Brodieman Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 (edited) Looking at getting a Pana Toughbook to screw around with. Not fussed on specs - just needs to be rugged. The Cf-18 looks ideal. Damn these things are insanely priced when new or even old on ebay. EDIT: thought I would post some core features it needs to have: Wifi RS232 Serial Working Battery 2 USB ports PCMCIA It's going to be used in the field so those are a must. Edited June 28, 2009 by Brodieman adding details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Brad Posted June 29, 2009 Administrators Share Posted June 29, 2009 Good luck. they're bloody expensive and to be honest a pain iun the arse to use. I deployed a few in my olf role. Myself and the service guys detested them with a passion. We ended up deploying Dell's (ATG) ruggedised models instead. 1/3 of the price, much nicer to look at and 1000 times better to use. I had 4 of them toughbooks in the office and I couldn't get anyone to use the, $7000.00 each too for the CF29! Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry007 Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Not sure of the model of Toughbook we have at work. But they are heavy, tempremental POS. They do break though! A girl in the Brisbane office asked "whats this?" when they were on trial. "Panasonic toughbook, there built tough to take the hard knocks", "we have been knocking them off the desk all day and they still work!" was the reply. So she had a go. Lifted it above her head, and, before someone could stop her, smashed it on the office floor. Red faces all round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodieman Posted June 29, 2009 Author Share Posted June 29, 2009 Good luck. they're bloody expensive and to be honest a pain iun the arse to use. I deployed a few in my olf role. Myself and the service guys detested them with a passion. We ended up deploying Dell's (ATG) ruggedised models instead. 1/3 of the price, much nicer to look at and 1000 times better to use. I had 4 of them toughbooks in the office and I couldn't get anyone to use the, $7000.00 each too for the CF29! Brad Any model numbers in teh Dell Ruggedised range to look for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Brad Posted June 29, 2009 Administrators Share Posted June 29, 2009 Off the top of my head.....E4600 was the last ones we deployed. they've changed the models from memory but if you look for ATG, that is the ruggedised range and they have 2 different levels too. Heres an example: http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop_latitude_atg_e6400?c=au&l=en&s=bsd&cs=aubsd1 They really nice looking machines with a backlit keyboard etc Cheers, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodieman Posted June 29, 2009 Author Share Posted June 29, 2009 They look quite nice Brad - will look into it. Always loved the function over fashion look of the Toughbooks though - hoping I find a dead one to gut and fix up, run an SSD and whatnot from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Brad Posted June 29, 2009 Administrators Share Posted June 29, 2009 I too prefer function over fashion but the toughbooks are a piece of crap to use which is why functionally they're horrible ;) Even the touchscreen is bad due to the heavy protective overlay. The extra ruggedness of the unit is what makes it almost unuseable. All the ports have plastic locking caps over them and they're also a REALLY bad design due to the narrowness and depth of the ports. For instance a LOT of usb sticks will not fit into the USB ports because the surrounds on them are too damn narrow. The touchpad to is next to useless again due to the heavy protective overlay. I don't know anyone who likes using these units. BHP, police, ambulance and telstra have large fleets of them and all the users hate them Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry007 Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 We have CF-30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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