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Not so Tough
By: SCP
January 22, 2007 @ 11:07 AM
I used this laptop during two months of field research in the Russian Far East and it didn’t last very long. Never took it outside, but a little water dripped on the keyboard from a leak in the ship we were working on, and the keyboard stopped working completely making the computer un-usable. If you want something really tough, get a military-grade laptop from General Dynamics or other vendor.
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
light, insane battery life, rugged
By: Danny
October 24, 2004 @ 10:56 PM
A little about me first. I am very computer literate. I have built from the ground up two
desktop computers. I can repair and replace internal parts, and I am big on gaming. But I
wanted to buy a portable laptop for websurfing, e-mail, Instant messengering with my
daughters at college, watching an occasional DVD, and maybe a little gaming to boot.
Except for the Asus M5N I tried for a week (mentioned below), I have never owned a
laptop.
When I decided to get a laptop, the three highest priorities were battery life, weight, and
size. I actually tried the Asus 12.1 inch M5N (M5200N). That is a very sweet small
laptop, 3.4 pounds, and Asus quality. The problem: with the 3 cell battery it can only
deliver 2 hours max, even at the maximum battery mode (when the processor is running at
a paltry 132 Mhz and the screen is dimmed). In fact, there was very little difference
between running it at high performance and max battery, as the battery time only went
down by 15 minutes. Since I planned to use the laptop at seminars where no outlet will be
nearby, I really wanted at least 4 and ideally 6 hours of performance. I purchased the
extended 9 cell battery, and with that battery, it delivers 5.5 hours, but at a steep price for
me. The weight with the 9 cell is over 4 lbs, and the unit becomes very ârearâ heavy due
to the battery extending off the back side. This makes is awkward to carry and more
likely to drop.
One thing I learned in this trial of the Asus model is that when you are on battery, the cpu
speed is reduced to at least 600Mhz. I purchased a 1.7Ghz Pentium M, but since I plan to
operate mostly on battery, what is the point of purchasing a screaming cpu that will be
throttled down every time I unplug the unit? So, if battery operation is your thing, donât
spend extra money on the fastest cpu. You wonât use it!
So, what to do? I looked real hard at the Sony Tr3A, which is a 10 inch screen, 3.4 lb
laptop. I came real close to ordering one. Then I spoke to the Best Buy tech guy who
said that about every year, the electrical connection between the base and the screen has to
be fixed. This also came up in some of the reviews I read. The other problem is that the
Sony has a wide screen lcd, and at 10 inches, it makes for very small type. I see pretty
well, but I came to realize that 12 inches is really getting to the lower end of what even a
good sighted person can tolerate. The Sony is very good for videos, but my use is
primarily office and internet surfing, and watching movies is secondary.
Knowing I wanted a 12.1 inch or smaller, I looked at many brands, including Sony. After
a few weeks of research, reading reviews, and checking vendor sites, I pretty much
determined that the best solution was the Panasonic Toughbook W2 . It boasted up to 7
hours battery time and user reviews referred to the battery life as impressive. The reviews
I found were for a prior model which has the 900Mhz ultra low voltage Pentium M
centrino package (CF-W2AWAZZKM).
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/user_reviews535.html
Hereâs a complete review I read for the prior version:
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review535.html
And one very good review (the only one) on Epinions reviewing the earlier 900 Mhz
model mentioned above.
http://www.epinions.com/pr-Panasonic_Toughbook_W2_CF-W2AWAZZKM_PC_Noteb
ook/display_~reviews
The new version is upgraded to a 1.1 Ghz ulv pentium M centrino (CF-W2DWAZZKM).
The only problem? No one allows you to try one out. They are non-returnable except on
the Panasonic website, which allows returns with a 15% restock fee. At Panasonicâs price
of $2,399.00, your restock is $360.00, pretty steep fee to try one out. So basically, you
buy it– you own it.
