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Panasonic Toughbook W2 Review
Anonymous Howard writes "For those of you who haven't heard about Panasonic's Toughbook W2, this hard to find laptop not only looks awesome but packs a serious punch for its size. Weighing in at 2.8 pounds with a 12.1" screen, this P4-M 900 Centrino based laptop is impressive. The drawback is its max memory support is only 512MB. However I think the laptop is absolutely gorgeous. Does anyone have any experience with one of these? Designtechnica gave it a 7 in their review. I tend to believe that 512MB of ram is a pretty limiting factor however."
512 Megs a limiting factor? Really? On a notebook I would think that would be more the sufficient. Unlike a desktop computer, a notebook is less likely to be left on as long or to be used in a multitasking fashion. Even making movies music seems unlikely.
I am using a 1 gighz notebook right now with 512 megs or ram. I browse the web, do some music decompression (shn -> wav or vice versa) and cd burning, some light web work, and maybe some office apps.
I am using Linux and KDE and I am have never even hit 256 megs in use at any time.
Spcifications:
CPU
Ultra Low Voltage Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 900MHz
1MB on-die L2 cache
STORAGE & MEMORY
256MB SDRAM (DDR) standard, expandable to 512MB (PC-2100 memory is required)
40GB HDD
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM*/CD-RW**) standard
DISPLAY
12.1" 1024 x 768 XGA anti-glare TFT Active Matrix Color LCD
External video support up to 1600 x 1200 at 16 million colors
Intel(R) 855GM integrated video controller max. 64MB (UMA) VRAM
AUDIO
SigmaTelTM STAC9753 AC-97 v.2.1 Compliant
Integrated speaker
Convenient keyboard volume controls (Fn+F5/F6 keys)
EXPANSION SLOTS
PC Card Type I or II x1
Secure Digital (SD) Memory / Multimedia Card
KEYBOARD & INPUT
85-key with dedicated Windows(R) key
Electrostatic touchpad with vertical scrolling support
WIRLESS LAN
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2100 network connection 802.11b
INTERFACE
Network Interface Card
-Integrated 10/100 ethernet
Modem
-Integrated 56Kbps
External Video
-D-sub 15 pin
USB 2.0 (x2)
-4 pin
Headphones/Speaker
-Mini-jack Stereo
Microphone/Line In
-Mini-jack Mono
POWER SUPPLY
Lithium Ion battery pack (7.4V, 6600mAh)
Battery operation: up to 4 hours***
Battery charging time: approximately 4.5 hours***
AC Adapter: AC 100V-240V 50/60Hz, Auto-sensing/switching worldwide power supply
Pop-up on-screen battery status reporting
POWER MANAGEMENT
Suspend/Resume Function, Hibernation, Standby, ACPI BIOS
SOFTWARE
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional (Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 2000 Professional also available)
Setup, Diagnostics, On-line Reference Manual, Adobe(R) Acrobat(R) Reader
SECURITY FEATURES
Password Security: Supervisor, User, Coffee Break
Integrated Kensington Lock Slot
WARRANTY
3 year limited warranty, parts & labor
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT
1.2"/1.6"(H) x 8.3"(D) x 10.6" (W)
2.8 lbs., including battery
ACCESSORIES
Lithium Ion Battery Pack CF-VZSU27U
Battery Charger CF-VCBRT1U
AC Adapter CF-AA1623AM
256MB Memory Card CF-BAT0256U
External USB Floppy Drive
Well, its a tough book. Last I checked powerbooks where not water proof and couldn't survive being driven over in a truck.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Face it, you're not going to be rendering in Maya, encoding DVDs to XviD/OGM or editing 60,000x20,000 pixel images in Photoshop on a 900 MHz CPU; Unreal Tournament 2003 isn't going to suck up all that memory running at 12 FPS on the integrated Intel graphics. And given the screen size, your ability to multitask is limited, since only so much will fit at once, so unless you feel like leaving open 70 minimized windows for some reason, that won't be an issue either.
With some services disabled, Windows XP will run fine on 96 MB of memory and Linux/BSD will do with the same or less depending on your WM du jour. I can't see why this much memory would be needed on a machine designed with productivity and groupware in mind. The default 256MB should be plenty.
If you want something that's almost as rugged but easier on the wallet, check out a product called the "iBook" (pronounced eye-book) by a company called "Apple Computer." Pretty rugged.
Powerbooks may not be as tough as ToughBooks, but you might be really surprised by how durable they are. Read the story of this poor powerbook ... it survived getting run over by a truck. Hehe =D
Yet again another "review" by a site which has very little information.
