HardwareCentral - Fujitsu LifeBook P1510D Review.

Fujitsu LifeBook P1510D Review

A Subcompact Convertible

October 25, 2005
By Eric Grevstad

A Subcompact Convertible

Tue 10/25/05 -- As Microsoft's Tablet PC portable push enters its fourth year, legal-pad-style "slate" designs have mostly given way to "convertible" notebook PCs whose screens lift to reveal, then swivel and fold down to conceal, the keyboard ... and neither has made much of a dent in the overall laptop market.

But even before Bill Gates started beating the drum for pen input and handwriting recognition, Fujitsu was serving specialized markets with touch-screen slates and notebooks that, usually running custom in-house software, replaced clipboards and checklists for data-entry jobs such as hospital rounds or accident-scene reports.

Now Fujitsu's done a neat job of creating a convertible subnotebook or ultraportable -- although it isn't a Tablet PC. While the company says a Win XP Tablet PC Edition edition will ship soon, the LifeBook P1510D runs Windows XP Professional and has a relatively old-fashioned, stylus-or-finger-or-pen-or-whatever touch screen instead of a Tablet PC's active digitizer that works only with its special stylus.

The result is a PC with a split personality: Note-jotters and vertical-market types will take advantage of its pen-input versatility, while we suspect most users will simply enjoy the P1510D as a capable, attractive ultralight.

The Right Size for Coach Class

The LifeBook P1510D has Intel inside, with a low-voltage Pentium M 753 -- a 1.2GHz processor with 400MHz front-side bus and 2MB of Level 2 cache -- and 915GMS integrated-graphics chipset. (It doesn't complete the Centrino-brand trifecta by using an Intel WiFi adapter, however; an Atheros 802.11a/b/g controller takes care of wireless networking.)

A model like the one we tested, with 512MB of DDR-2/400 memory and a 30GB, 4,200 rpm Toshiba hard disk, starts at $1,649. Stepping up to 1GB of RAM -- ordered at purchase rather than upgraded, since there's only one memory slot -- adds $800, while a 60GB hard disk adds $150. Two other options, a double-sized battery pack ($45) and a battery- or AC-powered external DVD±RW drive, also made by Toshiba ($206), brought our system to $1,900. (The DVD drive worked fine, but practically had to be slammed shut to keep it from ejecting discs as soon as we loaded them.)

That's not cheap, but it compares favorably to several rivals in the featherweight, forget-it's-in-your-briefcase class. The trade-paperback-sized P1510D measures 6.6 by 9.3 by 1.5 inches; even with the bigger battery (which protrudes from the front edge of the system to add half an inch of palm rest), it weighs just 2.6 pounds, with the compact AC adapter adding a mere 10 ounces.

For software installers or DVD movie fans, the LifeBook is less convenient than a slightly heavier compact such as Sony's Vaio T350 or Fujitsu's own P7010D, which makes room for a built-in optical as well as hard drive. But for tablet users, its low weight makes it much more comfortable to hold than larger-screened, 4- to 6-pound convertibles or slates.

The World's Biggest Blackberry?

As a tablet, the LifeBook works in either horizontal or vertical (landscape or portrait) orientation, with a screen-image-rotation button adjacent to the display switching between the two. The display does its 90-degree flip automatically when you switch from notebook to tablet mode or vice versa.

As mentioned, the 8.9-inch-diagonal display responds to the touch of a finger or the inkless end of a pen as well as to the plastic stylus that pops out from a storage hole on the right edge of the system. The stylus is kind of short, but its fine point offers extra accuracy (though not until you've run the supplied calibration utility). The flaw with all passive touch screens is that you must be careful not to let your hand rest on or touch the display while you write, lest the screen register a large smear instead of the stylus input.

In lieu of Windows Tablet PC Edition and Microsoft OneNote 2003, Fujitsu preinstalls EverNote Corp.'s RitePen handwriting-recognition software and EverNote notekeeping program. The former is more flexible than Tablet PC Edition in that you can write almost anywhere on screen instead of only in a special input area, though its recognition is no better -- i.e., fair at best unless you have exceptionally neat handwriting. EverNote's scrolling-notepad interface takes some getting used to, but offers an intriguing way to store both handwritten and typed thoughts as well as images and Web-site clippings.

To push the boundaries of touch-screen input, Fujitsu also provides a program called DialKeys from Fortune Fountain Ltd. that shows a virtual keyboard for handheld- or smart-phone-style thumb typing in the bottom corners of the display. It's a funky idea, but doesn't work very well without lots of practice. A Tablet PC-style pop-up, on-screen QWERTY keyboard is available for pen-based hunt-and-pecking.

Next: Less Squinting, More Scrolling »

Skip To Page