Panasonic CF-
74 ToughbookI works in a government in a big city and over the past year we have purchased more than 200 Panasonic Toughbook laptops in our police car.
We have built a secure wireless network covering the whole city, and laptops are placed in the car, allowing officials to conduct vehicle labeling and criminal background checks on people from other places.
To survive in a police car, we need a laptop that can lick and move on.
For this reason, half of our books are CF-
30, the other half is CF-74’s.
This review is for CF
74, we intend to be used by the supervisor and other officers who normally do not enter the chase.
Panasonic CF-
The Toughbook 74 is half
The sturdy part of the Panasonic Toughbook series.
It retails for about $3,000 and can be bought from a variety of retailers.
After reading this review, I will go through all the hardware components in detail and you should understand why this laptop is so expensive.
This is not something that ordinary home users will buy because it is more suitable for those who travel extensively and need something "durable.
Ordinary laptops with plastic housing and sensitive internal components often do not last for a long time when used on site.
These Toughbooks are designed for those who need computers, and their environment is not always friendly to regular computers. CF-
Originally, Panasonic put Intel 1.
The 83 GHz Core 2 Duo processor in this unit is very fast, but only gives it 512 MB of RAM and I think their RAM is a bit cheap. Now the CF-
74 with Intel 2.
4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor and full gb ram.
They also increased the 80 gb hard drive to 160 GB, and it comes with some special features to help it absorb the impact, but there will be more later.
The screen is a very bright 13.
3 inch touch screen including stylus.
Panasonic says their batteries will last between 7 and 8 hours, but I think it's more like 5 hours.
If the PC is idle most of the time, you may be lucky to take seven hours out of it.
The hard drive in this laptop is not actually installed on anything.
In a laptop, the most sensitive device is the hard disk, which is vulnerable to damage due to its moving parts.
Panasonic wraps the Toughbook hard drive around the gel, allowing it to bounce safely inside while the gel softens the blow.
I 've read that while this thing is still running, it can fall from a few feet of air and it won't skip a beat.
It may not be wise to try alone.
I noticed one of the biggest differences between CF30 and CF-
74 models are mouse pads. On the CF-
30, which is the toughest of all Toughbooks, the mouse pad is very slow due to heavy reinforcement. On the CF-
74, it is very smooth and easy to use, just like the mouse pad on most other types of laptops. The CF-
74 is also much lighter than CF, a little smaller30.
The two computers also have a large handle on the front side, which is easy to carry.
The computer's shell looks like it's made of silver plastic, but it's actually a very hard magnesium alloy.
It also makes heat non-heat. issue.
In connection, Panasonic installed the computer.
It supports wireless and Bluetooth and has a normal Ethernet port.
For the wireless systems we have installed in the city, we use a different wireless system with an external vendor, so I have never tested Bluetooth or wireless connectivity on these Toughbooks.
In fact, we have to disable them in order not to interfere with our own wireless systems.
The computer is also equipped with standard ports-two USB, external VGA, etc.
They were covered with small creases.
The flaps that protect the ports, and their labels are not particularly good either.
You just need to know where things are. CF-
74 Toughbook display we want the touch screen to work with the police software so the police don't have to type.
It allows them to quickly access open dispatch calls and other features without typing anything, especially when driving.
Thanks to the fabric attached, a layer of protective paper is covered on the screen and it is very easy to clean.
I do notice that the screen is slightly blurry with the image, but this type of computer is not used for fine-tuning photo editing anyway.
Unless you leave your face about 1 feet off the screen, you won't even notice the sheets are there.
The display of this laptop is very bright-much brighter than any standard laptop.
It does this because these Toughbook machines are often used outdoors and the screen has to be very bright before you can see it in the sun.
If you ever try to use a laptop or phone in direct sunlight, you may find it hard to see.
I have encountered a situation where when a computer is installed in a police car, the sun shines through the windshield and I am using one of the computers, I can still see the content on the screen very well.
The maximum resolution on the screen is only 1024x768, but this is due to the bright display and touch screen.
You just don't want it to be much smaller because things will be harder to see and the hard side needs more work.
Because there are only 13 screens.
3 inch diagonally opposite, the lower screen resolution looks just right.
If you connect it to an external display, you can increase the output resolution to x 1536 on 2048.
So far we are very satisfied with Panasonic CF
74 Toughbook models.
I had to send back one with a bad motherboard but it was fixed and came back in a few days.
Of all the machines we ordered, we also had some machines with no pixels, which surprised me.
Make sure it covers everything you need to do before you buy these.
While it is rugged and able to withstand the rigors of outdoor use, it sacrifices some of the common features of other cheaper laptops.
If you buy one just because you think they're cool, you're probably wasting your money.
Advantages: very bright screen, strong housing and shock absorption, long battery life.
Cons: The screen is only 1024x768, very expensive if you are not careful, you can pinch your finger on your handle.
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