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?storeId=11251&ca
talogId=11005&itemId=72991&catGroupId=21504&displayTab=O&surfModel=Toughb
ook-eLite&surfCategory=Notebook%20Computers&ignoreRedirect=1
Panasonicâs website has a pretty cool video entitled âThis is Toughbookâ showing the
rugged models being shaken, sprayed, dropped, etc. You will want to see it:
http://www.panasonic.com/computer/toughbook/learn_more_tbw2.asp (on that web
page, in the upper right column, click on âView This is Toughbook videoâ) NOTE: the
video is showing treatment of the âruggedâ toughbooks, and the unit I am describing is
called âsemi-ruggedâ meaning itâs not waterproof, and not made to drop from 4 feet high,
but it has superior hard drive shock protection that should protect it from a fall of a foot
or two.
Panasonic gives you a THREE year warranty standard, and Windows XP Pro is standard
on the models. At some point, you just have to make that leap of faith referred to in the
epinions article preceding mine, so I did. I was not disappointed.
The first test was my convention just days after the purchase. Sometimes educational
seminars can get boring, but this time I was never bored as I surfed the net on the hotelâs
wireless connection with my new toughbook. With the wireless on all the time, I made 6
hours on the battery the first time. I did not turn off the screen or have a very dark screen
to save power. I just wanted to see what it could do. In my room I played 4 hours of
dvds and still surfed the web for another 1.5 hours after that. Pretty impressive
performance from a subnotebook. I then initiated the power saving features, like turn off
the screen and hard drive after 3 minutes, and the thing easily went 6.5 hours with wireless
running the whole time.
As to the ergonomics and display, I read reviews which were critical of the round
touchpad. I think itâs the greatest invention ever. For one thing, the circular shape lends
itself to a unique function. Moving your finger in a circular motion around the touchpad is
interpreted as scrolling down or up, depending on which way you circle your finger. Very
cool feature. The keys are responsive and I had no trouble typing. I have average size
fingers and found no problem with the space bar (it was the same size as the last unit I
tried, the Asus M5N). It has been mentioned in reviews that there is a slight bloom of
light at the bottom of the screen if the screen is solid black (shown here):
http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review535_main2673_page2.html
I did find this to be the case, but it was not noticeable at all if the screen is full of a web
page or while watching a movie (unless there are letter box black bands, and then it was
noticeable. But I am pretty picky and believe me it wonât bother you. You donât usually
look at a totally black screen!
Hereâs the kicker. While at this convention, no less than 10 people stopped by my chair to
see the slick looking small laptop. Three said they are going to order one after just
picking it up. They cannot believe it is less than 3 lbs, and are shocked when they see me
open the flip top CDR-DVD drive. Then I tell them it has 6+ hours battery –and the
closer is the three year warranty. I should get a commission from Panasonic! Everyone is
taken with the cool round touchpad design. I showed a few the âThis is Toughbookâ
video and they were totally impressed.
Hereâs a feature I didnât see mentioned. If the case is closed, and you press the power
button, you get a led readout (1-5 leds) showing the battery status without opening the
case.
Finally, if you care about such things, I never thought a Pentium M 1.1 ultra low voltage
cpu with the Intel 855GM chipset would let me play any games. Just for fun I put in
Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition and….. it plays just fine with no stutter.
Incredible. It plays in battery mode too! So maybe it wonât play Doom3, but what the
heck, my power desktop wonât either. You CAN play some games on this unit.
Like the prior reviewer, I purchased mine from PortableOne.com. They were not the least
expensive, but their customer service is good, and live, friendly people answer the phone.
During the order process, I asked for an expedited shipping and they made it happen.
They offer two important extras: they upgrade the unit from standard 256Mb to 512 Mb
memory and will do a pixel check before FREE shipping just for asking. Their price was
$2199 (if youâre in California, you pay tax too, but for me it was still worth it to have a
good company stand behind the sale –even though you canât return it).
All in all, a strong recommendation for both the vendor and the product.
