Should You Buy an Old Panasonic Toughbook?

In today's video we're going to see whether it's worth buying an old Panasonic Toughbook laptop. They're big, heavy and in need of a restoration! Can we make a decent working machine? Are they still usable today? Let's find out! #Toughbook #Laptop #Restoration
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[@dragos2010full1]

wrong that fuse in the hard drive caddy is for THE HEATING ELEMENT you just peeled off from around the hard drive they use the for the hdd to be able to work in ice cold climate

[@psivewri]

Wow, I didn't know that! Is it always active? Maybe I should remove it since the SSD isn't going to be subjected to cold conditions 😅

[@derkernsen]

@@psivewri ssds work better when they're warmer so it should be fine.

[@dragos2010full1]

@@psivewri from what i know it is not always active i think it either uses the hdd temp sensor or uses a dedicated temp sensor on the motheboard of the laptop

[@ub7247]

Psivewri have you ever seen plainrock124 moving on videos :D

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Wow that's impressive! I saw those style of heater on the Mars rovers😀

[@ChrisMX9]

"parts are difficult to find for this laptop" *Proceeds to bend the motherboard with an axe*

[@buda3d2007]

could have scavenged parts off the old one to sell to re:coup the cost, but considering how cheap it was I guess no biggie, just a bit of a waste

[@NotJohnTanner]

yeah

[@ChrisMX9]

@@pdahandyman I know, it was a joke

[@predatortheme]

@@pdahandyman And most likely, military or rescue services would buy those and for them, price doesnt matter.

[@tuomashauvala6349]

Yeah. The most external parts Are same as in newer models of the CF-19 family hengenvetoon no price drop.

[@nushnume]

Dropping this laptop off the table in a coffee shop would probably crack their floor

[@stevemoore3951]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@nslouka90]

They’re like the Nokia of laptops

[@d0tbr3w]

i tried that before can confirm

[@MinecraftPro97k]

If you drop your ToughBook on my floor, Get out of my house and bring the ToughBook with you!

[@MinecraftPro97k]

@@Dragon-zu2we Do NOT encourage anyone!

[@ProtoMario]

Used these in the ARMY deployed in Afghanistan, worked great in sand storms and survived explosions.

[@somethingreal5042]

lol

[@PsycosisIncarnated]

And then somehow you became PROTOMARIO?

[@theformer1337agent]

damn you were in the military?

[@nonelost1]

My guess is that these Panasonic “tough books” were the civilian version of it. I just found one behind the dumpsters yesterday, a model CF - 27EB6GQCM. The screen is not cracked. All the keys are there. And it does not look like anybody hit it with an ax. But it had been out in the weather for sometime. I just cleaned it up as best I could this morning. Can anybody tell me about this particular model?

[@PsycosisIncarnated]

@@nonelost1 take out the harddrive just in case and replace it.

[@mihirkulkarni2606]

In my previous employment at MNC we used that toughbook a lot on field and in office, we needed one dedicated man to manoeuvre 2 panasonic toughbooks. There were 2 battery slots and we used to swap those during machine testing, our servant would quickly run to office to charge those batteries. Once the toughbook fell off from 10 feet height from machine on concrete. I was shocked that it didn’t bend the thing nor display was cracked. Once when I was on machine and machine was in running condition, due to jerk it fell off my hand and our 11.5 tonnes machine passed over it. We were shocked to see that at first but when we opened the laptop only display was cracked. The toughbook was insured hence panasonic repaired it. But the company did fired me.

[@IantheKid125]

My dad has one in his police car. They're really common with law enforcement

[@georgebush-gaming]

Yeah, I know this guy that works as a police officer and has one mounted right next to the drivers seat in his car

[@IantheKid125]

@@georgebush-gaming Very interesting computer indeed

[@Pilotgeek]

That's how I got mine, ex police unit. Over 30k hours but was in pristine condition as it just sat in a car.

[@TotemoGaijin]

I could also see it being used a lot by mechanics.

