Panasonic Toughbook CF-27 ruggedised laptop with unusual accessories

[Shad]

I've posted this elsewhere and just reproduced the ad here, email me if anyone's interested

 

This is going to be a bit of lengthy post but bear with me since I think this is quite a cool and unique item :)

 

At the heart of the sale is a Panasonic Toughbook CF-27 rugedised laptop. This is military grade stuff with a magnesium alloy reinforced case, water resistant, dust resistant, shock resistant, etc. I'll let you do your own research into the Toughbook range but it's pretty cool kit.

 

This is quite an old model but it's currently running Windows XP SP3 really well (a Windows 98 licence is included). It has a P2 300MHz CPU and 320Mb RAM, with a 20Gb hard drive. It also has a DVD drive (interchangable with a floppy drive), infra red, USB, 2 PCMCIA slots, the list goes on. Of worthy note, it has an internal GSM modem which takes a sim card. I have been able to communicate with the modem using HyperTerminal, but I've not tried dialing. This should work in theory though and would get you a low speed mobile data connection. Some enterprising owners have replaced this with an internal wifi adapter, but due to the magnesium alloy casing the signal strength tends to be a problem.

 

Why does it have a GSM modem? Well, this kind of laptop was used by BT and British Gas field engineers, and that's where the suitcase comes in. This is the original case that was built for the laptop which enables it to go on the road with a printer and GSM ariel, in a very sturdy case (Samsonite). It's quite an ingenius design and incorporates a docking station of sorts, which handles power for the laptop and printer (via a kettle plug fitted to the suitcase), speakers for audio and the GSM ariel.

 

The printer is a monochrome Olivetti JP90 which does have a cartridge in, and does appear to work correctly (i.e. it will feed and do the Windows test page routine happily after being discovered by plug and play), but the cartridge has long ago dried up so nothing actually prints out. I suspect it just needs a new cartridge.

 

What else... It's worth noting that I've restored the laptop to complete and working condition. When they are built into the suitcase the carry handle and back plate are removed, so I've replaced these. The original keyboard (included) had a few dead keys, so that was replaced. The original hard drive is also included and is 6.5Gb Toshiba drive and should still have a working Windows 98 installation on it. The current 20Gb drive that's fitted will be wiped before sale, but as you can see from the photos it's running nicely. It will play Half-Life in software mode pretty well (believe it or not!) but does struggle with heavy Flash (e.g. YouTube). It will handle light web browsing but I've mainly used it for hooking up to car ECUs and networking gear since it has a serial COM port on the back.

 

Speaking of networking, included in the sale is a Linksys 802.11g wifi card and IBM 10/100 ethernet card. A DLink bluetooth USB dongle is also included. The original ram is also included which was upgraded to a Crucial 256Mb module (64Mb 'onboard').

 

The battery is 'okay' and will last about an hour. It tends to get down to 30-40% fairly steadily and then plumit rather quickly, so I suspect not all the cells are functioning correctly. I tend to use it on mains power anyway. The included Samsonite soft carry case is really nicely sized for the laptop and has space for the charger, floppy drive and network cards

 

So after that waffle I'll try to sum up what's included:

 

Panasonic Toughbook CF-27 laptop

Samsonite fitted suitcase

Samsonite soft carry case

Olivetti JP90 printer

Interchangable floppy drive

Linksys wifi card

IBM ethernet card

DLink bluetooth dongle

20Gb upgraded hard drive

320Mb ram upgrade

Original parts: keyboard, ram, hard drive

Original UK mains charger

 

There is a complete gallery of pictures here which is well worth a look and should cover everything.

 

The laptop will come supplied in the soft carry case with all of its fittings attached. Due to its bulk, postage is going to be tricky so for now I will say collection from the South is the best way. I am based near Newbury in Berkshire and can be flexible with regards to traveling to meet a buyer half way (decided on a case-by-case basis, feel free to PM).

 

So for the whole package I'm after £130. A good condition, complete and nicely upgraded CF-27 is hard enough to find on its own, let alone with all the unique extras this one has :)

[Frying Pan]

These are excellent bits of kit. I specced these to run our dealer vehicle diagnostic systems. Had great fun launching it and !accidentally' dropping it whilst doing the speech. - never missed a beat

 

[Shad]

I'll definitely miss it, it's been fantastic. Just bought a netbook though which does everything I need. Not quite as cool though ☹️

[Shad]

Now on eBay but will happily end early for anyone here for around the asking price in the first post