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Nice! well designed, light
By: Patrick
September 9, 2004 @ 10:44 PM
Just got got a CF-W2DWAZZKM from Page Computers (http://www.pagecomputers.com/cgi-bin/page/B1336634.html) Price was $1979 (now $2030) plus California tax for me + shipping. I opted for the extra 512Mb memory chip (I phoned and double-checked that I was ordering the right chip) and the memory I bought (512MB PANASONIC PC2100 SO DIMM CF-WMBA30512) still turned out to be the wrong IC. Reviewer was right about the screen being washed out at the bottom. The screen has a narrow viewing angle. If you are looking down on the screen you will see the light washing into the bottom 1/8 of the screen. If you look straight on or from below the center of the screen it looks perfect. Side-to-side viewing is good and the screen seems bright and colors good. I really like the CD location. According to the Panasonic Toughbook website (http://www.panasonic.com/computer/toughbook/learn_more_tbw2.asp) “full magneisum allow case”. That said the case top/LCD back does feel like plastic – but it looks cool. I love the circular touchpad and mouse button configuration. I’ve got short, fat fingers, and touch-type and don’t have any trouble with the keyboard or touchpad. I updated immediately to Windows SP2, updated the Realtek ethernet driver (via Panasonic’s download site), struggled with wireless connection, but all seems well. Battery charged quickly (1.5-2hrs?) but I haven’t had a chance to discharge it. Wireless range (in my house) is about 20 meters (router is Linksys WRT54G) but I haven’t tried to improve the range.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
The Perfect Notebook
By: Rocky
July 28, 2004 @ 10:11 AM
I researched so many notebooks my head hurt. I’m so happy with my decision to get the W2! It’s the perfect notebook. The battery life, wireless, CD drive, screen size, ports . . . everything is wonderful. I’ve used it a week now and it’s the perfect ultra portable. Comparable to a Mac G4 12″, which is also outstanding. My only complaint: the headphone port does not have a strong enough signal, even at maximum volume, so watching a DVD movie on the airplane is sometimes hard to hear..
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Perfect for road warriors!
By: adriank
May 22, 2004 @ 11:10 AM
I do a lot of travelling for my job – car, plane and train – and the W-2 is the first laptop I’ve owned that is trouble-free, has a battery life of 5+ hours and doesn’t break my back carrying it around. True, I use it for little more than the usual Microsoft Office applications, but I have never found it to be wanting in terms of memory or speed. It is extremely light and tough, the screen is plenty big enough to navigate around spreadsheets, and as for the so-called “light bleed”, it does not exist.
The only downside is the keyboard, which takes some getting used to – the cursor arrows are hopelessly small and the page up/down buttons are easily miss-hit. But it’s only a minor complaint. Overall, it’s the best laptop I’ve had and I’d have no hesitation recommending to anyone who is on the road a lot and values their lower back!
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
panasonic toughbook not so tough
By: joan
April 17, 2004 @ 12:11 AM
I have had an older toughbook–with signifcant problems –system returned for mother board repairs disk replacement, cd replacement, all within 1 year..added to the fact that the box is OEM–and the company does not provide needed drivers for upgrades to new OSs. BE SURE TO HAVE IN WRITING ALL SUPPORT/UPGRADES INCLUDE NEW OS (XP and higher).
Rating: 3 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
great ultraportable
By: Chili
April 6, 2004 @ 3:15 PM
This is perfect for travel and school. I agree with all the positive comments previously made about this laptop. One note about the review, I don’t know how you can turn off the computer when trying to eject the the cdrom. The guy must be a complete klutz to do that.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Great Machine
By: Luke
March 15, 2004 @ 5:36 AM
I could echo what other people who have actually used the machine before reviewing it have said, good screen, definitely magnesium case, amazingly light, but what is the point. The internet is a great place for anonymous know-it-alls to argue with other anonymous know-it-alls.
Yes both the american and Japanese spec machines can take 768 meg.
These are not hard to buy on ebay, but if you are more comfortable buying from a physical store in a known brand, get the sony part. The Sony 512 meg DIMM (PCGA-MM512U) will work in all versions of the W2 – Yes including 900Mhz US versions. It is just that a no name asian one will cost less than $150 and a Sony one will cost around $300.
The only real deficiency with the W2 is linux support. I don’t yet know if it is impossible to get the wireless and power management support working under linux, but it is certainly not easy. Obviously, that is not an issue for 95% of buyers
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
MicroDIMMS and NOT PLASTIC!!
By: JC
March 14, 2004 @ 5:37 PM
First, where to get the 512MB MicroDimms in response to David’s question. Laptopsinc.com. You will NOT believe how cheap they are. Also, these will work on ANY revision of W2, even if they say the max is 512MB. The only reason Panasonic says this is because the MicroDIMMS are not typically available in the US in sizes over 256MB. Trust me, I have the American model of W2, and it’s ticking along just fine with 768MB of RAM with absolutely no problems whatsoever.