[@paulluce2557]

I have two . A cf-18 which is ex police which I am looking at some sort of cyber deck project with and a CF52 (i5 model) which lives in van for general computing in workshop etc.

[@fahadsultan4393]

Nokia 3310: Finally a worthy opponent, Our battle will be legendary

[@rarinth]

ThinkPad*

[@cherrypepsi2815]

Its always been ThinkPad vs toughbook

[@aaron69av]

I'm a simple guy- I see a new Psivewri video, I watch.

[@zerocks88]

That there windows 7 pro key can still be used for windows 10 activation- just FYI

[@BilisNegra]

I expect someone like him to know that, but it's OK to mention it for people reading this comment section.

[@zerocks88]

@@BilisNegra a lot of my very tech savvy colleagues and comrades don't know it still so it never goes astray letting the masses know :)

[@lrc3847]

Any Windows 7 key works on Windows 10

[@Macintoshing]

What i due is put a drive in my laptop and install windows 8.1 (no activation needed since my laptop came with it) and then i upgrade it to 10 with the media creation tool and pop it into the computer i need it for

[@S己G]

Possible I may have used that, or will. It also doesn't need to be a pro.

[@bluej511]

Toughbooks are amazing. We used to use one at our Ford dealership with Ford software to do a lot of things, they are incredibly slow but holy crap are they tough. Ours has never failed.

[@motorbloxx]

Talks about ford with a jaguar f type pfp. Is that your dream car?

[@rebert_reid]

You can probably run over it

[@CasioMaker]

That's one type of machine I would like to add to my collection.

[@legalizenukes3184]

Same

[@RandomGuy0400]

*cybernetic bronchitis noises*

[@H3LLMAU5]

We all hate this computer at work

[@RowenHansen]

Challenge: use the toughbook for a day

[@TheAvocracker]

😂😂😂😂

[@NoobGyver]

Thats gonna be tough

[@rpst39]

A week would be better.

[@recordcollector0665]

NoobGyver bruh 😂

[@xPLAYnOfficial]

That's not a challenge. I would love one of those. I currently rock a custom Dell M6300 17" beast. I absolutely love it. Screw thin and light. Hello durable laptops with actual port selection :)

[@massmassive8329]

finding spare parts is diffucult.. destroyes a fully working motherboard..

[@BilisNegra]

Well, they are not same generation machines at all, the most trashed one is Core2Duo based while the more decent one is 3rd gen i5, probably like 5 years newer.

[@tipstricksss1453]

The motherboard could have had issues. Even if the motherboard posts doesn't mean it is fault free. Most are junked for parts or get sold on ebay. Personally I wouldn't touch a toughbook on ebay that has missing parts like batter, hard drive and ram because there could have been a good reason why it was stripped.

[@araigumakiruno]

pain

[@RoboJM]

Darn. I was out of golf balls and I was thinking of ordering one of these as a replacement.

[@princeplotena]

Probably not a ball, but a tee, probably!

[@exturkconner]

Cf-19's are actually one of the easier tough books to find parts for. They refreshed it so they reused the chassis and all of the ports and fitting for two different models (older ones were core 2 duos the refreshers were core architecture 3rd generation). Parts are expensive though that is for sure. I served as an army reservist and we had some cf-28's in our unit. We were given the option to purchase them (minus the hdd's and unfortunately the hdd shock mount caddies) for pretty reasonable. I still have it all these years later and it still works fine.

[@jstoney6471]

Toughbook was my "Go To" during 25 years of Construction QA/QC. Ugly but still couldn't kill it!

[@harryrichardshaver]

I use a toughbook cf-19 every day so I was excited to see this video.

[@RandomFandomOfficial]

Omg I remember Circuit City

[@y.h.b.c6191]

I have CF-Y9 panasonic...its a toughbook too?

[@TheCode-X]

is it that the model of the video? i'm thinking about buing a "retro" capable computer for programming and compatibility software usage

[@leadergames0661]

Is a school book I have for 30 years considered a tough... book?

[@MirekFe]

bdm tss 🥁

[@amaslam111]

The dad joke level on this is off the charts.

