~Toughbooktalk~

thanks for letting me join rob :-)

sorry if this is a long post for my first one but sometimes I talk a lot like that *smirks*

so mm anyway onto the point now, I've been thinking of tracking down this for myself:
CF-30 MK2 or MK3 (leaning toward either GMA gpus in that respect)
touchscreen would had been liked
swap in a new hd [aside to filling ram out to 4gb if needed too] myself
dvdrom or combo drive included
probably no WWAN/GPS since I'm likely never ever going to use either
rubber keyboard

don't exactly have a lot of money for this but at the same time I know that trying to offer only $300 shipped would perhaps be suicidal! *grins*

I'll like to be able to use it in various places, some that I've never wanted to use a normal laptop at:
on lake dock especially when I'm swimming too
outdoor on the patio when its sunny outside (I always can turn the chair for best screen viewing)
on the kitchen countertop (as it is now I often print out recipes etc instead, kinda a stupid waste of papers)
on laps in family room (and not care if it flips over onto floor, dog or not)
in car especially if droppd onto carpet
..and probably more other usual things but I wouldn't bore you with that heh

anyway last thing, the reason I was thinking about the CF-30 alone specifically was since it had just about everything needed for daily useage internally so I wouldn't have to bother remembering [or taking care to not break either] dongles and adapter cards at all...that goes for the modem as well

I am sure one of us can help find you something. I just moved up a few months back to the CF-30 Mk2, I like it's performance a lot better than the Mk1, but I do a lot of games some times so having the extra graphic power helps. You may have to find a base model and slowly add the other stuff you want, I was lucky when I got mine and got one with gps, wwan and emissive keyboard in one.

On the rubber keyboard should be easy to get and change out if the unit you get doesn't have it.

If you want it to use outside a lot make sure it's the touchscreen model, 1000 nit screen vs 500 nit screen on the non touch model.

This model is still fanless.

and

WELCOME

don't exactly have a lot of money for this but at the same time I know that trying to offer only $300 shipped would perhaps be suicidal! *grins*

Welcome to the Toughbook forum
Well I think you are right on the $300.00 . I have seen CF-30's for that price but they need a lot of work...touch screen , hdd / caddy , port covers . I have a 30MK1 that I have restored to new...spotless and I have $200.00+ in new parts + the cost of the 30. I don't want to discourage you but $300.00 will only buy you a 30 (MK1 or 2) that is all beat up. My advice to you is to save up a little more $$$ and it will cost you a lot less in the long run.

you're right about the keyboard and other things being replaceable if needed, unless I'm wrong its probably pretty much only the screen and intergrated graphics that I will have to be specific about upfront since swaps of these might be a bit beyond me

thanks for the tip re the screen, I hadn't been too sure about 500nit versus 1000nit till now

and thanks for that welcome ADOR :-)

toughasnails when I wrote that line I knew I was going to get a reaction like that heh. I certainly was going to plan on spending some $ just as long as it is not in the $3,000 kind of range!

welcome too. Definitely get at least a Mk2, if possible; mk3 is best
For futureproofing, your CF30 should have a 64bit CPU (mk2, mk3), significantly better graphics (think Aero, 2D/3D support, video support), better Core2Duo CPU with 2x/3x the cache and faster FSB/RAM (Core Duo - which is equivalent to 2 Pentium M's strapped on the same die, vs. an optimized new architecture on the Core2 Duo), better WiFi, touchscreen more reliable than mk1.
I think mk3 has LED backlight.
CPU comparison here: http://ark.intel.com/compare/36686,29757,27229
CF30 wiki: http://www.toughwiki.com/index.php?title=CF-30

The CPU power on the Mk2 and Mk3 is very close. The graphics on the Mk2 is X3100 intel and on the windows score is over 3.0 on each. The Mk3 has the HD4500 intel, I have seen some of them tweaked enough to run skyrim on low to give you an idea of what it can do. I know the Mk2 can do Portal no problem. I plan on doing more Mk2 graphics testing when I finally get the SSD drive swapped out.

Talking about graphics and games. I succeeded in playing Unreal Tournament 2004 on a CF-M34 mk2 (Celeron 400Mhz) with 256MB ram. Yep, resolution is scaled down to 400x300 but it plays smooth.

[quote="Gear6"]
I think mk3 has LED backlight.

It looks like is not LED

just thought that I'll mention I'm still alive?

short story: on-n-off illness bouts and crappy winter

long story: still really looking for a canadian CF-30-MK2/-MK3 ofc