Yamaha Home Theater
Entered CNET Catalog: 05/07/2004
SKU: 0092281837932
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Manufacturer description
Panasonic sleek new Toughbook Y2 is ultra-portable, super-slim and loaded with long-lasting power. Durable, compact and versatile, it boasts a full magnesium alloy case with a shock-mounted hard drive. Its executive styling and advanced features meet the high-powered demands of mobile professionals.Product summary
The good: Exceptional battery life; lightest in class; progressive design; unique optical drive location.
The bad: RAM is limited to 512MB; three-prong AC plug; no FireWire port; lacks writable DVD option.
The bottom line: The thinnest and lightest laptop in its class, the ToughBook Y2 is worth its high price, thanks to its solid performance and five hours of battery life.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: Yes
- Reviewed on: 09/09/2004
Forget everything you know about thin-and-light laptops because Panasonic just rewrote the rules with the new ToughBook Y2. This laptop not only undercuts the competition by more than a pound, it also offers good performance and major-league battery life, running for more than five hours per charge. With its 14.1-inch screen, Pentium M processor, and unique CD-RW/DVD drive integration, the ToughBook Y2 is a beautifully designed and well-built machine that hits all the right notes for business. Its entertainment capabilities leave a little to be desired, however; if you're more recreationally focused, check out the Sony VAIO VGN-A190. At $2,600 (as of September 2004), the ToughBook Y2 is definitely expensive, but its design and engineering make it worth the money.
Panasonic crams an awful lot into the ToughBook Y2's slim package. It tips the scales at just 3.3 pounds, making it the lightest laptop on the market to feature a 14.1-inch screen. Measuring 1.4 inches thick, 12.1 inches wide, and 9.4 inches deep, it's 2 pounds lighter than either the HP Compaq nx5000, and it's smaller than the Dell Latitude D600. Its 12-ounce AC adapter nudges the ToughBook Y2's travel weight to a mere 4 pounds, but the power pack's three-prong plug may be an inconvenience in older buildings with ungrounded outlets.
While it is a solid performer, the ToughBook Y2's components are mediocre. There's a 1.3GHz Pentium M processor, a 4,200rpm 40GB hard drive (which is a little on the small side for us), and just 256MB of 266MHz memory; the system's Intel Extreme2 graphics accelerator uses up to 64MB of precious system memory. Also unfortunate, the system tops out at 512MB of RAM, and there's no DVD burner option. The laptop's under-the-keyboard combo CD-RW/DVD drive, a guaranteed conversation starter in economy or business class, has a flimsy-feeling cover, and we worry about its durability.
But Panasonic's designers make up for the ToughBook Y2's middling components by showing great attention to detail, with features such as a case hinge that opens down and back--not up--making for a lower clearance than that of conventional systems; it'll come in handy when a giant sits in the airplane seat ahead of yours and reclines into your lap. The laptop's 14.1-inch XGA antiglare display looks pretty good, even in direct sunlight, but we noticed uneven backlighting on the sides of the panel.
The ToughBook Y2 has all of the basic business-minded connections you'll need, including a pair of USB 2.0 ports and plugs for an external monitor, audio, modem, and LAN; just about the only thing missing is a FireWire port. There's an Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 802.11b/g Wi-Fi radio, with a better-than-average range of 112 feet, and a Secure Digital slot for moving photos, digital music, or making backups, but there's no Bluetooth option. We like that the ToughBook Y2's LED battery gauge has five notches (the more info, the better), and we also appreciate the responsive and roomy keyboard, with 20mm keys. We're less excited by the puny spacebar and the round touch pad, both of which take some getting used to.
Despite its slow 1.3GHz Pentium M processor, the ToughBook Y2 scored surprisingly well in CNET's tests. Its MobileMark 2002 score of 146 puts it on a par with the comparably equipped Toshiba Tecra M2, which has a faster processor; still, the other systems are several hundred dollars cheaper. The ToughBook Y2's crown jewel is its 7,050mAh battery, which ran for an excellent 5 hours, 18 minutes between charges.
Like many other business notebooks, the ToughBook Y2 comes up a bit short on software. Still, you get Microsoft Windows XP Professional and a few decent utilities for creating CDs and configuring wireless options. While most other vendors offer a one-year warranty (and a few are cutting that to 90 days), Panasonic backs the ToughBook Y2 with a three-year warranty that is one of the best in the business; the company will repair broken systems quickly, wherever you are in the world. Panasonic's excellent tech support is available 24/7 via a toll-free phone call or e-mail, and a technician was on the line in just 45 seconds with an answer to our test query. As the ToughBook line is aimed at corporate customers, the Web site doesn't go beyond driver downloads, manuals, and FAQs.