Basically it's the author's "feeling" about the notebook, a few pictures, some "testing" which means little to a typical laptop user and absolutely no "Print Article" button so I can bypass the "Hot Words" with advertising, side bar with advertising, top frame with advertising, and bottom frame with advertising.
They manage to stretch out 2 paragraphs over 5 pages. Yuck.
You'd get more information from Panasonic's website and their Toughbook W2 Datasheet (PDF) then you will at this site.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
RTFA: it's waterproof. If water falling in those "spaces" won't kill it, your pop-tart crumbs won't either.
everything in moderation
This is not such a limiting factor. 512 Megs of RAM is far more than I need for the kind of work I would want to do on an ultralight with a mear 12" screan. I.e. That's not where I play games or edit graphics or rip DVDs. A desktop is used for that. Or a true desktop replacment like the 9 lb Dell Inspiron 8200 I am typing this on.
Playing videos, Listening to MP3s, Running a Web browser and most importantly; Terminal emulation software dosn't need 512 MB.
That last one is the single most important reason for an ultracompact. Sometimes I have to stand infrunt of a rack hooked to a network device via a Serial cable with my laptop on one palm while I type with the other hand. 9 lb starts to feal like 90 after a few minutes. 2.8 lb would take much longer to get there.
BTW: How is this significantly better than the Latitude X300
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
There's a nice list of non-windows x86 laptop vendors at mcelrath.org/laptops.html
Don't pay the windows tax (or the Apple tax for that matter).
I settled on a Sager 4060 from PCTorque. It's heavier than the toughbook but all its included devices are well supported under linux and it's got a lot of nice features for the price.
Got my Panny W2 on August 3rd, this is the best laptop I've ever had. It's the right mixture of horsepower, display, connectivity, and battery life. I do truly get 5 hours out of it, it's got a nice keyboard (with only a few quirks; particularly the arrow keys and tilde) and since the addition of the PCS Vision 1xRTT card .. totally connected.
Don't be confused by the Toughbook name; it's got a shockmounted HDD, motherboard, and display, but it's goal is mobility, not toughness.
I bought mine from Kevin Fawl at Bizco (www.toughonline.com) -- I'd buy another one if I needed another laptop tomorrow.
Even making movies music seems unlikely.
Movies I can almost agree with. Audio recording, on the other hand, seems like a good application for a notebook computer. A laptop is quieter than a desktop computer, largely because its power supply is usually external and passively cooled, and its processor can usually be set to slow down and run under passive cooling (i.e. no fan). This leaves only a hard disk as a noise source, but with 512 MB of RAM, assuming the machine's desktop environment takes 1/4 of that, the machine can still record over half an hour straight of 16 bit stereo 48 kHz linear PCM audio without spinning up the disk. Real-time FLAC encoding may double that.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Powerbook G4 12": 2.1 kg
iBook 12": 2.2 kg
Panasonic Toughbook 1.29 kg
Just what I want to do when I get a new machine: engage in resource allocation games... A new machine should be fast enough, and equipped with enough memory, to run the latest application and operating system without bogging down.
Financially, buying an obsolete machine rarely makes sense.
I dont get where the toughbook part comes in. Old toughbooks were built into briefcase style things, some (maybe aftermarket added, cant remember) had like honeycomb pattern stuff built into the case. You could run the damn things over. This thing, while pretty, doesnt look like it could withstand a 1 inch drop, nevermind a 5-6 foot drop like the old ones. If you operated that in harsh working conditions I really doubt it would stand up.
Like look at this one, couple years old:
Picture 1
Picture 2
It looks quite a bit tougher.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
Everything else is just another laptop.
Excellent guide.
If you want mobility check out Sharp UW32e ets/PC -UM32W.PDF
http://www.sharpsystems.com/products/datash
I'm not sure what the big deal is. The Panasonic doesn't seem significantly different from the Sharp UW32 minus the built in combo drive. I bought the Sharp UW32 a a few months ago for only $1200 and it is sweet!
Its almost as light as the Panasonic (only 3.0 lbs), just as fast with same memory and HD size standard. Although it has external cdrom, it has built in wilress, USB (2), firewire and even a compact flash slot! The exterior styling is the same cool metallic.
Whats best about the sharp is the depth. Its less than an inch thick (.77"). Unlike the VAIO though the keys on the keyboard have a great tactile feel because the whole keyboard pops up slightly when the lid is opened.
And its only around $1300 or $1400 and available in the US. I've even seen it at Circuit City.
you have no taste.
Panasonic does not sell these to consumers. Or even resellers. They're sold to institutions who need them. Like construction companies, and military units. They're certified to withstand shit that very little else can stand. They're NOT overpriced for what they are
Buttsex.