By Rory Reid, CNET.co.uk
25/02/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/notebooks/0,39050488,42270293p,00.htm

Most people will tell you that Panasonic's ToughBook laptops are aimed at construction workers. But believe it or not, there are some ToughBooks that are aimed at people without hard hats, high-visibility jackets and tight blue jeans.

One of these is the ToughBook CF-W7. Available for S$3,699, the CF-W7 is intended for businessmen, so-called road warriors and the pathologically butter-fingered. Its sturdy chassis helps it survive falls, spills and the sort of day-to-day abuse that would render other laptops inoperable.

Editors' note : This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com.uk. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.

Design

The ToughBook CF-W7 tips the scales at a Kylie-esque 1.2kg. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near as attractive as the Antipodean princess of pop--the bulbous lid gives us the impression that it's the evil offspring of a Hummer H2 and a T100-series Terminator.

The lid has a purpose, though. It lets the CF-W7 withstand considerable crushing forces--up to 100kg, in fact. If you're the type of person who's prone to accidentally stepping on your laptop--and you don't weigh more than the average darts player--then this machine is going to be right up your street.

Open the lid and you'll find a comfortable QWERTY keyboard, which is spill-resistant. We tested it by pouring an entire mug of water over it, and the rubber membrane beneath protected the laptop's internal components from damage. We were disappointed it didn't erupt in a flurry of sparks and smoke, but then it wouldn't be a ToughBook now, would it?

Below the keyboard is an odd-looking, circular mouse trackpad. It's far smaller than one you'd get on regular laptops, so expect to use more finger strokes than you might use on laptops with larger trackpad surfaces. The DVD rewriter drive sits to the right of the mouse, and is a rather bizarre flip-up model that is reminiscent of a car bonnet. Why have this design? We're not sure. It does look pretty cool, though.

Features

The ToughBook CF-W7 isn't packing any mean hardware. The Intel Core 2 Duo U7500 CPU is of the ultra-low voltage, so its clock speed of 1.06GHz is modest, to say the least. The accompanying RAM is only 1GB as standard, but you can and probably should increase this to the maximum permissable 2GB.

You can forget about games, too. The Intel GM965 graphics controller is really intended only for showing off Powerpoint slides, DVD movies and general day-to-day desktop applications. On a positive note, the 12.1-inch screen isn't reflective so you can actually use it in direct sunlight--great news for the outdoor types.

You don't get much in the way of storage for your money. The CF-W7 comes with an 80GB hard drive and a standard DVD rewriter drive. That's likely to run out sooner rather than later if you're a movie hoarder, but on the plus side, the drive is shock-resistant so it can withstand a fair pounding. Panasonic says the laptop is drop-resistant to a height of 76cm. We were only too happy to test this theory--and you'll be pleased to hear the laptop survived.

Panasonic has kindly supplied three USB ports--three times as many as you'll find in a MacBook Air--so you can always attach external storage to create backups. There's also the option to back up files over a network using the integrated 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi adapter. A 56K modem is included, as is a standard 10/100 Ethernet port.

Unfortunately, the ports on the CF-W7 aren't shielded. They're wide open to foreign particles such as sand and dirt, which isn't great news for anyone that works in the desert or other such environments.

On the software front, Panasonic ships the CF-W7 with either Windows Vista or Windows XP. You also get a copy of WinDVD for playing movies and a couple of programs to help you manage the hardware and create software backups. Users should note: No productivity software is installed as standard--you'll have to buy your own or download a copy of OpenOffice.

Performance And Battery Life

The CF-W7 is as slow as Monday morning rush hour traffic. Its low-end CPU and questionable RAM quantity helped it stutter to an underwhelming PCMark05 total of 908. 3DMark06 returned a score of 112, which is more indicative of an asthmatic than a laptop.

The upshot of such low processing power is long battery life. The CF-W7 kept chugging away for 308 minutes in our BatteryEater test, which is over 5 hours. With very restrained usage and minimum screen brightness, we estimate this laptop could last a couple of hours more.

We can only really recommend the CF-W7 to people who are clumsy or whose jobs require they enter building sites. It's certainly sturdy--we'll give it that--but it does have weaknesses, one of which is its price.

Service And Support

Panasonic ToughBooks come with a three-year local warranty with hotline telephone support for basic troubleshooting. In the event that extensive diagnostics or repairs are required, the unit has to be brought to the local service center. The Japanese company's Web site archives drivers and user manuals for download, while an FAQ section answers most common queries. Overall, this level of support is average for consumer portables, but for business notebooks some other brands offer more comprehensive coverage like international warranty and online diagnostic tools.