POJ Panasonic CF-51 is dead. Only lasted 17 years....RIP Laptop suggestions?

[Santilli]

So, it finally died. Keyboard is gone, hard drive, though replaceable, is clicking, and starts sometimes.

GPU is too slow to play Xfinity streaming service, etc.

Not worth fixing, or trying to upgrade.

So:
Been looking at Panasonics, but, they are again almost all 1000 dollars for what I'm after.

Been looking at used Thinkpads, Carbon X1, 420, 520, etc. Price seems around right, 300-400.

Anyone have a link or idea about what laptops were produced when, and the quality?


Currently typing this at Starbucks, on a Acer 1080 15.6"Chromebook, that for 300, isn't bad.
Will play streaming video, most of the time.

Any idea minimum speed mbps to play streaming video?

Ideal would be SSD, Nvidia 1050 or better, big screen Toughbook, or Thinkpad.

How long is Windows 7 going to be supported?
Tried a Asus with 10, and it drove me nuts.

Happy Holidays

gs

 

[Stereodude]

Why are you looking at used anythings? Dell XPS 13 with Coffee Lake is what I'd be looking at. That, or the current model of the HP Elitebook 840 G1 that I have, which is the G4.

 

[Chewy509]

I'm guessing budget... Agree the XPS 13's are nice machines, as well as the 840's. I would go the 840 over the XPS13 mainly due to screen size.

 

[Stereodude]

The Lenovo T470s isn't bad either. I have one for my work machine.

FWIW, Windows 10 is fine after you install Classic Shell and Spybot Anti-Beacon.

BTW, there isn't a big performance difference between the last 5 years or so of mobile processors, but battery life has made noticeable strides. If you really are targeting a used or several generation old system I'd at least get Haswell hardware.

 

[DrunkenBastard]

Our desktop support has started seeing some 460s with battery issues, given they have two built in non removables I wouldnt recommend if you plan on using one for a lot of battery cycles. I still love my 460s tho for the lightness/form factor, but its usually plugged into AC.

Santilli, I can stream Amazon/Netflix on 3G wireless so 600 kilobit per sec.

 

[Santilli]

Thanks

Our desktop support has started seeing some 460s with battery issues, given they have two built in non removables I wouldnt recommend if you plan on using one for a lot of battery cycles. I still love my 460s tho for the lightness/form factor, but its usually plugged into AC.

Santilli, I can stream Amazon/Netflix on 3G wireless so 600 kilobit per sec.

B thanks the XPS screen at 13in is too small for these old eyes.Lenovo looks good features except for no optical drive and pricing to be right about right.

 

[Santilli]

Which current laptops offer the new NVME SSD interface?
Lenovo Y 920 for one...

 

[Stereodude]

Several of the models suggested already in the thread do, but if you can't be bothered to do any research why should we spoon feed you?

 

[Santilli]

Has anyone run speed test on the SSD pcie nvme hard drives on any of the laptops?

 

[Chewy509]

Has anyone run speed test on the SSD pcie nvme hard drives on any of the laptops?

Yes, but since there is no guarantee what you actually get (exact model/firmware) in each laptop (they only provide based on size/capacity), IMHO it's fairly meaningless giving out scores... Most range from 3.5GB/s down to 1GB/s depending on the device, chipset, CPU and OS combination. (Not to forget, things like bitlocker/filevault/truecrypt will affect the performance as well).

At work we have a few Samsung 960 Pros, and will get 3.5GB/s (reading zeroed/trimmed sectors), and about 2.5GB/s-3.0GB/s on actual data filled sectors.

One of our Dell XPS 13's regularly gives ~2-2.5GB/s on read tests, can't tell you the device though (have to wait 2 weeks until I'm back in the office).

 

[Santilli]

That much data moving does the GPU become the bottleneck?
There doesn't seem to be a standard way of stating what the interface is. there's a bunch of them that have pcie listed as the interface and others are pcie nvme.
Others just listed as SSD with no interface listed.

