~Toughbooktalk~

As most of you knew Microsoft cut manufactures off from being able to produce and stock computers with XP downgrades preinstalled as of October 31st 2010. There is a little know exception that Microsoft was still allowing manufacturers to produce build to order computers with the XP downgrades as long as they were shipped directly to the customer by passing the distribution channel. Microsoft is also requiring, from the manufacturers, a report of customers that are placing XP orders.

With that said, Panasonic has said that they will not be producing 74's and Touchscreen 52's with Win 7 Installed. This leaves only the XP downgrade models that are in stock to be sold and everyone wondering if this is the end of the Touch 52 and 74.

Further argument that it is the end would come from Panasonic's attempt to label their C1 as a semi rugged unit. This then would still allow for a Touchscreen option in the semi rugged series.

Any thoughts?

We had a discussion on this issue on NBR here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo- ... tions.html

End users need XP to run some old software
I would be very mad if panasonic stops this , as it will gain them sales if they are the last one that sells xp machines

Any deals on the 13.3 cf-52 as Rob was interested if the price is good
I noticed at least 1 new Toughbook for 1/2 off on sale

tomcat57 wrote: End users need XP to run some old software
I would be very mad if panasonic stops this , as it will gain them sales if they are the last one that sells xp machines

The users still have every right to install XP on thier Win 7 Machine and Panasonic still has XP drivers avialable.

No one knows how long Microsoft is going to allow this XP exception considering it has already been extended for the past two years. It is not up to Panasonic, when Microsoft says it's over, IT'S OVER. Leaving the consumers and agencies to either upgrade or figure out thier own work arounds.

If you remember, this used to be Microsoft's SOP, but the Vista Nightmare extended the XP lifecycle by quite a few years.

So as I understand now when new models are produced we will not get 2 restore disks , only one
Is this in effect now when someone buys a thoughbook that panasonic has removed those xp disks ?

You did not answer the question on deals on the cf-52 13.3 , just hoping they are selling them cheap lol
Its good to know that driver will be available for xp , hopefuly in future models
The bigger companies have vol licences for xp anyway , so the o/s is not an issue

tomcat57 wrote:So as I understand now when new models are produced we will not get 2 restore disks , only one
Is this in effect now when someone buys a thoughbook that panasonic has removed those xp disks ?

You did not answer the question on deals on the cf-52 13.3 , just hoping they are selling them cheap lol

As of today, the Touch 52 and the 74 are being sold from stockand will have XP installed. The Touch 52's will have a Win 7 and XP recover disk. The 74's will have a Vista and XP recover disk (a Win 7 license was never avaialble on the 74 so no Win 7 recover disk)

Because there is no official announcement you will not see a price discount just yet. I would keep an eye on it over the next couple months and into Q1 of 2011 if you want to get one at a discount.

Thanks for the updates
It is apreciated

Why would Panasonic NOT offer Win 7 discs for the 74's??!?!?!?! For God's sake they are of the MOST powerful of the Toughbook's... (That and the 52's...)

Rob wrote:Why would Panasonic NOT offer Win 7 discs for the 74's??!?!?!?! For God's sake they are of the MOST powerful of the Toughbook's... (That and the 52's...)

Rumor around Panasonic since last year is that the 74 is going away. It hasnt been that popular, although I agree it is a wonderful unit. The 52 Touch was supposed to be the 74 killer but it just turned out to be an akward product. The 74's at this point don't even come with a Win 7 license. They are still being sold with Vista Licenses and XP downgrades installed. (all from stock)

The cf-74 has been around for a while, and you are right on the poor sales on these ,as the cf-73 was produced in larger quantities

It might be the downturn in the economy , and Panasonic needs to find a way to get a model like the cf-74 or cf-52 out there @ 70% of that selling price to stay competitive

tomcat57 wrote:The cf-74 has been around for a while, and you are right on the poor sales on these ,as the cf-73 was produced in larger quantities

It might be the downturn in the economy , and Panasonic needs to find a way to get a model like the cf-74 or cf-52 out there @ 70% of that selling price to stay competitive

Well price is one of the disadvantages of the manufacturing process in which EVERYTHING is made and assembled in house except for chip set, and recievers (gps & cellular). On the other hand the major advantage is they have full quality control at every step of the line and they can produce only what's needed all in an effort to keep costs down as much as possible.

I guess it's a fine line, but I still appreciate the values that Panasonic has with manufacturing and I think it's refreshing that they take full responsibility for quality control unlike other (almost all other) tech giants in the industry.