Panasonic Toughbook CF-52

Notebook Specifications

Reviews for thePanasonic Toughbook CF-52

80%Panasonic Toughbook 52
Source: Laptop Mag (English)
This well-equipped Toughbook can handle its share of abuse and is a solid performer for the price.
There's a lot to like about the Panasonic Toughbook 52 ($3,093). A stunning widescreen display, better-than-average graphics, and a generous array of ports make this an excellent choice for those requiring a durable road-ready notebook. At 7.4 pounds, the system is a bit on the heavy side, but a sturdy built-in briefcase-style handle makes the Toughbook 52 easy to carry. The 15.4-inch widescreen display is a thing of beauty, delivering crisp, high-resolution (1920 x 1200) images with excellent viewing angles. There was some loss of color definition when we viewed the screen in direct sunlight, but it was still readable.
4 von 5, Display gut, Leistung gut, Mobilität mangelhaft
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 12/10/2007
Rating: Total score: 80% features: 80% display: 80% mobility: 50%

80%Panasonic Toughbook CF-52
Source: PC Mag (English)
With its Toughbook line, Panasonic has a long-standing tradition of supplying its customers with tough-as-nails laptops and a military approach to design, which may be viewed by many as too conservative. The company hopes to inject more consumer appeal without sacrificing the semi-rugged look with the Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 ($3,300 street). For one, it has moved to a widescreen format. It also comes with the latest processors from Intel and discrete graphics from ATI, whereas previous Toughbooks used slightly older technology than their competitors. Sure, the price tag on my test systems is intimidating, but if you can do without all the costly options, the CF-52 can be a huge asset in harsh environments.
There aren't many laptops that have an attached briefcase handle, let alone a comfortable one like that of the CF-52. In order for Panasonic to accomplish this, the framework and exterior molding have to be very durable.
4 von 5, Preis/Leistung mangelhaft, Mobilität herausragend
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/16/2007
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 50% mobility: 95%

71%Panasonic Toughbook CF-52
Source: CNet (English)
Ruggedized laptops have a lot in common with the Hummer business model. They started out as strictly utilitarian machines built for heavy industrial use, but over time, the general public became enamored with the tough-as-nails design, and more consumer-friendly versions of these products made their way into the marketplace. Panasonic's CF-52 is a prime example of that crossover. While it has the bulky militarized look of a truly rugged laptop, it is, in fact, what one would call a semirugged system--offering somewhat increased protection at a more reasonable price and weight. But don't take that as a knock against the CF-52. Truly rugged systems are incredibly heavy and expensive, and suitable only for the most extreme situations. Most users who want extra protection for outdoor or light industrial use need a semirugged system such as this one, which offers the latest Intel Santa Rosa chipset, plus a spill-resistant keyboard and a heavily shielded body.
(von 10): 7.1, Leistung 6, Mobilität 7, Ausstattung 8
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/28/2007
Rating: Total score: 71% performance: 60% features: 80% mobility: 70%

Foreign Reviews

83%Test: Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 (Notebook)
Source: Chip.de (German)
online available, Short, Date: 11/21/2007
Rating: Total score: 83% performance: 76% features: 70% display: 68% mobility: 100% workmanship: 80% ergonomy: 91%

Semi-Ruggedized Notebooks
Source: c't - 22/07 (German)
, Long, Date: 11/01/2007
Rating: performance: 70% display: 90% mobility: 90% workmanship: 90% ergonomy: 70% emissions: 70%

Der goldene Mittelweg?
Source: Notebook / Organizer / Handy - 11-12/07 (German)
, Length Unknown, Date: 10/10/2007
Rating: price: 80% performance: 80%

Comment

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100 is an integrated (onboard) graphic chip on a Mobile Intel 965GM chipset. It is the successor of GMA 950 and features a fully programmable pipeline (supports Aero Glass fully and DirectX 10 with newest drivers). The peformance of the X3100 is clearly better than the GMA 950, still demanding modern games won't run fluently.

Only older games can be played fluently with these graphics chips (if they were not too demanding). Shared memory graphic cores in this category got the advantage of less heat production and longer battery runtimes. For office, internet, image processing, and video editing tasks these graphics chips are still useable without any restrictions.

Intel Core 2 Duo: This is the Core Duo and Core Solo successor with a longer pipeline and 5-20% more speed without more power consumption. As an addition to the Core Duo design there exists a fourth decoder, an amplified SSE-unit and an additional arithmetical logical unit (ALU).

The Core 2 Duo for laptops is identical to the desktop Core 2 Duo processors but the notebook-processors work with lower voltages (0.95 to 1188 Volt) and a lower Frontside bus clock (1066 vs 667 MHz). The performance of equally clocked notebooks is 20-25% lower than Desktop PCs because of the lower Frontside bus clock and the slower hard disks.

T7100:
>> Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

15.4": 15 inch display-variants are the standard and are used for more than the half of all notebooks.  15.4 inch display with 16:10 are the standard for notebook displays.
The reason why so many people like displays with medium size is, that this size is not exhausting for the eyes, does not need too much current and the laptops can be kept quite compact.
>> To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

3.3 kg: This weight is average for notebooks. Therefore the numerous mass of laptops with 15 inch display fits in this class of weight.

Panasonic: Panasonic is an international notebook manufacturer, but with rather small market shares and few laptop reviews. Panasonic concentrates its notebook sortiment to the niche of ruggedized notebooks, which are made for rough outdoor usage. The ratings are slightly above average.

78.5%: This rating is not convincing. It must be considered, that there exist hardly any laptops, which receive a rating below 60%. This notebook is evaluated below average, this is not really a recommendation for purchase.

>> Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.