[T0nka]

After reading somewhere here about the toughbook i started researching it.

One of these would fit snug in the passenger side airbag (or lack of )
A mate from the states has told me he can get me 1 for $350 used. This is the 13.3 inch version.

I'm bloody keen on the idea i tell you, would be great to load up oziexplorer on it with a usb gps receiver.

Im guessing i could run ecu talk on this as well correct?

Has any1 got one of these and how do you rate it?

Also how is that bloody panel from the passenger side airbag removed?

 

[Gogogu]

I can tell you about the lap top, the ambos use/ did use them, you can hit em with a hammer and they still won't lose the porn you put on em!

 

[bloke83]

Yeh they are pretty damn tough cookies, US military use them quite a bit and service techs, they are supposed to be dust proof and water proof (not just water resistant - when you have all the holes plugged as supplied) well atleast thats the case with the new ones, some of the older ones have varied specs so keep an eye open.

The only 'maybe' issue is the actual hardware specs of its running gear seems a tad low, but they were hardly intended for gaming or number crunching cad. More so, data collection and communications. So I reckon they would work fine. Plenty of info on them, and seems they are quite sort after. They come up on ebay a bit, but there is actually a place I know of (and buggered if im letting that info loose on the forum) that has a good stock of them second handys.

As far as the airbag lid is concerned, I honestly dont think that any one of the clutzs I know, who have removed it in a fashion were they can put it back like it was, without a visit to the shop for clips atleast :lol: So dont feel bad if you reef it off. Not sure I would touch it though if you have the model with the airbag....

 

[JET-6]

We have one at work to program out CAT 3612's(tiny little engines, lol) and im told you can close it and throw it as far as you want, and it wont damage the workings

 

[T0nka]

na no airbag.

so it should run ecu talk no problem right?

 

[bloke83]

ask bennoGU28, our resident Guru

Some say he has a USB port in the back of his neck, and that geese orbit his head due to the electromagnetic field of brains effecting there navigation .....lol


We love you benno lol

 

[bloke83]

ECUTalk - Consult Software

I think there is computer requirments somewhere there....

 

[heyhey]

We have them at work, the only problem we have with them is the 12v cables on the early ones melt and 1 has caught fire. Good otherwise, very square shaped.

 

[T0nka]

heyhey when you say early ones, would that be the ones with the 800mhz cpus?

 

[truckster]

Sales reps at PMI had them... they were treated like dirt and thrown around on the ground and never failed...

Very expensive items though... we looked at them recently for work, but they were out of our budget

 

[T0nka]

some even have inbuilt gps, i like

 

[Matty T]

just dont work them too hard

they dont like it (every time i go and work in an ETSA depot, we get lumbered with them and a NextG wireless card, and they're ****ful)

 

[Traitor]

WE had about 30 of em up at roxby **** near bullet proof, pretty povo on the specs tho and unless you really treat stuff like **** I wouldn't bother myself.

Buy a cheapy Netbook and when it dies bin it and buy another one.

Cheers

 

[madk1w1]

Have them at work, found out by mistake is touch screen also, believe they were around the 2-3K mark new, not the fastest but definitely robust, Geo's use them out in the field in 40+ temps no problems

 

[heyhey]

They were about 2 years old, but it may have just been the batch of cables as the toughbooks are running 24-7 mounted in trucks. As said previously they are far from being fast but being robust does have it's bonuses. Personally I got a netbook with a solid state hard drive in my car, it works well but only really gets used for Oziexplorer.

 

[terrys]

I've sold a bunch on these to mining comanies, fireies, olice, ambos. They are exceptionally robust and will handle just about any knock you can give them. They don't cope with water that well although the literature will tell you they do. If you are going to get it very wet, there are better options out there.

A used one for a few hundred bucks is a great option for using in the field for non processor intensive stuff.

 

[bloke83]

Wish I had a spare 2k

Panasonic CF-31 Toughbook CF-31ATAAA2M Brand New - Computers & Software | Gumtree Melbourne

Thats actually a pretty good deal.

 

[thelittlechef]

There is a very easy way of getting the airbag cover off if the airbag is installed - not sure if it works for a non airbag model though...

 

[heyhey]

Just had a look at one and we have CF-30s.