| Article Index |
|---|
| Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 Tablet PC Review |
| Page 2 - Battery and Connectivity |
| Page 3 - The Screen and Additonal Info |
| Page 4 - Conclusion |
| All Pages |
Fujitsu’s latest tablet PC, the LifeBook T2010, combines an ultra-light and ultra portable notebook computer with
Fujitsu’s typically top range tablet technology.
The first thing that strikes you when you lay eyes upon the LifeBook T2010 from Fujitsu is just how small and petite it is. It weighs in at just on 1.6kg (3.5lbs) and the specs on the version we have here today are as follows:
- Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 (1.2GHz Ultra Low Voltage CPU)
- 2GB RAM – DDR2 667Mhz
- 120GB 5400rpm Serial-ATA150 Hard Drive
- 12.1” TFT Wide Screen XGA Screen with Active Digitiser (1280x 800 Resolution)
- Integrated Intel Graphics
- Card Reader (SD, Memory Stick Pro)
- Fingerprint Reader
- Bluetooth
- Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n Wireless Adapter
- 6-Cell 5800mAh Lithium-Ion Battery
- 2 x USB2.0 Ports, 1 x External VGA, HD Audio In/Out, 1 x Firewire, 1 x PC Card Type II Slot, Smartcard Slot
- Windows Vista Business Edition
So as the specs show, it’s quite a bit of kit for such a small machine. It’s utilising an Intel ULV processor so while it’s never going to be winning any speed contests, it can still hold its own against some of its brethren. The T2010 with the Intel Core2Duo U7600 CPU (@ 1.2GHz) got a PCMark05 score of 2756, so it’s a bit of an improvement over other Tablet PCs we’ve tested in the past with ULV CPUs which scored around 2300 PCMarks with the Intel U2500 CPU (also @ 1.2GHz). These scores are well down on what anything a T7xxx series CPU based machine would be achieving, but here it’s all about good battery life and acceptable performance, instead of poor battery life with great performance, you can’t have it both ways.
The battery in the T2010 is rather powerful considering the size of the notebook, with a 6-cell Lithium-Ion unit rated at 5800mAh. According to Fujitsu this is good for up to 9 hours battery life. From our testing there is no way this battery will ever last 9 hours if you actually want the screen turned on (which can be helpful sometimes). With normal use, average screen brightness and the wireless networking turned on, you’ll easily get 5-6 hours and possibly more, which is still excellent battery life.
Connectivity is quite reasonable on the T2010 considering its limited size, there’s 2 x USB2.0 Ports and a Firewire port for any required peripherals, as well as an external VGA port for connection to a second monitor or a projector so it’s well suited for professionals doing presentations out in the field.
Wireless connectivity is of course included, and it’s good to see they haven’t stuck with the same old 54Mbps 802.11g setup, instead they’ve gone for the new (but not yet official) Draft-N standard with the new Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN wireless adapter, so it’s capable of speeds up to 300Mbps as long as your other wireless hardware also supports Draft-N. Standard cable connectivity is taken care of with a Marvell brand Gigabit adapter.
The main drawcard of the LifeBook T2010 is its screen. The 12.1” widescreen LCD runs at a resolution of 1280x800 (or 800x1280 depending on orientation) which is a very high resolution for such a small screen, and as such the quality and clarity of the picture is excellent as well as the viewing angle, which one of the best I’ve seen in a notebook screen (Fujitsu claim an 80degree view angle from all directions). One problem with the screen is that it’s covering is so shiny and glossy that it does a frustratingly excellent job of showing off any fingerprints, and seeing as it’s a tablet screen your hands are going to be touching it a lot, so it requires constant cleaning.
The digitiser which overlays the screen is made by Wacom, just like on all other Fujitsu Tablet PCs. Wacom are famous for their range of graphics tablets and the digitiser on the T2010 uses nearly identical technology to what is used in their graphic tablets, so you know it’s going to perform well and be reliable. The response of the screen to the pen’s movements is excellent and the great part is that the pen/stylus is battery-free, while still retaining features such as pressure sensitivity and additional buttons, so it should work forever and never need replacing – unless you lose it.
Around the screen there are several buttons to give you a bit more functionality when using the T2010 in full tablet mode. There are 5 hotkeys which can either be shortcut keys or can perform certain system functions, such as rotating screen, or simply pressing enter. The fingerprint reader provided on the bottom of the screen also acts as a mouse scroll wheel when in tablet mode.
The LifeBook T2010 is loaded with Windows Vista Business edition, which hinders it’s performance a little bit over what it could do with Windows XP, but the performance is still very acceptable, thanks in a big way to the large of memory that is standard in the T2010 (standard 2GB). There are a few little Fujitsu tools that also come pre-installed but nothing too interesting, it’s actually quite a plain install of Vista. There is a trial version of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional that will work for 60-days, after which you have to pay for it to be activated into the full version, certainly an interesting marketing technique by Microsoft for such an expensive software package.
Conclusion:
All this comes in at a price of around AU$2970 which is certainly not cheap in anyone’s eyes, but you have to remember, the smaller it gets - the more it costs, and considering this is amongst the smallest on the market, WITH Tablet functionality, maybe it’s not such a bad price after all.
The lack of any sort of optical drive as a standard inclusion, even an external one, is a disappointment, if you want one you need to either buy one separately or buy the docking station which has a DVD-RW drive built-in.
Overall it’s a very well featured notebook/tablet PC that has (almost) everything you need built-in as standard, has reasonable performance and an excellent screen and digitiser interface. Its price is high, but you get what you pay for and this should definitely be on the list for anyone who is looking for a small tablet PC.
OzHardware Rating – 8/10
This product can be purchased online at www.techbuy.com.au (Direct Link)
