Panasonic ToughBook CF19 Reviewed

FULL REVIEW

Panasonic I think is the only maker of PC's who just don’t indulge into making fancy looking PC's with garish colors and slim and sleek style. They like to believe in toughness. And that is why they make Toughbook. Unimaginative name for a PC for sure. Mac book, Inspirons, and VIOS are such cool names. So why would you name a Tabet PC a toughbook? So I called up Panasonic guys and asked them the same question and they said why don’t you try it yourself. And they sent me the latest Toughbook from the house of Panasonic the CF19 tablet PC.  

Design

Panasonic Toughbook CF19 is a tank of a tablet PC and weighs maybe more than a 10 pound dumbbell in your gym. It feels bulletproof and has no moving parts that I found apart from the swiveling 10 inch display upfront. The casing is made up of a Magnesium alloy which Panasonic says is used for making space ships. Well it sure feels sturdy and looks like can even handle a kitchen sink if you wish to throw on it.

Specifications

Toughbook CF19 is a tablet PC with a convertible notebook to tablet design. The CF 19 is powered by an Intel core i5 processor and runs Windows 7 Professional edition.  The screen is a 10.1 inch sunlight viewable LCD and the keyboard has a rubberish feel to it. There is also a smartpen cum stylus if you wish to use it as a tablet. And you have regular ethernet ports, USB ports the works. It also boasts of mobile broadband ready design with a SIM card slot at the back so in true sense you have portability on the go. What really impressed me was that it also has a Firewire port in it which being from a television background impressed me a lot but obviously if you wish to do hard core video editing its not the right screen size or even the processor of a tablet PC for you to buy. But for digitizing tapes its sure worth a try from Panasonic there.

Performance

Now Panasonic says that the Toughbook CF 19 is a PC for people who work in extreme weather conditions. I certainly don’t work in extreme weather conditions but we liked to test its toughness. I dipped the notebook while it was still running in a huge Ice Bucket for an hour and it for sure was able to withstand cold climate, We also poured a lot of Soda on the PC and it was still in running condition. I so wanted to do it with a gadget I didn’t like and I threw the tablet PC here and there just for fun, jumped on it but the CF 19 was scratch less and the screen did not even have a single crack on it. And on national television we also showed you how I ran a car over the toughbook and it was still in a perfect working condition as if nothing had happened ( Check out the Video Review: http://technoholik.com/technoholikonetnow/technoholik-panasonic-cf19-toughbook-reviewed/2631). The i5 processor on the CF 19 works brilliantly and there were no lags as such while multitasking on this toughbook. Though the touchscreen is a little laggy at times but I am sure once windows 8 comes in and that running on a toughbook like this one would sure be a butter smooth touchscreen experience. The battery life on the CF 19 is also go as under heavy usage I was able to churn out about 8 hours of working on the CF 19.

Usability

The toughbook CF 19 is definitely not meant for regular people for you and me, it’s a Pc for people who are adventurous and on the go. For its usability and sturdiness I am sure Indian Army posted in siachen would definitely find this PC to be of much use even if you consider the amount of connectivity options it has. After using the toughbook for a month I really didn’t find much fault with the tablet PC maybe because I was just Awed by the toughness it has to offer. But as a good reviewer the only fault I found was that the only thing wrong with the CF 19 is the touchscreen experience.

Verdict

Panasonic Toughbook CF 19 is definitely a tough nut to crack. And I don’t have any doubt that the name toughbook is there for a reason. It is capable of doing everything that a tablet PC does. And does is pretty well. What I don’t like about the Panasonic Toughbook CF19 is the weight but who says tanks are lightweight? Over all I really like the Toughbook CF 19, it truly stands out its name and functions brilliantly as a computing device. But for a price tag of Rs 2,64,000 you should give a second though while buying this just for its toughness.