Panasonic CF-35

When it comes to notebooks, Panasonic seems like a company intent on being different. The CF-62 (reviewed issue 26, p175) was a unique high-spec package with a PD drive. The CF-25 (reviewed issue 28, p156) was designed as an all-weather notebook, coated in magnesium alloy for high durability. Now the company has turned to the ultra-portable market with the CF-35.

Weighing only slightly more than Toshiba's PortÚgÚ 300CT (see p158) at 2.2kg, the CF-35 still feels light and easy to carry. At the same time it's managed to retain the tough feel of the CF-25 because it's coated in the same magnesium alloy - apparently 20 times stronger than normal notebook plastics. It also has tough mouldings in all the right places, and the screen feels resistant to the usual bashing notebooks receive. Unlike the PortÚgÚ, the CF-35 hasn't been neutered to make it lighter and smaller. A floppy drive is built in, which can be swapped for an optional ten-speed CD-ROM drive (£199), and a cable is available to attach the floppy drive externally for £49. At the rear, all the usual ports are present, including parallel, serial, VGA, USB, infrared and PS/2 for your mouse or keyboard. The infrared is the slower 115Kbits/sec speed standard, but this is a good range of ports for the machines' size.

The rest of the Panasonic's exterior has everything you'd expect. Beside the removable floppy on the left-hand side, the lithium ion battery slides out from behind a panel, and on the corner there's a security loop. On the right-hand side, the power switch sits next to a discreet ventilation hole, and the two PC Card slots are next door, which hold the usual two Type II or one Type III combination. The lower slot is Zoomed Video-compatible.

The Panasonic's human interface is via a reasonably-sized keyboard, and an under-sized trackpad. Having a trackpad that's slightly smaller than normal wouldn't be a problem if it was responsive, but it isn't. The trackpad was annoying to use, frequently failing to respond when I attempted to double-tap it. It's a shame, because I liked the keyboard - it had the light feel of the average Toshiba, with keytops that were slightly tighter, and a layout that suited me fine.

The screen is a 12.1in TFT model, which was a tad on the dark side, even when at it's maximum brightness level. It also had a tendency to 'white out' in sunlight and couldn't be seen well at extreme angles, so I was slightly disappointed overall.

A screen that doesn't sap power helps your battery life performance; this and the low-voltage Pentium mean the CF-35 lasts. I got three and a half hours of work from it, with plenty of restarts, suspends and typing.

Under the new PC Pro benchmarks, the CF-35 performed below par: it's slower than the PortÚgÚ 300 (see p158) but faster than the ThinkPad 380 (see p159), so Toshiba's reputation for high-speed notebooks remains intact. The CF-35 is a reasonable mobile, but it's not king of the hill: the screen is below par; performance could be better; and the trackpad is substandard. It can't compete with Toshiba on price, either.

Author: Stephen Reid