Panasonic ToughBook CF-W4 semi-rugged laptop reviewed

The CF-W4 is one of those notebooks that causes a bit of a stir when you take it out. Its svelte dimensions will definitely get admiring glances from your colleagues and once you open the optical drive, you'll probably find that you have a crowd around you. To be fair, the optical drive placement is nothing new, the CF-W2 that I looked at a couple of years back pioneered this, but it hasn't lost any of its impact. Basically the DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive is located under the right side of the palm rest - flicking a switch at the front of the machine causes the whole right side of the palm rest to flip open and reveal the drive. Another nice little trick is that flicking the switch the opposite way will actually power down the optical drive, thus saving you battery life if you're not using it. It's a little disappointing that this is a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive and not a DVD writer, but it depends on how important DVD writing on your notebook is to you.

Via TrustedReviews

Posted by Staff on 22 February 2006

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