[@MirekFe]

@@amaslam111 Hi hungry. I'm dad. 🙂

[@Tyrant_Roach]

I had a compaq portable ii and I had to replace the floor because it accidently fell from my hand.

[@seanharvey1250]

I got a toughbook cf-29 from a guy on FB marketplace complete working one for $50 USD only missing the charger! What a steal!

[@TheOmegaGamer100]

I currently hand these out to my fueling tech's here in California. We give them the CF-53 models. They have i5 3000/4000 series CPU and i give them 8GB of ram along with 256GB ssd and windows 10 and they handle amazing.

[@sugna82plays61]

Damn, really really enjoyed this video. Your content just gets better and better. It's so refreshing to see such a great Australian tech KZbinr. Thanks from Regional NSW

[@scientist_nick]

There is something very soothing about your videos man, it’s like tea for vintage tech nerds.

[@jacklumbar7061]

I bought on ex mil one several years ago for $200. to run specialist vehicle diagnostic software, It does all asked of it and has been left out in the rain, dropped violently off a vehicle roof being backed out of the bay and left for more than 6 months without being charged when it was 'lost' and following a charge up it works fine. Its about to get a memory upgrade for now and was in use all day yesterday helping repair an old Jaguar.

[@grumps5940]

For Old School Runescape, you should use the command ::displayfps to show the fps.

[@y.h.b.c6191]

Im playing League of Legends on this thing🤣

[@Carboxylated]

Excellent in depth over view of your "Toughbook" findings. I remember seeing these whilst in the Military. Thought they were very interesting but also very expensive. I like the hammer to the bottom plate exploit you found. It's a weak spot.

[@walker008_]

I don't know what surprised me more, the fact that this thing had such good specs or that you used a flamethrower. 😁 Either way, nice video as always. 👍

[@Telletabie]

We Still use this Thinge on the ambulances in my city

[@Pilotgeek]

Great video! I still have a CF29 running XP with over 30k hours, and it's in pristine condition (ex police unit, mostly sat in a car) with an SSD and new battery added. I still keep it around for old phone system programming tools that only run on XP. Even the old ones still have a lot of life for simple jobs such as running a CNC on a shop floor, data collection at a farm or factory, etc.

[@marcusgurley9495]

Awesome video. I got a Toughbook CF-31 free at a contract gig I did a few years ago. I bumped up the ram and added an SSD and it’s great. It plays retro games great and the burner is really nice. It is a GREAT machine for outdoor DJ’s as it’s weatherproof. Greetings from Atlanta, GA! Glad you’re healing up!

[@ShrewsburyMon]

Great review, thanks

[@2S2F1]

My heart broke when u turned the video into a techrax video by smashing the laptop

[@Moth11]

Lol Psivewri your vids are iconic man. I never thought I would see someone playing golf with an ace and a Panasonic tough book for the golf ball

[@oseidwomoh]

Toughbooks. Psivewri Approved.

[@kingssj2919]

Nice video man this is my first time watch your channel and i like it !.:-)

[@Phonetweaks]

Nice vid! I watch ur vids to the end ngl! Keep up the work! This vid was interesting

[@ObaidullahSSIdeis]

Hi mate , I had enjoyed this lovely vid , hope to see more Panasonic laptops , love from England

[@NixFanBoy007]

Strong little laptops indeed. I picked up my CF-19 mk5 for $250 as an A-Grade refurb. Works great for my work.

[@techman2471]

It looked like you had some great stress relief with theat Toughbook!

[@psivewri]

For a short while yes, but then I felt really bad about breaking it ahaha

[@xy.z]

Finally a new Video 😁 Greets from Bavaria

[@marcusgurley9495]

Greetings from Atlanta, GA! I have the Toughbook CF 31 I saved from a junk pile. Great machine. Wish it had the rotating screen though. Great video!

[@superhavi]

Those things are awesome for anyone who likes to do astrophotography. They have all the necessary ports (rs232) and are nearly immune to dew, cold temperatures and frost. They can also be bought extremely cheap at the start of every year, because that's the time when governments replace them with newer models.