Also, the back cover. I thought it was plastic, too. But, while on the road, I dinged my W2 pretty good and the back cover of the LED took the brunt of it and sustained a pretty good DENT. The back cover is definitely magnesium, even though it is thin and laminated in a glossy poly-based paint. It looks plastic, but it is certainly magnesium, as the dent makes undeniable.
I’ve had this machine now for quite a while and I use it daily. I have to say that I will never own another laptop that is not made by Panasonic. I’ve never been happier with any brand, and I’ve tried them all. The fact that the machine withstood the little mishap with the dent make me even more confident in its durability. Best laptop I’ve ever had…
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Great little laptop
By: Bill
February 26, 2004 @ 10:12 AM
I just wanted to chime in on this thread since I just got a Toughbook W2 from Panasonic.
1. The back of the LCD display has a plastic cover, but the rest of the case is made of the magnesium alloy that Panasonic claims. To me, the plastic isn’t a big deal. It was probably done to keep the weight down. It doesn’t detract from the looks and doesn’t feel flimsy.
2. The backlighting on the display can look uneven on a black screen, but this is sensitive to viewing angle. If I tip the screen back a little further, it looks fine.
3. There are now 3 revs of the Toughbook W2, the CF-W2A…, CF-W2B…, and CF-w2C… model numbers (see Panasonic’s Japanese sight: http://panasonic.jp/pc/). The latter two are typically only available in Japan, but dynamism.com imports them directly for U.S. folks who are dying to have the latest rev. The CF-w2C… has wireless 802.11b/g and can expand to 768 MB of memory, plus it has a 1 GHz processor and a 60 GB hard drive. I talked to one of the sales reps at bizco.com and he said this rev might be available in the U.S. sometime early-to-late spring, but it’s hard to know for sure what Panasonic will decide to import to the U.S. and what they won’t. He said, for example, that they don’t ever plan to import the R2 model.
Overall, I’m very happy with my Toughbook so far (after just two days of fiddling with it). It looks sharp, the wireless works great, and it’s plenty snappy for what I want to do with it. I give it a 9.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Very Unique
By: Kevin
January 30, 2004 @ 12:39 AM
I’ve had this laptop for a few months now and it is everything I expected. I would have given this a 7.5 if I could but heres why: Like the other reviews you can expect a great battery life, bright vivid screen, and 2,8 pounds of goodness. This would have been a perfect 8 laptop if not for the name “toughbook” Buyers should be aware this is not a typical Panasonic toughbook famed for its indestructibility. The frame is very solid, though the back part of the screen made of hard plastic feels and look veryyyy cheap. The keyboard wasn’t as good as I thought. A bit flat and has a loose feel to it. The buttons by the touch pad also has this feeling. The plastic that covers the ethernet and phone ports could’ve been made better. It feels if you bend them far enough it’ll break off. I prefered it if the ports on both sides were covered with a casing like the water/dust resistant toughbooks. Nevertheless this is a very good notebook and deserves praise for its innovative cd drive placement and very cool circular touchpad. The power on / cd drive open switches may be a pain at first, but is very adjustable. You can probably get this laptop at a better deal than the Sony TR series, and I rate this better than the Dell 300m, but if you’re willing to lug around a half a pound more try checking out the Fujitsu P5020D. But if a 12 inch screen is as small as you want to go (like me), and you can over look its few cons, then you should seriously consider purchasing the W2 if your looking for an ultraportable.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Where did you guys buy your?
By: David
January 28, 2004 @ 10:24 AM
I’m very interested in getting one of these. Geoff/JC, where did you purchase yours, and did the reseller also sell the 512 mb microdimm? This is all available through Dynamism, but the pricing on their website is way high. Would appreciate any info you can provide
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Light, long-lasting, DVD/CD-R!
By: Phillip
January 23, 2004 @ 11:45 AM
This computer has many features: CDRW/DVD, 6 hour battery life, wifi, extremely light, fast (using Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Office, Internet, email, etc.). Downside is 256 MB only. I think I’d like to have more memory, but it’s not that big of a deal. Does anyone know if the American, 900Mhz version can have 768 MB?
