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Panasonic Toughbook CF-F8 - Tough Love

By Aloysius Low & Andy Sim - 17 Nov 2008

Tough Workout

Tough Workout

Departing from the usual silver shell that the Toughbook series is known for, the CF-F8 shows off a new black exterior made of magnesium alloy that allows it to withstand a force of up to 100kg or more. Strangely though, despite the magnesium alloy casing, the notebook felt like a giant plastic toy, though we did get used to it after a while. The hard disk too comes with shock protection and Panasonic says that the unit can be dropped from a height of around 76cm without getting damaged. We did test this out and found the unit to be working fine - even while it's turned on!

The other interesting feature about the CF-F8 is of course the pullout handle that the unit comes with. It was not only comfortable to hold for long periods of time, the handle also stood up to some of our quick "stress" tests where we swung the notebook around just holding the handle or when we opened and closed the handle continuously for quite a bit of time.

Strangely enough, the latter test is actually quite addictive and we found ourselves opening and closing the handle unconsciously after our tests. If you thought bubble wrap was awesome - well, you haven't met the CF-F8's handle. However, something that quite irked us was that we couldn't just easily open the cover unless we pulled out the handle first. Minor irritant, yes, but not really one that we'll kick up a big fuss over.

The first thing you'll note about the CF-F8 is the inclusion of this handle, which is really comfortable to hold and very, very handy.

The only problem with this handle however, is that in order to access the latch that opens the notebook, you will have to pull the handle out. Not really a big deal, but it may be annoying to some.

So once the Toughbook's opened, you'll find a very nice 14.1-inch screen with plenty of space for the palm rest and a circular touchpad.

Audio quality isn't something the unit is good at, and while the speakers can be quite loud at full volume, clarity isn't something the unit is good at, but chances are you won't need the speakers much. Keyboard layout could have been better - the right shift isn't ideally placed like the CF-T7/8 models, but then again, we felt quite comfortable typing on the unit so no worries on that score. Like all business-rugged Toughbooks, the CF-F8 keyboard has a waterproof keyboard (up to 200ml) for those with a penchant for placing their electronic devices near liquids (and knocking them over, of course).

The optical drive is front loaded and can only be used when the notebook boots fully into the OS. That means you can't open the drive while the CF-F8 is booting.

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