[@Graciecanedit]

Love your channel

[@ondrejsedlak4935]

Damn this brings back some golden memories. These laptoips are absolutely awesome and almost bulletproof. When I was teaching English in Japan, one of my students was an engineer at Panasonic and would always bring in toughbook laptop and tablet prototypes to practice making presentations to potential clients, such as oil companies and various militaries around the world. I couldn't say anything to anyone of course but I did get to play with their latest and greatest for a few years until 2019 when I left.

[@RustyX2010]

Now I know who I lost the eBay bid to! Only to find out that he was only gonna use it to play golf.

[@noneofyourbuisness7]

1:37 that was definitely from a cop, firefighter or ems worker writing a nasty gram to the dispatcher who just dispatched them to the crap call they’re going to XD.

[@tehcooler]

Oh Boi Psivewri you always suprise me with some video ;)

[@NoahAviation09]

Your videos are amazing !

[@masonwong8007]

You have to remember these laptops by Panasonic and Getac are designed to run old software made in the 90s and 2000s. Both the military and the industries that use these laptops don't need sophisticated software, at least not yet.

[@rimsarecool2000]

watching off of a panasonic cf-31, I love these laptops.

[@projectwind]

Best REVIEW EVER! I LOVE IT!

[@peak3590]

I’m excited to get my tough pad I just found one for 150$ upgraded with a ssd and new battery im a handyman and can’t wait to put all my manuals and easy guides for troubleshooting and documentation and sever support is awsome!

[@RobertDeloyd]

I have 7 ToughBooks 3 CF30, 1 CF19, 2 CF18, 1 CF-28 and I got them all working... you have a lot of what I already have and I guess that's why I like your channel :)

[@comicsanz97]

*finds spots of afghan soldier blood* Well let's clean that up with some eucalyptus oil.

[@user-oh7vl2gw7v]

Extremely great video

[@samanthagriffinv2.08]

Thanks for the product keys

[@5incoPeso]

yo that moment of the second axe attack legit hurt

[@miaugato93]

I saw the specs and i immediately said "yes, you can". I mean, a 1.86Ghz Core 2 Duo T5550 is still usable today, with an SSD ofc. I expected one of the older Toughbooks, like the 2004 models.

[@jackstorm670]

So... Is it bad that I have a worse cpu? (1.65 ghz two core (and i use it for gaming and it doesn't have a graphics card ((it's also a laptop)))

[@AlbanianGladiator]

Happy 😊 151K subs

[@lukehinkle9614]

I remember seeing these in the Air Force back in the early 2000s.

[@WarriorsPhoto]

I used to have one of those at one my jobs and I will say that was my one of my favorite PCs. They are phenomenal computers for work and if you prone to dropping them. They'll survive a couple of falls. :)

[@thermonuclearpotato]

I just got a CF19mk5 from an eBay seller. The office IT mgr said the price was very good for the features, so I went ahead and made the purchase. He was able to get it running as it was missing a few drivers. I use it for tethered photo shoots to get images to the network server and it does well at that. I have also always wanted to own one of these, but yes they were over US$4K new. I am now considering a rugged Dell refurbished model for about US1K, because I have always felt that laptops are quite flimsy and won’t survive field work, including coffee shop trips. Nice video. Take care.

[@mdqmatias]

I loved your tshirt/hoodie!

[@JY_Yip]

Nice video. I picked up a fun anecdote off the internet a few years ago. In the early-mid 2000's, a Navy Seabees (Construction) unit was evaluating the Toughbooks for a large government order. Someone was given the obviously false premise that they were "indestructible". So the demonstrator unit was found to have dropped off a multi-story building, hit a pile of rebar on the way down and got run over by a skid loader. Someone important found it and needless to say, they didn't get any more toughbooks that year.

