what are peoples opinions on the Panasonic Toughbooks?

[Martin Pearson]

Michael, firstly I would ask how you intend connecting the laptop to the cutter because I have read about people having real problems trying to use laptops via USB connections.
A lot of laptops nowdays don’t have serial ports so this is something you need to check. Also what software are you running because there is no point buying a second hand laptop running say windows 98 and then finding it is not compatible with your sign software.
There are quite a lot of makes and models out there that have extremely week hinges and these normally sell quite cheaply so beware and always email the seller to ensure that there is a windows COA on the base of the machine as a lot of sellers will say it has a fresh install of windows XP home or Pro and it’s not a legal copy.
If you see one you fancy and want a second opinion I am quite happy to have a look for you before the auction ends if you like.

[Harry Cleary]

Hi Michael, long time no see, I run everything from my Dell Laptop, absolutely no problems, I would say the that the laptop suffers from being hawked around, but it is brilliant to be able to bring it to a client. Wouldnt touch one on ebay though, there are loads of places selling them second hand around the country, at least you can see the whites of their eyes! 😀

[Graeme Speirs]

i dont think you will go far wrong with dell from what I hear.
Go into the business section and there are usually some deals, or also subscribe to the business e letter.

cheers
graeme

[Martin Pearson]

Harry and Greame are right Dell do make some good machines but their customer service is non existent so as long as it keeps running OK which it should you will be OK. I speak to a guy regularly that has built a business specialising in repairing Dell machines because their own system is so bad.

[Harry Cleary]

Hi Martin,
This has come up before and here in Ireland I cant fault Dell’s customer service, anything that went wrong with the computer was put right either over the phone or by them sending a courier for the comp and having it back next day. Havent had a problem in over a year so maybe things have changed. Would always go Dell in the future. Just my tuppence worth.

[Martin Pearson]

Harry glad to hear that you have been happy with the support from them, because I repair laptops I get involved with some of the forums and speak to other people and have heard and read all sorts of stories but to be honest with you they are no where near as bad as some of the well known high street stores who we won’t mention !!!!
I can’t fault the machines as they seem to get good write ups and I have never actually met anyone who is unhappy with them myself. Trouble is that you never hear the stories about the good jobs they do for people just the bad ones.

[Hugh Potter]

i run my cutter via usb on the laptop, always have, never (touch wood) any problems,

i wouldnt simply go for " a cheap laptop" though, panasonic make some good kit, undoubtedtly, but check all the specs, make sure you have at least 512 mb ram… pref 1gig or more, , at least 40gig (+ a back up or storage system)

i use an 80gig drive in mine, and it’s already 78% full ! not all work related admittedly, take away the 25gig of mp3 and say another 10 or more of photo’s etc, that that the equivelent of a full 40gig disc still being used !

check out the graphics card / inbuilt graphis, get a good one,

this laptop needs more ram now, but still copes (just) when running several big progs (corel, ps cs2 etc), but it could be alot quicker,

so take your time in what you buy, stay with a reputable manufacturer, and i would suggest buying new, haggle for a good warranty ( dont bother with the likes of pc world cos the spotty oikes won’t have the authority ! ).

Hugh

[Cheryl Smith]

I ran my cutter for 3 years on a Time laptop via usb, no trouble, but it did pack up eventually, I dont think it was built to stay on for as long as it was day in day out. Its great to have a laptop, I was waiting till they bring out the panasonic let’s note which was reviewed in channel 5s the gadget show, they are not out here yet, laptops tend to go live in japan before they come to the usa or england…….no idea how long i have to wait for this great little comp.
http://www.kemplar.com/panasonic_r4.php

[George Kern]

I have a toughbook and its a great laptop, very pricey though compared to the HP laptop i have that is altmost identical hardware wise minus the awesome protection of the toughbook and the fall sensors (when you drop it, the harddrive and dvd drives lock up before impact to avoid vibration). The only time the toughbook really see’s much action though is when i am out doing photography work or to the race track when tuning my car.

If you plan to run your laptop all day long, its a good investment to buy a cooler pad to place underneath it that has fans, Antec makes a nice one for $40USD. Just be advised as a lot of new machines do not come with serial ports so if you have an older plotter with a serial port, you are going to have to deal with a serial-usb adapter which can be troublesome at times.

[Martin Pearson]

Hugh, if Michael is only going to use it to cut graphics then there is no real need for any more than 512MB ram and he won’t really need a large HDD either as he won’t have to store a lot on it which helps to keep the costs down. I quite often run my plotter from an old pentium 3 laptop with no problems what so ever. Because my sign design software won’t run on anything above windows 98 I can’t use a much newer machine because of problems with drivers.

All my design work is done on a desktop which has a much higher spec so I don’t have problems with it running to slow. If I have photographic work to do I do it on a high spec desktop machine or a high spec laptop depending on my mood and where I want to sit.

[James Martin]

I bought my dell precision m20 workstation notebook form eBay.

It was advertised as new with the 3 years warranty ready to be activated.

I had looked at various other sellers on line that were doing refurbished ones but I took a chance with the one on eBay cause it was cheaper.

I have a whole gig of ram on it and 40 gig on the hdd.

it has one of those navigation nipples on the middle of the keyboard that is great for doing minor adjustments to artwork in front of a customer you are visiting.

I run my plotter and printer on it and it is wireless enabled for Internet.

Blue tooth however I miss-read on the description; It only has the capability to have it built in which costs 30 odd quid from dell so I bought a dongle from china also form eBay.

Its a solid wee machine, perhaps a bit heavy and the screen is frustrating sometimes because its small but it forces you to organize your visuals when you don’t have lots of room to make a mess when your designing.

And it was less than 600 quid.

Jimmy.