Panasonic will be introducing a new semi-rugged member of the Toughbook family at CTIA next week: an
"ultimate road warrior PC" that adds speed, a ton of battery life, and a little bit of weight to its
predecessor. The CF-74 (or simply Toughbook-74) is an upgraded version of the company's
Toughbook-73 13.3-inch XGA model
(pictured), and thus shares many of the same features (touchscreen, 512MB of RAM, shock-mounted hard drive, DVD combo
drive, WiFi, optional EV-DO and Bluetooth), but jacks up the processor from a 2.0GHz Pentium M to a 1.83GHz Core Duo,
more than doubles the maximum allowable RAM, and perhaps best of all, also more than doubles the battery life from 3
hours and 15 minutes to a claimed Mobile Mark-tested 7 to 8 hours. Power and durability don't come cheap, though, so
expect to shell out at least $3,000 for one of these starting next month, and that doesn't even include the vital
fingerprint scanner for airtight security.
posted March 28th 2006 6:00AM
I want a laptop built in an all weather bag cushioned on all sides. Unzip or snap open lock, lift up top and use. Pull out spring loaded power cable some where from the side and connect to power. (And may be pull out another cable to cnnect to projector). Get a lan cable connected (in african jungle there is no wi-fi or blue tooth). Built in side bag to hold CDs or flash memory sticks. Why should one unbundle, takeout the laptop, connect to power...? No body is thinking about reducing the clumsy time in setting up a laptop. Panasonic, et al, are you listning?
2. You only get 80Mb? That doesn't really sound like a good deal to me.....
to ravi in post #1 -- Itronix makes actual "rugged" lappies/tablet PC's. As close to an actual rugged lappy you'll find with panasonic is either the CF-72 or maybe a CF-28... the CF-73 & CF-74 are more for your regular business traveller who doesn't seem to understand that laptops are not kickballs... the 73 and 74 are not actually rugged. An aside -- some of the Itronix equipment is actually rain-proof for a period; they have details on their webpage... and a few of the Panasonic Toughbook series are also rain-resistant... I cannot remember which ones, however.
Also, to Josh in #3 -- essentially, these are business machines and thus do not sport a "gaming" size hard drive. Actually, the CF-74 is a marked improvement over the 73, which as I recall had a lot of heat problems and couldn't deal with a dusty environment very well (I used the CF-73 and CF-72 in Iraq & the 72 faired MUCH better though it was slower and not nearly as "sleek", which mattered not)
another cool thingy about the Panasonics -- the Toughbook series sports a gel-pack around their hard drives & I've acutally seen most of a cup of coffee spilt into a CF-72 and it survived just fine, coffee creamer and all (there's a "pan" of sorts under the keyboard).
These are worth the investment, as long as you understand they're not truly "rugged", but rather considerably less likely to fall apart on you as a regular lappy may.
If I could give a recommendation to Panasonic, it'd be to completely re-create the CF-72 with today's hardware specs, as the 72 was actually tough enough to take a beating from the folks in the Army I worked with, it dealt with heat and dust very well, and the screens were damn tough (I saw one accidentally smashed with an M-16 one day and nothing happened to the screen... not a scratch)
#4, I was just being a smart alec. He said 80Mb, not 80Gb. :)
I agree with you, though. For a laptop, 80 gigs should be plenty.
Lee in #4, you missed the joke. Mb = Megabit, thus 80Mb = 10MB.
my speed-reading failed me miserably. ;)
ive seen some of the hardcore toughbooks get run over and stuff
pretty sweet
wowy, the only laptop that i'd swap my iBook for. Panasonic do this line of Laptops well - shame about the rest of their lines.
Toughbooks are geektacular.
These bitching laptops are guarantee to be accident-proof., You can throw them, drop them, step on them, and even sink them in water, {well maybe not} and nothing will happen to them. But the technology and features is very limiting and their prices in the $3,000 and up only reflects their durability and rugged contruction.
Amoung all the laptops produce by Japanese companies Panasonic has the best., unfortunatelly you can't buy them that easy at your local Circuit City or CompUSA., based on my own experience 6-years ago, you have to call them at their dedicated {very professional} toll-free number {Not the same as the general consumer line} and enquire about them, they will take a LOT of personal information about you, including your occupation and for what application you'll need it.
After that "mini" questionaire the representative will send you a complementary foulder shape like a Toughbook with the applicable {based on your line of occupation and application} product literature, separate specifications and pricing sheets and another toll-free number to call them and order them. Very different approach to laptop shopping.
Panasonics are quirky at times, but damn I love all mine!
Yes, I have thrown my primary CF-27 multiple times (hard enought once to crack the case even!) and it still runs flawlessly.
The CF-72 I am using now is a little less rugged, but it has held up nicely to my abuse. I tune cars for a living and its a harsh enviroment.
Recently purchased a brand new Toshiba Tecra M5 core duo. Panasonics minimal support greatly beats Toshibas extensive bad support. I wish I had taken a little bit of a performance hit and gotten yet another Panasonic.