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating |
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes |
System configurations:
HP Compaq nx5000
Windows XP Pro; 1.4GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; Intel 82852/82855 64MB; Hitachi IC25N040 40GB 4,200rpm
IBM ThinkPad R51
Windows XP Professional; 1.5GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 32MB; Fujitsu MHT2040HT 40GB 4,200rpm
Panasonic ToughBook CF-Y2
Windows XP Professional; 1.3GHz Intel Pentium M; 256MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; Intel Extreme Graphics 2 64MB; IBM Travelstar 40GN 40GB 4,200rpm
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 User Rating: 
9/10
Y2 is old new-- wait a month and go Y5-- USAT Corp says January most likely for shipping US units
Pros: Incredible weight/screen size/battery life. Solid power
Cons: No DVD-R. Otherwise a home run: Form meets function beautifully!
The Y5 is a powerhouse: Very light, good speed (runs Photoshop CS2), big 14â?? screen, and phenomenal battery life. The W5 is just that much lighter, easier to wield, and has a phenomenal battery life.
According to USAT Corp. ([url]www.usatcorp.com[/url]) you can get the new Y5 and W5 with integrated wireless WAN for Verizon, Sprint / Nextel and Cingular, this would be a collapsible antenna hanging off the back, and an on-off switch. In Q1-2007 get either HSDPA or 1x-EVDO Rev A as integrated wireless WAN for Verizon, Sprint / Nextel and Cingular. It should blaze!
USAT Corp said the weight gain with WAN would be negligible, so the weight should still be ~3.7lbs on The Y5, and the affect on battery life a consideration, but probably less than a PC-Card since this will be an internal module (USAT sales guys opinion). I am a Photoshop and Excel user so the extra screen real estate wins out for me (something like 1400x800 native resolution) so the Y is my choice.
The Y5 was out in Japan in May... so why no internal DVD-R on the US version. DVD-Rs are very inexpensive even dual layer drives are less than $60 retail now!
If you ever travel, even to a coffee shop, carry this or carry a mainframe, your choice. Mine is on order!
FWIW-- I am effusive about this company USAT (and have gotten every Toughbook I have purchased from them -- a bit hard to find but located here www.usatcorp.com ) since they always seem to have the inside track on Panasonic Toughbooks and mobile computing and they have stuck with me up after I have purchased. Phone is 888-550-8728 -- the sales rep who helped me last was Lisa
User Rating: 
3/10
LCD IS NOT COVERED AND EASILY BREAKS
Pros: LONG LIFE BATTERY
Cons: NOT TOUGH LIKE IT CLAIMS AND NOT COVERED
User Rating: 
8/10
excellent overall
Pros: weight and build
Cons: washed out screen
More glaring weakness is the washed-out screen and its narrow vertical viewing angle. Memory upgrades (MicroDimm format) are also prohibitively expensive.
User Rating: 
10/10
The best computer I have ever owned
Pros: Amazingly light and durable
Cons: silly scrolling thing
User Rating: 10/10
One very cool machine. You'll be glad you bough it.
Pros: Light. Mouse pad superb. Smooth keyboard operation
Cons: It wasn't free. I only bought one. I'll have to watch it!
I'm hard to please and have never owned any laptop or notebook. I've used one recently, however, and don't like the mouse pad or the red tip eraser-type mouse button in the keyboard. This mouse pad is so cool and smooth, easy to operate. Here's the cool part I realized: If you swipe a finger across the circle quickly from one side to the other, the mouse moves about 3/4 of the way across the entire screen; if you move your finger the same distance, but slowly, then the mouse will travel about 1.5 inches. That means it is very easy to narrow in on the exact spot you want, no jerky movement, as in other mouse pads. Even compared to another toughbook panasonic mouse pad I tried today, this circular one kicks butt. (Good).
Keyboard: Nice and smooth, will take very little time to get used to the spacing, you'll like the keyboard's quiet & nice response and feel of the keys while you write your emails at the park, and If you're a fast typist this machine won't slow you down.
Back to the mouse pad again: When you want to click on an item, you raise your finger and simply touch, with the lightest tap you can imagine, and you have just clicked on the link you want, or placed the cursor just where you want it. Other mouse pads require a much heavier finger tap--loud and audible finger tapping, your flight neighbor can hear you and easily be annoyed. This one makes no sound as you tap and position your mouse just where you want it. You will be the only one who knows that you just tapped or double tapped the mouse. Very slick feature, the way all mouse pads will be some day.
