Robs almighty Toughpad G1 review + simple Toughbook story :P

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Rob
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Robs almighty Toughpad G1 review + simple Toughbook story :P

#1 Post by Rob »

Okay guys, long read, I know, but I know the people that count will read it :)

I know I'm few and far between the last couple months. Business has been good to say the least so I haven't had time to "BS" if you may. So here is my current setup and the goods and bads of everything.

So before I start, most of you I've known for many years now knows that I'm crazy and I've owned almost every single model Toughbook known in existance. Each time I post reviews I always say "This is better than the last set up"... Yes, it keeps getting better and better. This set up is superior in my opinion and is the best to date! (Once again!):thumbsup:

So a brief history of my Toughbook ownership:

2004 started it all with a wicked brand new MK2 CF-29 NON-touch. I upgraded it to have touch and emmisive. I also had a Sprint EVDO REVA PCMCIA card which was lightning fast at the time and trumped every other carrier (ESPECIALLY VERIZON) for coverage and speed. I then moved on to a brand new CF-30 MK1 Touch and brought my emmisive with me. I then got the INTERNAL Sprint EVDO REV A card and I paid a little over $400 for it :p and gave my shot later on with Win 7 on it which was working great! From there I tried out the CF-T5 MK1 for some time but didn't like it because it wasn't durable enough and didn't have a backlit keyboard. From there I moved to a brand new ATI model CF-31 MK1. Shortly thereafter I switched to a CF-C1 as I wanted a lighter machine. I rocked this bad boy for quite some time and dropped it once and of course it was fine. It was at this point that I joined Rugged Depot. Now from here it's REALLY down-hill... I fell in love with the CF-C2 which I got brand new as well with a Verizon 4G LTE card built into it. Lord I was cooking MINUS the backlit keyboard (What was Panasonic thinking!??!?!). I doubled up and bought a refurbished CF-H1 for my notes with the digi pen. I used this to help me keep track of my sales pipeline and it prooved to be a deadly, wicked combination.... Except when I traveled.... with 2 laptops.... and a desk phone.... UHGG!!! I got a bug to get a CF-19 MK4 touch with emmisive and GPS. That didn't last long and I went BACK to my C2 and H1 double up because of the crappy resolution. Plus it didn't have a digitizer so I couldn't do my notes. Then I got the bright idea to get an H2. After all, it's an i5 and digitized.... So if figured I'd condense. Bad idea. I was dieing without a keyboard. BACK TO THE C2 for a 3rd time!!! :D. I just couldn't get away from my C2. I used it for nearly 1 year (Yes, that's a LONG damn time in my world to hold on to one computer). Finally I acted on the itch to get a G1 which I was putting in the grave every time my mind started wandering. I got this G1 on April 24th of this year and haven't looked back. I'd go to a CF-19 MK7 dual touch in a heartbeat if the screen res wasn't so crappy. This reason ALONE is why I've stuck with the G1 along with a few others:

1) Screen res - 1920 x 1200. I need not say more.
2) Battery life. I have the standard battery pack on my G1 and it's simply wicked.... with the screen turning off after 5 minutes I can easily get 8 hours out of this thing. That is equal to the C1 with dual batteries and its MEGA light!
3) 800 nits screen - works GREAT while camping :)
4) GPS - MC7750 GPS is simply amazing. Again, a life saver when out where there is no cell service!
5) Full sized HDMI. Most other tablets are micro/mini or not even there
6) USB 3.0 port (Yes the C2 had that too)
7) LAN retrofit port - a network guy like me NEEDS this. It's a no go without it.
8 ) But ROB, THERE IS NO KEYBOARD!!!! Again, yes, there is. Yes I sell iKey as well and NO, I WILL NOT push anyone to get one as I feel at $400, they are WAY WAY WAY too much money (Of course I didn't pay that :D), but OMG, these things are amazing. They are backlit and fully rugged. Yes they are a silicone rubber, but they are EASY TO TYPE ON. Yes, MIND = BLOWN. I couldn't believe it until I played with a pre-production sample. They are simply amazing. I'm talking about this one here: http://www.ikey.com/product/ik-pan-fzg1-co1-2/ With this, I will tell you that it more than doubles the weight of the damn thing but it's STILL Lighter than a CF-19 and has a mega high res screen... It's simply amazing :)

So Rob, what you're telling me is that you want a "tablet" and you wanna attach a keyboard to it to turn it into a "normal clamshell laptop". And my reply is: YES, YES I DO! Why? See first bullet point! If the C2 had that res screen and a back-lit keyboard it would be the PERFECT machine. Also, the CF-54 is coming out. I'm anxious to see what it'll have as far as screen size and res. I DOUBT it'll be digitized as the C2 is still around as a "brother" and IT DOES have a digitizer.

