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Real Panasonic Toughbook Experience I know that we talk alot about the Panasonic Toughbook and how rugged they are built. I personally use a Panasonic Toughbook CF-51. The CF-51 is a semi rugged laptop which does not meet all the requirements for a fully rugged version like the CF-29. However I will say that it is definitely built to withstand the test of sales and the traveling that is involved. I in fact have to instances where I was glad to have the toughbook. The first situation was where I actually dropped my laptop in the parking lot while getting into my car. The other situation was where I spilled coffee on my keyboard. Of course I do not advise that this be something that you test on your CF-51 or any laptop for that matter. But in my case both situations were an accident. When I dropped my laptop in the parking lot. I had been having a very busy day. I normally pack up my laptop in my laptop carry case which of course had a zipper that closes the top of the case and encloses the laptop in the slot. Being distracted I failed to zip the zipper on my case. I proceeded to sling the case over my shoulder and walked out to my car. I opened the door and slid the case off my shoulder in which tipped the case to the side letting the laptop slide right out falling approximately 2 feet. Now my heart sank but I did not have the time to check at that moment. When I got home I pulled it out and plugged it in. The end result was that I only had a scrape on the front right corner of the laptop. No other problems occured. I counted myself lucky because after all this was considered the semi rugged laptop in the line of Panasonic Toughbooks. It no where near compared to the CF-29 or CF-19 type laptops. Or so I thought. The next situation convinced my of the quality and rugged nature of my Panasonic Toughbook CF-51. I was working on a Saturday morning answering my emails and cleaning up my paperwork. Of course, I was drinking coffee. Accidently I tipped my coffee mug and douced my laptop keyboard with about half a cup of coffee. I immediately turned the unit off and unplugged it. I tipped the unit over to drain the liquid. I thought It was toast at this point and was only hoping that my hard drive could be salvaged. I dried it up and removed the keyboard looking for the liquid underneath. To my surprize there was no liquid under the keyboard. I dried the keyboard out, put the unit back together and crossed my fingers while turning the unit on. The Panasonic Toughbook CF-51, the unit I considered bulky and ugly (more on that later) fired right up with no indication that I had done anything to affect its well being. Needless to say I was very relieved. However the end result of this last event was that I became a true blue believer in the Panasonic Toughbook line of laptops. I will always carry one when I need laptop. If I had been using a regular laptop in either of the above situations I would be buying a new laptop both times. That is too expensive for my tastes. Given the current economy and how clumsy I am I would be broke in no time. Read all about my upgrade from the CF-51 to the Latitude D820. Bob Johnson |