 

[LunarMist]

I found virtually no difference between the regular M.2 PCIe vs. the NVMe versions in desktops. They both had about the same speeds and the differences are not even that great over SATA SSDs in most applications.
I know that Greg is a placebo effect type of guy, so it may offer more benefits to him than most. Anything will be light years ahead of the ancient machine used previously.
I'd opt for a true quad core CPU and a real video card first.

 

[Handruin]

That much data moving does the GPU become the bottleneck?
There doesn't seem to be a standard way of stating what the interface is. there's a bunch of them that have pcie listed as the interface and others are pcie nvme.
Others just listed as SSD with no interface listed.

No, that has little to do with the GPU.
Stating pcie would be short-hand for pcie nvme.

 

[sechs]

NVMe is a host controller interface specification, like AHCI. It can be used on PCIe, SATA Express, U.2, and M.2 devices.

 

[Santilli]

Currently using this:
Acer - 15.6" Touch-Screen Chromebook - Intel Pentium - 4GB Memory - 32GB EMMC Flash Memory - Pure Silver

I like the price, 299. the screen, it's fast, and I'm slowly but surely turning control of my life, and my typing over to Google.
Plays Xfinity video, pretty much does everything I want it to do, at this limited point.

Learning how to use google drive, google.docs, etc.

Trackpad is a pain. Touch it wrong, deletes typed text, and no recovery.


Acer - 15.6" Touch-Screen Chromebook - Intel Pentium - 4GB Memory - 32GB EMMC Flash Memory - Pure Silver

 

[Santilli]

Learning a Chromebook. Good stuff.
Learned to disable the pad while typing with keystrokes. Learning more and more as I go....

Pretty amazing how fast this the Chromebook is with a SSD and an anemic processor.

 

[LunarMist]

Does it have an SSD or embedded SD card?

 

[Stereodude]

eMMC isn't really an embedded SD card (not sure if it uses eMMC).

 

[LunarMist]

eMMC isn't really an embedded SD card (not sure if it uses eMMC).

I think it is this one. CB515-1HT-P39B

 

[Santilli]

Yes. Says SSD, not very well described in any documentation I've found...

 

[Santilli]

https://www.cnet.com/products/acer-chromebook-15/2/
M2 SSD

 

[LunarMist]

https://www.cnet.com/products/acer-chromebook-15/2/
M2 SSD

So it has an x86 CPU, but doesn't have Windows 10?

 

[Chewy509]

So it has an x86 CPU, but doesn't have Windows 10?

It's a Chromebook, so comes with ChromeOS...

 

[LunarMist]

It's like those old Netbooks, but designed for the Google to control everything.

 

[Santilli]

Apparently uses a small form factor M2,with no active cooling.
Tried to find an upgrade, but for the model I have, no joy.
Resigned to staying with 32 gig, with the OS and stuff taking about half.
Additional storage is on a 64 gig card, that I don't ever use, so I'm putting that back in my phone, so I can put flac stuff on it, and play through the my Moto X4.

So far, hassles as trying to read, or work on PDF files.
On Windows 7 stuff, I have Acrobat Pro, but no equal on chrome I've found yet, nor have I put much effort into it.

After a lot of complaining, Xfinity's app now plays on Chrome books.

The more expensive Chromebooks run higher power cpus to run more extensive windows then I use.
It works fine for playing video, something the CF-51did not do.

 

[Santilli]

This is the model I ended up with, after going through 5 of them. Two USB C ports to charge through, not a POJ proprietary tiny bayonet, into a flimsy housing.

https://www.cnet.com/products/acer-chromebook-15-2017/review/

 

[DrunkenBastard]

Greg, if you are still looking for a real Toughbook replacement Dell just announced three in the Latitude line, the big boy is surprisingly affordable when compared to a Toughbook.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/1350...ude-laptops-8th-gen-core-dgpu-1000nit-display

 

[Santilli]

Thanks for the heads up.Looking for a larger screen, 17.3" , 1080p.
Mainly used to stream video from Xfinity X1 DVR.
Oddly, the laptop works, but the desktop doesn't on the wifi hotspot near this house.