I'm out for now. If you have any questions, just post here. I really need to get to work lol.

Thanks!
~Rob - Vice President - Rugged Depot~
~Cell: (630)/300-8877~
~Owner - Toughbooktalk~
~Fully rugged Toughbook user since April 18th 2005~
~FZ-40ACAAHKM - Primary Toughbook / Workstation as of 7/29/22
~Win10 Pro (Win11 DG), Intel Core i5-1145G7 (up to 4.4GHz), vPro, 14.0" FHD Gloved Multi Touch, 16GB, 1TB Samsung SSD, Intel Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, 4G EM7690, GPS, Quad Pass (BIOS Selectable), Mic and Infrared 5MP Webcam, Standard Battery, TPM 2.0, Emissive Backlit Keyboard, Dual Batteries, USB A + HDMI + Serial X-PAK, Shoulder Strap, Flat~
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SHEEPMAN!
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Re: Robs almighty Toughpad G1 review + simple Toughbook stor

#2 Post by SHEEPMAN! »

Who's the albatross that copied the CF-19 KB?

CF-M34 has a better pattern as well as do the rest of the 29/30 series.

Deal breaker to me. :(
Fair for you/ Fair for me.
I chose to NOT be organized.

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kode-niner
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Re: Robs almighty Toughpad G1 review + simple Toughbook stor

#3 Post by kode-niner »

At least the arrow keys aren't like the CF-19. But man that looks sweet. I'd love to shove a Linux distro in one of those and see how it flies.
Daily drives a CF-31

CliC
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Re: Robs almighty Toughpad G1 review + simple Toughbook stor

#4 Post by CliC »

Rob, nice writeup. I agree with everything you said. The screen on this alone is so much better than my CF-30 I wouldn't go back for primary use. I only have a few complaints:

1. Obnoxious cooling fan. There's a little yellowjacket trapped inside the G1 that gets angry every once in awhile when I (or Ballmer and Co's spawn) do something computationally intensive. It's so loud that I hesitate to bring the G1 to meetings, which is a shame because the handwriting recognition is so good I could really use it in that environment (yes, I really REALLY need to learn to type :) )

2. Rear camera is poor, even compared to my phone -- and that was two phones ago. I would have been better off with the second USB port or perhaps a LAN connection in the option slot.

3. It doesn't seem to want to drive an external monitor at more than 1920x1200 resolution. It will not drive my 30" NEC at its native 2560x1600, for example.

4. Not enough ports. At least one more USB standard would really help.

If it had a better camera and hazardous location certification, it would be an ideal field survey device for some of the work I do. I've also found that since I'm now officially Old(tm), and don't have good close-in vision anymore (to go along with the poor distance vision I've suffered since I was 20), I like it best as either a tablet or hooked up to an external monitor, rather than as a laptop replacement. In tablet mode the touch screen is good enough to navigate even the traditional desktop in Windows 8.1, and of course you have the stylus, too (though I've had a bit of difficulty getting that thing spot-on calibrated). Much as I hate to admit it, PCs still do the Internet better than my myriad Android devices do, so I'm grabbing this thing for casual tablet duty more often than I thought I would be.

I had been thinking about making a folding laptop "shell" for the G1 and my Logitech keyboard. I just saw the iKey keyboard yesterday, and I like the concept, but boy that thing is dear. For now I think I'll stick to my Logitech keyboard and Microsoft Touch mouse (both bluetooth) and the Panasonic dock (home) or $10 tablet holder (road). If you get some time, though, post some pics with it attached; the website doesn't have many, and I can't really see how it securely attaches to the G1

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