~Toughbooktalk~

Hello.

I am looking to upgrade to a CF-19 MK3 as I currently have an MK1. I bought my MK1 knowing the touchscreen had some issues but it was cheap and I wanted to try a toughbook before I committed more money towards one.

Fast forward to today, I really like my CF-19 and want to move up to an MK3 (what I can afford). I was looking for a reasonably priced MK3 with the majority of factory features and came across this (actually found the link to it in another thread on this forum):

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/131201818627?ssP ... 1438.l2649

I like that it comes with the fingerprint reader and from what I've read to add that after the fact is a $300+ part. From what I can tell this CF-19 has everything except GPS and the camera. I don't want to lose the ram slot for the camera so I am happy there but I would be looking to add GPS.

Anyways it seems like the toughbook community is pretty tight. Does anyone know this seller and does the CF-19 look good?

In the end the only upgrades I'd be doing are:

-GPS

-SSD

-8GB ram for video editting

-64bit OS (probably XP)

I do a lot of offroading in the summers and like to take videos with my GoPRO of the trail runs. I use my CF-19 as a topographical GPS on the trails and to edit video when at camp after the runs. Really liking how rugged the CF-19 is and how well it works as a GPS.

Rob , the one that owns this web site worked for them (Proton Computers) back a few years ago. Good seller

Yes, they are reputable.

As an FYI that I started the Toughbook division at that company. I worked there for 8 years too.

Thanks!

cheap4tw wrote: In the end the only upgrades I'd be doing are:

-GPS

-SSD

-8GB ram for video editting

-64bit OS (probably XP)

I do a lot of offroading in the summers and like to take videos with my GoPRO of the trail runs. I use my CF-19 as a topographical GPS on the trails and to edit video when at camp after the runs. Really liking how rugged the CF-19 is and how well it works as a GPS.

The GPS is a easy install.

If you are looking in the 800 dollar price range start looking at the Mk4/5 models with the i5. I have seen several in that price range before.

The Mk3 is DDR2 so ram would be more expensive than for a Mk4/5 unit that has DDR3.

64bit xp? I still have a copy of it at home but drivers are a bitch to find. 64 bit XP is very, picky about drivers. I haven't tried any vista/7 64 bit drivers on it to see if they will work or not.

I know I will regret asking but that never stopped me before....

Why XP?

Double why...64bit?

Interesting comparison of xp32 vs xp64

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows- ... 1349.shtml

Well initially I was leaning towards 64bit to support 8gb of ram but after doing some reading accessing the lower ram slot seems like a real pain for a novice.

I was leaning towards xp over win 7 as I'm running it now on my mk1. I figured xp would cause less of a performance hit but please correct me if I'm wrong. If win 7 works better I'm not opposed.

If I'm sticking to 32bit OS is there any reason to go above 4gb of ram?

Oh one last question. How difficult is it to add a digitizer panel to a touchscreen version to make it dual touch? More then a novice should attempt?

cheap4tw wrote:Well initially I was leaning towards 64bit to support 8gb of ram but after doing some reading accessing the lower ram slot seems like a real pain for a novice.

Not real hard you need to remove the bottom cover (13 screws) and a plastic retainer to get to the lower slot. But you could wait until you really need the extra memory.

I was leaning towards xp over win 7 as I'm running it now on my mk1. I figured xp would cause less of a performance hit but please correct me if I'm wrong. If win 7 works better I'm not opposed.

Win7 seems to provide pretty snappy performance, to me about the same as XP and has many improvements, much less security risks.

If I'm sticking to 32bit OS is there any reason to go above 4gb of ram?

No

Oh one last question. How difficult is it to add a digitizer panel to a touchscreen version to make it dual touch? More then a novice should attempt?

That would be a challenging project if it's even possible.

Convert to Dual touch is possible on mk3 and above...Not possible on mk1 or mk2.

Not a real difficult job for me. I don't know your skill level.

I do have a digitizer panel for a CF18...As far as I know they are the same as a CF19.

You "may" need a different cable for the lcd assembly. I don't know if the touch only models have the connectors for the digitizer.

If you are interested in the digitizer setup I have, send me a PM...

Thank you everyone for all the information and advice. I may take you up on that digitizer Shawn, will let you know soon.

I may have gotten lucky, I will know later tonight as pickup is scheduled then. I have a line on a CF-19 MK4 and a CF-19 MK2 together for $300. If all goes well I will be grabbing them tonight. The owner didn't have the model numbers (they are at work) but from the screenshots it shows the CPU info which shows them as an MK4 and MK2.

Really hope this works out.

cheap4tw wrote:Thank you everyone for all the information and advice. I may take you up on that digitizer Shawn, will let you know soon.

I may have gotten lucky, I will know later tonight as pickup is scheduled then. I have a line on a CF-19 MK4 and a CF-19 MK2 together for $300. If all goes well I will be grabbing them tonight. The owner didn't have the model numbers (they are at work) but from the screenshots it shows the CPU info which shows them as an MK4 and MK2.

Really hope this works out.

Not bad! I got a Mk2 for 175$ with a cracked case and no caddy.