Might be the wifi capability on the desktop, or Xfinity might have blocked the desktop.

 

[Santilli]

Have a lengthy typing project coming up.

What Windows laptops have the best keyboards for typing right now?
Anything backlit, with Cherry or click type keyboard?
Haven't found anything like that...

 

[Chewy509]

Unfortunately, I don't think you will (easily), especially with the heavy push for thinner/lighter laptops.

If you want something with mechanical keys, then an external keyboard is your best bet. (There are quite a few 68key keyboards out there and even a few 49key ones).

Actually, just found the MSI GT80 Titan and the Lenovo Y900 (unfortunately just discontinued) come with low-profile mechanical keys. (Both are gaming orientated laptops, so forget thin/light). Cherry last year did announce low-profile MX switches, but have yet to see them in anything.

 

[LunarMist]

Have a lengthy typing project coming up.

What Windows laptops have the best keyboards for typing right now?
Anything backlit, with Cherry or click type keyboard?
Haven't found anything like that...

Is there some reason you must type in the field, e.g., foreign country, instead of using a more efficient and ergonomic workstation at home or office? I would bring along a quality, full-sized keyboard if I had to do a lot of typing in the field.

 

[Stereodude]

Is there some reason you must type in the field, e.g., foreign country, instead of using a more efficient and ergonomic workstation at home or office? I would bring along a quality, full-sized keyboard if I had to do a lot of typing in the field.

He's after the unobtainable. Haven't you figured that out yet?

 

[LunarMist]

He's after the unobtainable. Haven't you figured that out yet?

But why? It's all very strange.

 

[Stereodude]

But why? It's all very strange.

I'm not sure you have much room to ask "why". You often have equally baffling demands and requirements.

 

[LunarMist]

My laptop requirements are for minimal weight due to the international airline and charter prop plane air limits and also high storage capacity is needed for RAW files. That should not be baffling.

 

[Stereodude]

My laptop requirements are for minimal weight due to the international airline and charter prop plane air limits and also high storage capacity is needed for RAW files. That should not be baffling.

I didn't necessarily mean for a laptop. I recall you having some odd requirements for camera gear.

 

[Santilli]

Yes, it's s 3 day exam, where the exam company takes control of the devices, for three days, 24/7, hundreds of miles from home and work.

Don't know the exact specs right now for what they allow, what software they run, etc.

My criteria is pretty much a workstation that I can take home afterwards, that is bulletproof, and I suspect the best solution is an attached keyboard, but now sure if they allow it, yet.
Had a few other more pressing issues right now.

I'm not sure how data is transfered for scoring. Suspect it might require wifi.

 

[LunarMist]

Yes, it's s 3 day exam, where the exam company takes control of the devices, for three days, 24/7, hundreds of miles from home and work.

Don't know the exact specs right now for what they allow, what software they run, etc.

My criteria is pretty much a workstation that I can take home afterwards, that is bulletproof, and I suspect the best solution is an attached keyboard, but now sure if they allow it, yet.
Had a few other more pressing issues right now.

I'm not sure how data is transfered for scoring. Suspect it might require wifi.

I've taken some weird field tests (e.g., black room/blue room) years ago, but never had to bring my own equipment.

 

[Santilli]

Dell upgrade went better then expected.
Inspirion 1500 5000. 5400 drive, 90mb/s. Put in a Samsung EVO 960. 550mb/sec, Crystal Disk Mark. 57.00
Made the Dell current, despite Dell telling us not to upgrade it on the phone.

For once, they did not use a substandard chip on the bus, so we are getting the benefits of the drive.
Thought that was why they told us not to upgrade...

What really got me going was a new keyboard was 20.00. This one is backlit. The one on the computer is way cheaper, and,
it's on a 1000 dollar computer.

The cheap keyboards on these expensive Dells are really offensive...

GF loves it. Feels like a new computer. Hardwire 100mb/sec internet doesn't hurt, either.

 

[Santilli]

Inspiron 15 5000 5547