[@ChevAnggit]

nice info

[@ahmedabdulhabeb370]

Hi psivewri I like your tech videos

[@joncat5beamngdrive]

love ur vids

[@TheKDKCollector]

These are basically the Nokia 3310s of the laptop world

[@JessicaFEREM]

what a beauty you got there. also I have an HP monitor with 5k hours on it and I used to have a laptop with 4k hours on it. needless to say, I love my products when i use them.

[@Saabafton]

I would love to have one of these! Sadly, I don't have money for one. And yeah, it's crazy to use one! It's so thick even compared to my old laptop, a Lenovo B50-45 from 2014.

[@KuntalGhosh]

6:05 that is a hdd heater for use in really cold temperature!

[@eepymeowers]

There is some recent Japanese Toughbooks that are literally ultra books. They’re thin. And that’s rare to see in a Toughbook.

[@allentoyokawa9068]

just check their website, they still make them tough like this

[@eepymeowers]

@@allentoyokawa9068 true, but I rarely see them on sites like eBay.

[@YannMetalhead]

Good video!

[@danieldougan269]

Thanks for making this video, Beck Bennett.

[@dits791]

Looks like it's as tough as the black boxes they use in planes... Loved the flame thrower bit.

[@rippley.r]

I have one as a main, I bought it in 2015. I love it!

[@AlmostBrokeLbs]

Love urs videos

[@Cyba_IT]

I've been wanting to pick one of these up too but they are also quite rare and $$ here in NZ. Might have another look around after watching this :)

[@silverandblack6141]

if i saw someone at a coffee shop with one of those, id probably pull up a seat next to them and make a new friend immediately

[@howtofixyourtech9945]

Wow! Now the Panasonic toughbook can’t handle psivewri either. I thought it was only plainrock

[@kaspermp.3.495]

Im over here tearin up watchin this man beat up a laptop 🥺

[@stevec.2702]

I have always lusted after one of these. Used of course, the urge is even greater now.

[@DigitalHandle]

I need toughbook right now!

[@harryshuman9637]

Every time Psivewri makes a video, eucalyptus oil stock prices go up.

[@khalidhamzakheyl]

An informative video

[@organiccold]

I use a Toughbook CF-C2 as my daily driver and i love it

[@tom.northshore]

We use these at the fisheries research place where I work, and I gotta say they are nuts. We've had fish splash all over them, dropped them, consistently toss them in the back of our trucks, and use them in extreme temperature fluctuations (from -10F to 90F). They have stood the test of time and still function great. If you're an outdoors guy and want to bring a laptop out while camping or guiding people fishing, this is the computer to get, period. They are awesome. Especially the CF-53

[@psivewri]

I love that they're officially fish splash proof!

[@lexismith8325]

I’m an emt at the is what we have in our ambulances. They are pretty good and are super durable through the elements and snap into its holder on the ambo wall very nicely.

[@luvyjustinbeiber]

after binge watching all your videos I had to go clean my laptop

[@Ilias_Geo]

Nice video

[@StevenPeterson1]

I have tons of CF-30 and CF-31 models. I used to throw them down concrete stairs while powered on with the original HDD and they barely had a scratch and worked perfectly without a hitch.

[@madvinegar]

I laughed so hard when you hit the laptop with an axe! :) :) :) :)

[@tomdaniel3886]

I like you’re sweater

[@teamppappi2526]

As someone who uses a sword on the daily, i loved how u used the axe backhead =P

[@ares9304]

A MK6 CF-19 has been my main portable since 2014. Bought it from my employer when it was retired. I was not fond if its replacement and i kept using it at work. Its still quite snappy with a Samsung 1tb SSD and 16gb of hyperx 2133mhz ram.

[@alejandrocervantes4523]

God damn now I need one

[@josephpeterparker1016]

I have almost the same one but it’s bigger and a lot more fixed

[@ChaseMC215]

I'm fine with my Dell Insparon, thank you.

[@rileyswestman9693]

Ahhh so I'm not the only one that beats my computer with an axe, whoo I thought I was a crazy person for a minute there.

[@leorigby3069]

Love my CF-AX3 not as tough as them things but good enough to be my daily driver

[@itsjri8252]

the learning from this video is "every tough thing have a limit"