Thinkpads Forum

This review is in japanese, just enter this url in google and choose "translate" in the search result:

http://www.the-hikaku.com/pc/lenovo/Thi ... sNote.html

It is with videos and detailled informations (weight of units and power adapters, battery hours, display comparision photos etc.).

hi Ssd:
here is an ENGLISH review for N10
http://laptopreviewshop.com/panasonic-n ... specs.html

Cheers

ausmike wrote:here is an ENGLISH review for N10
http://laptopreviewshop.com/panasonic-n ... specs.html

This is interesting, this is the new premium n10! But it is more short, this is the whole article

Do you want to own a premium laptop with a premium name and specs at a premium price. Well Panasonic has listened and now we get to see their latest creation: the N10 Premium Edition.

The Panasonic N10 Premium Edition isn’t a big laptop, just a 12.1-inch which has 1280×800 resolution. The resolution isn’t that premium if you ask us but the rest of specs look really good. The N10 Premium Edition packs the dual-core Intel Sandy Bridge i7-2620M clocked at 2.7 GHz. A total of 8GB of RAM can be added while storage is entirely SSD: 256GB.

The N10 Premium Edition also has a wide range of connectivity specs: WiMax, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, HDMI, SDHC card slot and the usual USB 2.0 It’ll also come in a variety of colors and will deliver up to 14.5 hours of battery life. That incredible work time comes from a Lithium-ion 7.2V 12.8Ah battery.

Considering the specs we don’t mind the Panasonic’s N10 Premium Edition $4,817.40 price tag.

The article I mentioned is multi-page and the reviewer actually did measure everything on his own and took pictures of the devices. It is definitely interesting. I wonder why the x220 is so heavy.

.....I wonder why the x220 is so heavy.
.

I think the VIDEO says it all <even tough that Japanese guy never says a word in it>
TRY DOING THAT SAME THING to any other machine ...... even the so called "toughbook"...

Cheers

Panasonics are officiably droppable from 76 cm. Thinkpads are not. Panasonic even encourages their reviewers to drop their computers when turned on.

Thinkpads are far better to repair, and the prices for mechanical elements from lenovo are very low.

Without having looked at the s10, Panasonic sell into a different market in my mind. They made their name with rugged notebooks, but usability often suffers. We have sold CF-18s in our business and the keyboards on those ones are horrendous. A smaller key size, squashed up in both dimensions, and rearranged cursor keys, an unnecessary compromise considering the size of the machine. There are netbooks that have better keyboards.

The built-in, proprietary optical drives in many Panasonics are also a serious drawback for me. Optical drives tend to break before the rest of the machine. With any notebook that uses a modular or even non-modular, but standard, drive, this is not a problem. With the Panasonics, if out of warranty, you'll likely end up carrying dead weight and an external drive. That said, I'll concede that optical drives are becoming less and less important these days.

Finally I must admit, I am prejudiced due to a solitary experience with my Panasonic CF-62 many years ago. This was before they invented the term Toughbook, but already had the solid mag-alloy lid. The machine was in shambles after 3 years. Every mechanical part beside that rigid lid turned out to be sub-par. The optical drive broke. The power socket broke. The keyboard fell apart. The plastic around the screen on the inside cracked in multiple places. I did not abuse the machine. I am writing this on an 8-year old Thinkpad T30, which has none of those problems.

I have some Panasonic A/V components and I think they're great, but remain sceptical of their PC division. Laptops don't need to be dropped. I've never dropped mine. Some Panasonics have weather sealing, but unless you're in specific outdoor work environments you don't need that either. On the other hand laptops have to withstand the rigors of daily use. The keyboards have to stay intact and so does the power socket. I wouldn't be surprised if Thinkpads and Apple Macs for that matter (thinking about the mag-safe adapter) aren't still much better in that regard.

FragrantHead wrote:Finally I must admit, I am prejudiced due to a solitary experience with my Panasonic CF-62 many years ago.....I am writing this on an 8-year old Thinkpad T30, which has none of those problems.

I have no doubt that just like the Thinkpads, there are good Toughbooks and not-so-good ones. I have owned only two Toughbooks so far. Even though both of them were Y-Series, my current CF-Y5 is significantly more solid than the CF-Y4 I had. So, I think it's better to evaluate specific models rather than generalize. However, as mentioned by you and ssd_thinkpad, one thing is indeed generally true for Toughbooks: it's hard to repair individual components. That's why I would never shell out several thousand dollars for a brand-new Toughbook. I bought my CF-Y5 used for $200 shipped and if its optical drive dies, it's a small loss.

Macs are mostly dead when you put water on their keyboard. This is what I read in the macbook forums. Panasonic improved their keyboard in the two last seasons but I don't know how they compare to other notebook keyboards. The S10/N10 keyboards do not have 100% height because the S10 has to have a place for a top dvd and the N10 is the S10 without optical. The 15.6 inch B10 keyboard is full size. Obviously thinkpad keyboards play in another league.

Panasonic puts optical drives in their notebooks as they developed them actually and it is possible they are even a license holder for dvds. I would only use a panasonic without optical, either a N10 or a B10 with the optical drive removed. Who needs an optical drive on the road today.

When looking at the money, Thinkpads are more ruggedized than Panasonics Business Rugged Models as you can first buy two thinkpads for the price of one panasonic, and second the repair is so much cheaper - if it is available for the panasonic at all.

I am looking at the weight and this is where panasonics shine.

I thought the current ThinkPad lineup was droppable from 1.6m?

Colonel O'Neill wrote:I thought the current ThinkPad lineup was droppable from 1.6m?

They certainly do not claim it (as it is with water-resistant keyboard: lenovo does much to reduce the risk of burning your laptop by a tea with sugar, but if it didn't help and laptop ended being burned, lenovo won't repair it for free).

All business rugged panasonic notebooks can be dropped from 76 cm with the exception of the "naked" J10 and the B10, they are droppable from 30 cm. I doubt panasonic repairs a dropped notebook anyway.

ssd_thinkpad wrote:All business rugged panasonic notebooks can be dropped from 76 cm with the exception of the "naked" J10 and the B10, they are droppable from 30 cm. I doubt panasonic repairs a dropped notebook anyway.

Panasonic officially claims they are droppable, so they should take all the responsibility for their words.

This is true and it is the law. In the review I posted first (I think it is this review) the reviewer says that his optical drive was damaged from his dropping tests.

I wonder if it is possible to upgrade the led N10 display panel with a AFFS panel.

ssd_thinkpad wrote:This is true and it is the law. In the review I posted first (I think it is this review) the reviewer says that his optical drive was damaged from his dropping tests.

I wonder if it is possible to upgrade the led N10 display panel with a AFFS panel.

BOE Hydis used to supply 12" WSXGA AFFS panels to Lenovo. Should be able to fine one on ebay or LCD vendors. Not known is whether the connector for the AFFS is compatible with that for Panasonic.