I won't be buying an external mouse after all, yet on the thinkpad brand notebook, I would not be without one. Kind of silly carrying around a small notebook with a long usb cord and a full-size mouse tagging along, and a pad to put it on. So no external mouse needed with the y2. You must get your hands on this, and you'll rave about it, and quickly forget the slight ouch at the $2700 or so you'll shell out. I'm going on a tour in the morning to show it to some friends, I'll hand it to them and watch their faces smile at the light weight, and then when they get their fingers on the mouse pad and operate it with the sprint pcs card and the ev-do broadband wireless, they'll be sure to put this on their shopping list. The cool demo should land me some hot lunches too.
In the 8 hours or so this has been in the house, I'm sure there's another sale pending. It's hard to see it and not want one of your own.
Call me, I'll be doing my work at the cafe, but I'll come over in a flash and we'll type for hours until the battery dies.
Did i mention this-- Right now, I don't need to burn dvd's, don't much care about firewire, or bluetooth. I just want quick access to the internet for my web-based email, for ebay, for other web-based applications and client databases that I use and enjoy, and I want the coolest, lightest workhorse of a machine to do this with, not shy in my 10 rating, because i don't have anything bad to say about this machine. As for only having my paws on it for 8 hours or so, I've spent $130,000 on computers, hardware and software, over the last 15 or so years, and this panasonic y2 is absolutely amazing for the money. Get one today. Maybe two, if you can.
If there were a 9.9 rating I guess I'd have picked it, just so you folks don't think I work for Panasonic. I would consider it if they let me demo the y2 all day.
Ciao for now.
User Rating: 
5/10
extremely lightweight, portable computer!
Pros: light weight,
Cons: bad screen display, tiny, i mean tiiiinnnnyy font!
size/weight ration i would give a 10+
screen size a -2.
good look, but look elsewhere for less money!
i purchased the y4 version which is the brand new version from japan!
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent notebook
Pros: Weight, 14 in. screen, nice keyboard, cool touchpad, fanless for quiet operation, no need for externals, zippy operation
Cons: Questionable screen quality
User Rating: 
4/10
Readability is terrible
Pros: Very light
Cons: Tiny font size
User Rating: 8/10
Glad I bought it
Pros: 14" screen at 3.5 pounds, 5 hour battery = SCORE!
Cons: Screen is dim, don't move your head from sweet spot.
User Rating: 10/10
Awesome, whoever gave it a 3 is on crack
Pros: Big Screen, Light, Big Keyboard
Cons: Screen could be Better.
The con's are the screen isn't an xbrite or glass screen. However, I think to have a glass screen is not feasible because of the lightweight. The newest version in Japan as of 5/15/05 has the same screen with DVD recordable. So a glass screen isn't coming anytime soon.
User Rating: 10/10
Best laptop I've ever owned
Pros: Long Battery Life, INDESTRUCTIBLE, extremely light
Cons: Finicky Wireless Connection
User Rating: 10/10
GREAT COMPUTER !!
Pros: Intelligent design, amazing battery life, great assembly quality
Cons: Rather expensive
User Rating: 9/10
Great Lightweight Laptop!
Pros: 14.1 screen @ 3lbs
Cons: High Price!!
User Rating: 8/10
Great light weight laptop
Pros: Weight (it is light) Battery life :) No problems getting over 4 hrs using wireless/video/CD/DVD :) Does everything I need.
Cons: 40 GB HD is too small. Memory limited to 256 + 512 (768 total MB RAM, despite Panasonic claiming 512.) Screen requires optimal positioning and is not good outdoors.
User Rating: 
7/10
This computer ROCKS!
Pros: Light, durable, just plan sweet! I have made many people envious of its weight. Even mac lovers.
Cons: No firewire. Awkward keyboard layout. No con out weighting the pros.
User Rating: 8/10
Light weight, long life, what's not to like?
Pros: Very light, with great battery life, nice keyboard and screen, touchpad a bit weird, but useful, love the internal optical drive, doesn't heat up your lap.
Cons: Memory limited to 512MB, no DVD recording, not the fastest thing on the planet
User Rating: 7/10
Who uses Firewire? Who cares?
Pros: Great laptop, like the slick design and feature.
Cons: Could see the cd-rom door breaking if not careful.
User Rating: 8/10
amazingly light for a 14" screen
Pros: Very light, and functions flawlessly. Battery life is remarkably long compared to earlier laptops I've owned. The 14" screen is very clear and bright.
