 | eBay

This is a digitizer:
Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 P-M 1.2Ghz 1.5GB Tablet Office Loaded MINT LOW HOURS | eBay

 

It seems that most of the reasonably priced toughbook parts are listed on ebay.com located in the US and I'm unable to buy them because sellers won't ship to Canada. It's been a few months since I've used ebay but i can't even contact some sellers to ask them if they're willing to ship to Canada. When did that happen?

Anyways, admittedly i know little about what these and their parts are actually worth. In my case Is all i need the touch panel and LCD panel (They're both broken).

I believe I've found what i need, seller is located in Australia
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/320758372820...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_3163wt_1187

And

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/390348702176...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_2310wt_1164

Are those prices reasonable?

 

If you are not in a rush I have gotten complete units (minus charger, ram, caddy and battery) for that much or less. Just a waiting game at times.

 

I'm not in a rush but my experience with ebay has been that what's available to me as a Canadian Buyer is pretty limited and usually twice as expensive than what can be had from the US. So what i worry about more is not being able to get parts in the future.

I've seen a couple decent looking units on ebay already but of course are only for sale in the US and ebay won't even let me contact the sellers.

 

ADOR probably wont sell it to you via ebay. When an offer is made here on the forums, we always keep it internal.

EDIT: to contact a seller, you must first click his/her name and then press the contact button. it will automatically be set to the last item you looked at from that seller.

 

When i do that i get a message from the website saying i'm not able to contact them and the seller is unable to respond to me.

Never seen that before.

 

This Cf-18 being an MK4, is the video chipset the intel 915GMS?

Anyone got this chipset working properly in windows 7?

EDIT: NVM i finally found the answer in the win7 cf-18 mk1 thread... On the last page lol

 

Christ, mate. You need to log in first. I have the same issue when I'm not logged on.

 

I am logged in, give me some credit here.

 

My apologies. Had an awful day, didn't mean to sound condescending.

Right, then I dunno what the issue is. The "not able to contact" message only shows up when I'm not logged in.

 

No worries, it only happens when i'm on the .com site instead of .ca and trying to contact a seller that indicates they only ship within the US.

I imagine it's some kind of anti-fraud measure from e-bay to try and prevent scamming. Just sucks though because I've been able to convince sellers in the past to ship to me, now it doesn't look i'm going to be able to do that.

 

Have you tried contact forum member Ohlip yet? He is from Canada and might be able to help you out.

 

Nope, I only registered here yesterday so don't know who's who exactly. I made a post in the toughbook BST forum, I'll see if i can look up Ohlip and msg him.

thanks

 

he is in British Columbia and sells a lot of different models of toughbooks. He is our resident hardware expert. He is also a very GOOD guy. I hope he can help you.

 

Looks like you have 2 threads going on amost the same topic.

Answered your other thread so wont retype it here.

You can find a nice 900mhz on ebay for 70-150$ then just swap the
top half over and your done.

If you do want to just swap the LCD and Touch panel I have alot of new LCD's and new Touch-Screen kits ( new old stock ) then PM me.

 

I'm not familiar with the rules here but other forums i've been on have had rules that new question = new thread.

On ebay.com i've seen a couple good deals but unable to buy because seller won't ship to canada. Anything that i can buy is +$300, usually around $400.

I PM'd you