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Beautiful and light
By: Greg
January 16, 2004 @ 9:48 PM
I recently bought this laptop. Its light and small. Its got all the features you need on the road.
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Ideal road warrior machine
By: Sean
January 11, 2004 @ 3:31 PM
I have been using a Toughbook W2 for about three months now, and it’s ideal for what I wanted — an ultra-portable second machine that I can throw in my regular everyday bag and bring anywhere. It’s rugged and so light as to be almost unnoticeable in my bag, and the built-in wireless works great (much better reception than on my wife’s laptop).
The only things that stop me from giving this a 10 are the shallow keyboard depth (although I did get used to it much faster than I thought) and a bit of stickiness with the CD-RW/DVD door. Another minor point is that the AC adaptor is three-pronged, which seems to be a bit counter to the point of an ultra-portable (I can bring it anywhere, but I can’t plug it in everywhere ….)
I haven’t thought too much about the 512 vs. 768 MB memory size issue — I was happy with what it came with, since I’m using my portable machine mostly for lower-power apps. If you’re looking for a desktop replacement, no ultraportable is going to do the trick.
In Canada, you can buy this machine off the shelf at London Drugs for $2800 CND.
(p.s. — I would *definitely* vote for moderator censure of “reviews” of products like Mark Fassler’s above. AFAIK, almost every major laptop producer is only shipping with Windows preinstalled — what does this have to do with the relative merits of this one product? I run Linux on my desktop and am sympathetic to your point — but how does it help laptop shoppers to toss a 1 into the laptop’s rating average?)
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Regarding RAM - You *CAN* have 768MB!
By: JC
January 8, 2004 @ 8:37 PM
As mentioned before and noted on the site’s review page, there is an American model of W2 and a Japanese model which have different specs. The Japanese model has a 60 gig HD,1ghz proc, and is said to accept a max of 768 megs RAM. The American model I have (CF-W2AWAZZKM) has a 40 gig HD, 900mhz proc, and is said by Panasonic to max out at 512 megs RAM. ** THIS IS NOT SO ** I have a 512MB PC2100 micro-dimm in this machine, and it is running perfectly with 768 megs of RAM.
GEOFF is correct in his review from above. No matter which version of W2 you have, you can upgrade to 768MB RAM…the 512MB microdimms are just a little hard to come by. Thanks, Geoff!
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Don't be fooled by guesswork reviewers!
By: JC
December 25, 2003 @ 7:24 PM
I have owned at least one portable PC from every generation since the early Compaq luggables. My last machine was a Sony Vaio, with which I was fairly pleased as it served me well. I have quite a bit of experience using portable machines. That said, my newest lappy is this Panasonic W2, the 900mhz model (CF-W2AWAZZKM). This machine is fantastic. The guy who spoke of color-bleed must have based his opinion on viewing the screenshot from this site rather than actually looking at the machine. It has a nice sharp display, extremely speedy (especially considering stock-specs), super-lightweight, cased in durable MAGNESIUM (not plastic…again, don’t feed the trolls), very good quality built-in 802.11b support with two antenna hot-spots for excellent reception/transmission, and a very good battery system that will not allow over-charging that can cause chemical-blocks and rapid degradation. Of all the portable machines I have owned (must be at least a dozen), I feel better about this one than all those I have loved in the past. One EXTREMELY important thing to me is reliability. I loved my Vaio, but they are somewhat known for display problems. The ribbon cables seem to come loose from the slide-n-clamp edge connectors about every year or so, causing flickering. SONY only gives you a 90-DAY warranty, so you’re stuck with paying or fixing it yourself. For me, the vaio displays are no problem to fix, but it’s still a pain. Panasonic Toughbooks come with a 3-YEAR warranty. This should be a major consideration for anyone thinking about a new lappy. My only other comment would be on the keyboard layout comment made by the review of this site. I’ve never had a laptop with a true 101-style keyboard layout. It’s pretty normal for each lappy to be slightly different from standard. Hope this helps!