Cons: The HD is only a 4200 RPM drive. If this computer came with a 7200 RPM, it would fly.
User Rating: 7/10
Lightweight, fast, feature rich
Pros: Lightest 2 spindle laptop with CD burner and DVD reader. Good keyboard. Long battery. 1400 x 1050 screen size. Very good wireless.
Cons: No firewire. Uses special 3.3V hard disk, thus, I can not upgrade the disk from 40GB. Screen backlight / screen viewing angle is not wide enough.
User Rating: 5/10
Big screen not good for viewing at an angle
Pros: Light and high resolution screen
Cons: LCD screen has a very narrow viewing angle, text and images at corners are not rendered as well as those at center.
User Rating: 
6/10
Pity we can't buy them anymore
Pros: Here in Australia, Panasonic have decided to drop the business range of Toughbooks and thus this model disappears from our market. Having lived with one for 18 months and now looking to upgrade this move disappoints me because there is nothing else in th
Cons: We can't buy them anymore. In Australia their service is absolutely atrocious.
User Rating: 9/10
How come CNET rates this computer at only 8.1/10 ?
Pros: Weight, battery life, screen size, ruggedness, stable software. Given the features offered by the both the CF-W2 and CF-Y2 that are ahead of the rest of the industry by about 2 years, I have no understanding why both laptops are rated only 8.1/10 given th
Cons: Could offer HD with more than 40G and bluetooth.
User Rating: 3/10
Might be good for surfing not making movies
Pros: Light, long battery.
Cons: Slow, low memory, flimsy, only 40 G storage with slow HD, limited to 256MB RAM. Crippled speed to save battery.
User Rating: 10/10
light as a feather! and runs Linux
Pros: With a bit of effort I succeeded in installing a dual-boot Linux/Windows XP system on my Toughbook Y2. I concur with the glowing CNet editor's review. By the way, I was told by laptopsinc.com that the max memory is actually 768Mb, not 512Mb as reported
Cons:
User Rating: 8/10
Light, Quiet, Quick!
Pros: Take the W2, add a larger screen, tweak the placement of connection ports, speed and wallah, Y2!
Cons: SD media slot...it would be nice if it was a multi-functional type. Firewire would be nice too.
User Rating: 8/10
Don't let your eyes fool you
Pros: My old notebook is T30, and I still use it in office. It always hurt my shoulders when I was on business trips. I tried looking for a lighter notebook at around 3 lbs, so I expected a 10" or 12" screen. Oh boy, I still have the same 14" screen while takin
Cons: Slightly small memory but still meets the industry standard.
User Rating: 7/10
Light weight, sleak, performer
Pros: nice touch keyboard, lite weight, integrated CDWR/DVD drive, cool bottom when running on battery, had mine for a month, no major complaints other than screen.
Cons: heats up on lap when charging (as expected), poor contrast on screen..needs positioning to see clearly. My screen is bright at the bottom and dark on the edges.
User Rating: 8/10
The most features in the lightest package
Pros: 3.3 pounds, built in optical drive and a 14" screen. Touchpad is a joy to use after a short learning curve. Ram is expandable to 768MB (Panasonic states a max of 512). Design of keyboard is good though the placement of the delete key is inconvenient.
Cons: No included software. No 1394 fire-wire port (snag a PC card one for $25 if you need it) In this day and age of 100GB laptop drives, 40 is not quite big enough. PLEASE, give us dedicated volume keys. I hate th old Fn + combination.
User Rating: 10/10
The little-reported on miracle
Pros: There is just no other laptop out there like the Y2. 14 inch screen, built in dvd/cd-r and only 3.3 pounds with incredible battery life. Its a shame that panasonic doesn't advertise their laptops more and cnet does not report on this breakthrough piece of
Cons: Too bad there is no firewire ports and they don't offer the 60gig hd like the japanese version.
User Rating: 7/10
Great for general office use on the go
Pros: Large screen for a thin and light, innovative touchpad, light weight (3.3lbs mostly battery), battery lasts as long as stated, WiFi has good range, system pulls out of hibernation mode quickly, nice keyboard pitch, sexy design. Great for business professi
Cons: Screens contrast is poor when outdoors in the sun, limited amout of memory one can upgrade to, touchpad can take some getting used to, the only ports are 2 usb, 1 vga, 1 TypeII, 1 RJ11, 1RJ45, and 1 SD slot. Only the phone and ethernet jack have a cover o
