Anyone have a Panasonic Toughbook?

[Right Touch]

Saw a few threads on here but most of them are 4 or 5 years old. And technology has come a long was since then. Is anyone using Toughbooks these days? or anything similar? What about mobile printers? I am building a new office at my shop and will be upgrading my computers and software. Just not sure if I should get a desktop, laptop, toughbook, combination?

[lawnangel1]

I dont have one yet but I plan on ordering one after Christmas. I think it will be very handy. I am gonna get a mobile broadband card and go to my pc so I can access clip and quickbooks from my computer

[newz7151]

IIRC, the AT&T service techs here use them. I think that is what the unit said on it that the guy has.

[Right Touch]

the nice new ones are worth $2-4,ooo, which is way out of a reasonable range, but it seems you can get a good used one for about $500.

[ECO Landscaping]

I've got a Toughbook CF-28. Bought used but with new 160G hard drive,cd rewirtable drive and battery. In great shape for a quarter of the price. The only down side is it weighs as much as a tank and just as tough. Lol
Posted via Mobile Device

[unkownfl]

buy a desk top for the office. Then a net book for the road. Get a laser printer for the office and a cheap ink jet for the truck. Trust me it is so much easier to sit down and do the majority of your work on the desk top. Then if you need to look something up or print a invoice or estimate you can with the net book. They support office and most software you will need out in the field.

[poolboy]

Personally, when I leave the office in the morning, the laptop goes with me. Tethered to my Blackberry, invoices & estimates are emailed instantly when needed. No longer will I buy a desktop PC.

[ErikDj]

I replaced a Mac Air with a Panasonic Toughbook CF-F8 last Christmas. It travels from home to the office daily. Over the past year it has taken a tumble off the passenger seat more than once without crashing the hard drive. BTW, I now put my briefcase on the floor.;-) It's a solid machine and amazingly light thanks to the titanium shell. I'd buy one again.

[MikeRi24]

I work on an ambulance part time and we have the Toughbooks for doing our PCRs on. Can't really say how they would work for this industry, but for us they work well and they are TOUGH for sure haha. My only complaint would be that the keys on the keyboard are a little too small for my fat fingers, makes it kinda hard to type.

[Right Touch]

ok so i think im def gonna get one for the road, then a desktop for the office. Now the question is, do I get the 15" screen standard toughbook which will provide me with more screen size and i believe a larger keypad, or do I get the 10" one with the cool flip screen tablet thing (for lack of knowledge of the actual term lol) so I can hold tailgate meetings and draw stuff out for the spanish guys when I cant seem to find the right word in my limited spanglish translations? if the tablet was larger it would be a no brainer but the thought of a 10" screen seems kinda small and painful to the eyes and fingers.

[Right Touch]

the two toughbooks i've found for sale used near me are the cf18 and the cf51. ANyone have either and pros and cons to each? the 18 has the tablet but smaller screen and the 51 is bigger but no tablet. :dizzy:

[ErikDj]

ok so i think im def gonna get one for the road, then a desktop for the office. Now the question is, do I get the 15" screen standard toughbook which will provide me with more screen size and i believe a larger keypad, or do I get the 10" one with the cool flip screen tablet thing (for lack of knowledge of the actual term lol) so I can hold tailgate meetings and draw stuff out for the spanish guys when I cant seem to find the right word in my limited spanglish translations? if the tablet was larger it would be a no brainer but the thought of a 10" screen seems kinda small and painful to the eyes and fingers.


I used to think I needed both a desktop and small laptop, but in the past year I've proven I don't. Standardizing everything on one laptop saves cash upfront but more importantly, this decision is saving me a ton of time and aggravation finding stuff, syncing data, duplicating installs etc.

I chose the larger screen laptop and for my desk I got a 22" second screen. When I get to the office I plug the Toughbook into the full sized keyboard, mouse, router, printer and that second screen. It takes about 30 seconds. I then have all my data and run two screens side by side using the Windows extended desktop. It's wicked.

[lawnangel1]

Just ordered my toughbook cf 29. I am super excited. Built in touch, backlit keyboard, built in gps. Should be here in 3 days. Now I need to decide whether to put a stand in the truck or kust keep it on the center console.