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
I'm travelling on a bike with it
By: brian coles
November 3, 2003 @ 11:26 PM
I wanted a good quality tough machine to take around the Americas with me for a year on a motorbike. Only the W2 fitted the bill. Everyone I meet is amazed at this little powerfull machine – I love it. The screen is superb, dont know what the reviewer is talking about here. The battery is great – the memory side of things is not a problem. Global computers even threw in another 256mb to boot for me. Best of all is I’ve used so many free wireless network access points around the us and canada – every major town has tons of points!!!! Free internet all around the USA. http://colesyboy.tripod.com – travel site all updated from the w2. Trust me, its the best little machine for travelling – its SOOOO light!
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
W2 is for Air Travellers- key points
By: Keith
October 28, 2003 @ 7:54 AM
The W2 is for travellers. Easy to pull out for security, screen fits between airline seats, power for 4.5 hrs, DVD for long flights (and good sound), CD-R for backups, and very lightweight.
It is rugged and can take bangs and hits. Panasonic is a core manufacturer with the ability to extrude magnesium allow with very thin tolerances– and designed the alloy around the screen to eat up impact. The US version also has an international 3 year warranty.
It has very sufficient power with the Pentium M (I have run excel, & PageMaker without a problem).
It is all about connectivity– Modem, Ethernet, WLAN, PCcard slot for WAN, USB2.
Has VGA out for presentations.
I had http://www.USATcorp.com config mine with 512Mb and could have had 768Mb and have a auto/air/AC power adapter.
Road warrior reliable, svelte, powerful, thoughtfully designed.
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
take a look at CF-R2
By: kan
October 23, 2003 @ 12:00 AM
it’s a 10″ model with no combo drive.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
forgot to link
By: Ian
October 19, 2003 @ 11:36 PM
http://forums.designtechnica.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3070&perpage=10&pagenumber=1
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Please go here
By: Ian
October 19, 2003 @ 11:30 PM
Geoff,
I commented on your last one in the forums. I want the user reviews here to be reviews, not discussions.
thanks man.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
512 is not the limit
By: Geoff
October 19, 2003 @ 10:52 PM
Ian, the reason the model numbers are not the same is because Dynamism sells the Japanese version of the laptop and then puts an English language OS on the machine. However, the motherboards are identical as far as I can tell – the only real difference is that my keyboard doesn’t have kanji characters on it. Earlier this summer, Dynamism was also advertising the W2 as taking a max of 512, but then they started selling them with up to 768 without the model number changing – you can check google’s cache to confirm this – search for CF-W2BW1AXP. Perhaps dynamism just forgot to change the model number, but unlikely. Now the 3AXP may have some other differences (like the 60Gb HDD standard), but I’m 99% certain the US W2 model can take up to 768 because the DMI viewer tells me the memory controller can take up to 512 per MicroDIMM. PS, I rated the W2 a 7 because I didn’t want to be spamming the reviews, but I wanted to respond to Ian.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
CF-T1 instead
By: Pasi
October 19, 2003 @ 10:54 AM
I just run and use CF-T1 with Linux. It’s better than centrino laptops, since I have full Linux support. Microsoft just sucks for professional use. This T1 runs very well with Linux and it’s awesome!
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Don't get confused
By: Ian Bell
October 19, 2003 @ 2:20 AM
People are confusing two models like Geoff here. If you do research you will find the following:
http://www.icube.us/panasonic_w2/product_spec.htm
It says upgradeable to 512MB. Dynamism sells a DIFFERENT version with a 1GHz CPU, this W2 has a 900MHz CPU.
iCube model: CF-W2AW1AXP
Dynamism model: CF-W2BW3AXP
http://www.dynamism.com/w2/specs.shtml
Do you see the difference?
Specs from Panasonics website: http://www.panasonic.com/computer/notebook/pdf/TBw2.pdf
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dont review if you havent tried it
By: Geoff
October 18, 2003 @ 11:48 PM
I’m sick and tired of people reviewing products they havent even seen or played with. For example, see the mostly uninformed reviews of the W2. I bought my W2 about 2 months ago and I love it. First, lets clear up some misconceptions:
1. 512 Mb is not the maximum memory – See dynamism.com for example, or W2 owners can open up the DVI viewer and note that the memory controller supports MicroDIMMs of up to 512Mb, making the maximum 768Mb with the built in 256 module.
