Rugged Laptops: Panasonic Toughbook vs General Dynamics

[Romeo_alpha01]

[MJB]

Tagged

[Dragunov]

I'd go with the Panasonic. Simply because of the parts availability if you need to replace something. They're much more common.

[ibanezfoo]

Really depends on what you are doing with it. You will be paying a crapton of money for a computer with average specs. We use 2 variations of the latoptops from Trimble, which are really just reboxed Panasonics from what I can tell. Our price on those is about $9000... but that includes GPS, Trimble radios for the robots, etc... Those are definitely rugged. Our guys have dropped them off multi story buildings and they have survived. Dell makes a few different ones. I got to go to their rugged testing lab and throw some laptops off ladders and stuff, as well as see all their testing machines... sand blasters, rain simulators, etc. If you are ever in the Austin area its a worthwhile trip to see if you can check it out. Anyway, Dell has a tablet which is nice and durable, but expensive. They also have a laptop that has a touchscreen that flips around to the front. Its very weird. It is meant specifically for police and fire (the PD helped develop it). It was really expensive and we couldn't find a use for it. Its meant for vehicles. Supposedly works in up to 200deg heat or something.

Anyway, these rugged things are not really "one and done" type machines... they are generally purpose built for cars, construction, or whatever... For standard laptops that are a little more durable we've had good luck with the metal Dell Precisions, the old thick plastic IBMs...actually those are about the only ones that I've seen dropped off cars and stuff that have survived.

[Romeo_alpha01]

Really depends on what you are doing with it. You will be paying a crapton of money for a computer with average specs. We use 2 variations of the latoptops from Trimble, which are really just reboxed Panasonics from what I can tell. Our price on those is about $9000... but that includes GPS, Trimble radios for the robots, etc... Those are definitely rugged. Our guys have dropped them off multi story buildings and they have survived. Dell makes a few different ones. I got to go to their rugged testing lab and throw some laptops off ladders and stuff, as well as see all their testing machines... sand blasters, rain simulators, etc. If you are ever in the Austin area its a worthwhile trip to see if you can check it out. Anyway, Dell has a tablet which is nice and durable, but expensive. They also have a laptop that has a touchscreen that flips around to the front. Its very weird. It is meant specifically for police and fire (the PD helped develop it). It was really expensive and we couldn't find a use for it. Its meant for vehicles. Supposedly works in up to 200deg heat or something.

Anyway, these rugged things are not really "one and done" type machines... they are generally purpose built for cars, construction, or whatever... For standard laptops that are a little more durable we've had good luck with the metal Dell Precisions, the old thick plastic IBMs...actually those are about the only ones that I've seen dropped off cars and stuff that have survived.

[ibanezfoo]

[Romeo_alpha01]

Well after doing more research, I think the CF-31 is going to be my choice. I really cant find much info on the GD8200, and if I choose to upgrade the CF-31, I still have plenty of options.

[glassparman]

GETAC - many in use with the military for field operations

[Bigdog68]

Yes, you can't open up ruggedized laptops without sending to the factory, and you will probably void the ruggedized certs. These are machines that can be shoved into a dishwasher and still work.

In a shop situation any regular laptop would work. If worried about damaging a machine, just buy the cheapest available. Then if it breaks, it will cost just a few hundred to replace, instead of a multiple thousands. You can always back it up over WiFI, so no data lost.

[Romeo_alpha01]

GETAC - many in use with the military for field operations

After researching the GETAC, that looks really comparable, although it seems I would have to deal with a third party for any sort of warranty work. Panasonic seems more accessible. That V110 and X500 looks like the bees knees.

[ibanezfoo]

After researching the GETAC, that looks really comparable, although it seems I would have to deal with a third party for any sort of warranty work. Panasonic seems more accessible. That V110 and X500 looks like the bees knees.

For $4000 those are garbage specs on that X500... Those are specs of a $500 normal laptop.

[ldsnet]

We have both at work (field environment), of the two, I would get the Toughbook; just for the availability of replacement parts.

I would hate to use one as my regular laptop, large, heavy, poor screens and difficult to connect accessories (the doors and plugs protect the machine, but make connections a real pain. Even plugging in a usb thumbdrive can be a challenge)

[ibanezfoo]

We have both at work (field environment), of the two, I would get the Toughbook; just for the availability of replacement parts.

I would hate to use one as my regular laptop, large, heavy, poor screens and difficult to connect accessories (the doors and plugs protect the machine, but make connections a real pain. Even plugging in a usb thumbdrive can be a challenge)

Thats actually a good point about the USB. I've had to take some thumb drives out of their cases, leaving only the plug and board so they'd fit in there for our guys to get critical data off of.

[shotcaller6]

Panasonic Toughbook CF-31

Well after doing more research, I think the CF-31 is going to be my choice. I really cant find much info on the GD8200, and if I choose to upgrade the CF-31, I still have plenty of options.

The CF-31 is a good choice and contrary to opinions that you can't open them up and work on them, yes you can. I have been inside my CF-19 and CF-31.

Since you are thinking of getting a CF-31 here is a link to the service manual that you can download and check out.

https://elektrotanya.com/panasonic_cf-31kqh41dm.pdf/download.html

I have spare caddy's for mine with Win 7 Pro on one and Linux Mint 19 Tina on the other. I also have a CF-52 that I use for testing with Linux before updating the other machines. The CF-31 is a very stout machine.

[Romeo_alpha01]

The CF-31 is a good choice and contrary to opinions that you can't open them up and work on them, yes you can. I have been inside my CF-19 and CF-31.

Since you are thinking of getting a CF-31 here is a link to the service manual that you can download and check out.

https://elektrotanya.com/panasonic_cf-31kqh41dm.pdf/download.html

I have spare caddy's for mine with Win 7 Pro on one and Linux Mint 19 Tina on the other. I also have a CF-52 that I use for testing with Linux before updating the other machines. The CF-31 is a very stout machine.

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought a CF-31. Look forward to tinkering with it.

I'm exploring the idea of going to Linux once Win 7 is no longer supported in the coming year. I'm sure this is a separate discussion altogether, but how was the transition and what was involved in installing it?