2. The case is magnesium – Yes, I know you’re jealous and disbelieving that its magnesium and only 2.8 pounds, but believe it. The only thing that isnt magnesium is part of the back of the screen which is heavy duty plastic to allow more flexibility and prevent damage to the screen if dropped.
3. You can run linux on it – not necessarily easy, but its doable. And yes, unfortunately you pay a “Microsoft Tax” on almost any prebuilt computer. Get over it.
4. It’s available in the US – I can’t believe such a sloppy review was published. I’m typing on my US W2 right now, with English XP Pro CD, English manual, etc. Check panasonic.com to see the product page for the US version.
5. The screen lighting is not uneven – perhaps the reviewer had a bad unit, but my W2 has fine illumination. I even tested it with an all black screensaver just to make sure.
Now, I also looked at the 12″ Powerbook, Sony TR1, and Fujitsu P5000 when I was deciding what to buy. I came closest to buying the Powerbook, and I think it is the best competitor to the W2, though it is relatively heavy. Personally, the 10.6″ screens on the Sony and Fujitsu were too small to useful as a primary computer. I am a college student and I use my W2 for everything, taking notes, writing papers, games, etc. and I don’t think I could live with a 10.6″ screen. Also, the Sony is in my opinion very poorly built. It feels like a toy, weighs more, has an almost useless camera on the top, and sticks you with proprietary Sony shit (eg. Memory sticks). If you’re thinking of the TR1, don’t do it – get a Sony Picturebook or U3 instead. Also, you get a 3 year warranty standard with the Panasonic, which really inspires some confidence, as does their success with the Toughbook line. The Fujitsu is a little harder decision to make, and it mostly came down to screen size and poor mouse button placement on the Fujitsu.
Also, I’d like to hilight a couple of the coolest features of the W2:
1. Its silent – ahh, the joys of a silent computer. Some people like background white noise, but I don’t, and you can always use a desktop for noise generation.
2. VGA out – No dongles like for the TR1. Its so useful if you give presentations or like to use an external monitor.
3. Full size keyboard – 19mm keypitch – don’t settle for anything less if you plan to use it to do anything keyboard intensive (eg. code, write papers).
4. Battery life – I average about 6 hours of battery life so far, with light to moderate CD usage and the wireless radio on. I got 7.5 once with no CD usage and the wireless off, so those who don’t use the wireless or CD should be able to expect at least 7 hours or so.
5. Price – I paid just over $2050 US for my W2 including shipping, not the $2399 crap that the review says. Its cheaper than the TR1 (with XP Pro) and is so much nicer, with longer warranty to boot.
Geoff Evans
gde GIRAFFE stanford.edu REPLACE LONGNECK ANIMAL WITH @
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Microsoft Tax
By: Mark Fassler
October 18, 2003 @ 11:17 PM
To buy this laptop, you have to pay a Microsoft Tax.
Right now, I am definitely in the market for a small Laptop to run Linux. But not this one.
I’m not going to pay money for an OS I will never use.
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Doesn't run linux
By: gbdb
October 18, 2003 @ 7:54 PM
componenets ahven’t been tested for best performance and full support of features under linux (power saving, sleep mode, video/audio ddvd etc.)
Linux should be supported
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Performance
By: James
October 16, 2003 @ 10:04 AM
Well the 256MB of memory really hurt the laptops performance quite a bit if you ask me. This laptop may look cool, but if its slow inthe field, it won’t last. And a larger screen does not mean its better, look how the light bleeds!?
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Memory
By: Luke
October 16, 2003 @ 9:28 AM
James! I think that 512 mb is quite enough for that kind of use, the W2 is planned to be used, and the casing is really made of magnesium. Trust me.
Sony TR1 has more weight, casing is made of plastic and screen is smaller.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Only 256MB??
By: James
October 10, 2003 @ 11:27 PM
What sucks about this laptop is that it only comes with 256MB of memory and is only upgradeable to 512MB. Get a Sony TR1A instead. And there is no way it is Magnesium with a weight of 2.4Lbs.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Greates little notebook on market..
By: Luke
October 7, 2003 @ 1:15 PM
The casing is made of magnesium, NOT Plastic, like review told. I think that W2 is almost perfect little notebook, only port-replicator and optional integrated WAN connections are missing parts of this toughbook.
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