Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet PC First Look Review (Video)
Buying Choices for the Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Mini-Notebook A110 800 MHz - 5.6" TFT
view detailed pricing from 11 stores starting at $1,025.00 rate product |
When Fujitsu announced the LifeBook U810 mini Tablet PC, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and guess what, we just got one in our office. This tiny tablet is amazing. I can't say it would be a permanent replacement to a full-size tablet or notebook, but it is a great travel companion. It runs on Intel's A110 processor and has a 40GB hard drive. The 5.6-inch WSVGA display is small, but still up to Fujitsu's standards, meaning it looks great.
Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet PC in all its glory. (view large image)
Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet PC specs as reviewed (price as tested $1,099)
- Intel Processor A110 800MHz
- Intel 945GU Express Chipset
- Windows Vista Business with Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
- 5.6" WSVGA Crystal View display with passive touch screen
- 1GB DDR2 400MHz SDRAM memory
- 40GB (4200 rpm) hard drive
- 10/100 Ethernet (with included cable)
- Atheros Super AG Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g)
- Integrated Bluetooth wireless
- Integrated Fingerprint Sensor and embedded TPM
- 1 x USB
- SD slot
- Type I/II Compact Flash slot
- Microphone and headphone jack
- Main battery: 4-cell Lithium-Ion (5200 mAh, rated up to 5.5 hours)
- Dimensions: 6.73”(W) x 6”(D) x 1.26”(H)
- Weight: 1.8lbs with 4-cell battery
- One-year International Limited Warranty
Design and Build
The U810 is a solid little tablet. The chassis is sturdy and I didn't notice any flex. The mini-keyboard has a little flex, which reminded me of the LifeBook T2010. After a while though you wouldn't want to type on this keyboard because it really is too small. Fujitsu planned out every inch of this design. There is a pointing stick on the right corner and the mouse buttons on the left, just incase you don't want to use the pen or touchscreen.
The U810 in tablet mode with pen. (view large image)
It takes awhile to get used to the mouse, but the passive touchscreen isn't always as responsive as I wish. Sometimes your finger doesn't register on the screen unless you push hard, so I opted to use the pen, which let me navigate faster. The 5.6" screen isn't that hard to read and the display is great. It has nice bold vivid colors, with little graininess. I wouldn't want to work on this all day, but for those one-day business trips it would be perfect.
The U810 keyboard. (view large image)
Since the keyboard is so small some of the keys are combined like the Home, Tab, Page-up and Page-down. It isn't a problem though. The U810 converts into tablet mode easily thanks to its solid hinge and the screen automatically changes orientation. It really is small enough to put in a purse or small case and since it only weighs around 1.8lbs with the battery, I am sure you won't notice the weight. It has a glossy gunmetal colored lid, which hides dirt well and black suede patches on the bottom to reduce heat, a Fujitsu trademark.
Bottom view of the U810 with nice suede patches. (view large image)
Performance
The U810 sports Intel's A110 800MHz processor. It has 1GB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive. Not to bad for such a tiny tablet, but I think I would rather have Windows XP Tablet PC Edition instead of Vista. Don't get me wrong Vista works fine on the U810, but you would gain more performance from Windows XP, which is an option.
Super Pi
In the below results of Super Pi, where the processor is timed in calculating Pi to 2 million digits: The U810 didn't do bad at all considering it's built on a different platform then the rest of the notebooks. Remember it has a different processor, small hard drive and it's running Vista.
| Notebook | Time to Calculate Pi to 2 Million Digits |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U810 (800MHz Intel A110) | 6m 22s |
| Fujitsu T2010 (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) | 1m 40s |
| Gateway C-140x (2GHz Core 2 Duo) | 58s |
| HP Compaq 2710p (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) | 1m 39s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (1.6GHz Core 2 Duo) | 1m 10s |
| Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 (2.2GHz Core 2 Duo) | 54s |
| Gateway E-155C (1.06GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) | 1m 58s |
| LG C1 (1.2GHz Intel Core Duo) | 1m 49s |
| Toshiba R400 (1.2GHz ULV Core Duo) | 2m 10s |
| Asus R1F (1.66GHz Core Duo) | 1m 20s |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X60t (1.66GHz LV Core Duo) | 1m 24s |
| IBM ThinkPad X41t (1.5GHz LV Pentium M) | 2m 02s |
| HP TC4400 Tablet PC (2.0GHz Core Duo) | 1m 13s |
| Dell Latitude D420 (1.06GHz Core Solo ULV) | 2m 11s |
It takes over a minute to boot-up. I almost forgot I turned it on until I heard it beep. I haven't ran any benchmark tests yet except Super Pi and probably won't run to many since we know this isn't made to be some high-performance gaming tablet. There will be a few tests covered in the full review to come next week, so stay tuned for those results. I will be testing out Fujitsu's battery claim of 5.5 hours also. I hope it lasts that long and so far it seems pretty close.
First Impressions
Overall I am impressed with the U810. It has a nice array of features including one USB 2.0, docking connector, headphone jack, microphone jack, a Type I/II Compact Flash slot and Smart Card slot. It also has the option of External monitor/VGA and Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) on the included cable. All of this is packed into such a small tablet. Although I do wish it had just one more USB port. It even has nice wireless options including Atheros Wireless LAN 802.11 a/b/g and BlueTooth 2.0.
Front view of the U810. (view large image)
Right side view of the ports. (view large image)
Left side view of the ports. (view large image)
Back view of the U810. (view large image)
View of the U810 lid. (view large image)
The U810 connected to the Internet with no problems, but it does have poor signal strength in some areas. The Bluetooth comes in handy if you want to connect a mouse, which some users will because this tablet is so small. It also has an included VGA plug, so you can connect it to another monitor as well. The U810 is a great travel companion and could be used for those important presentations. The battery life seems good so far, but I will be testing it under other conditions in my full review. So check back next week to see more pictures and benchmarks on this tiny wonder. It has been a big hit in our office so far!
Video
Check out our hands-on video of the LifeBook U810 in action.
Buying Choices for the Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Mini-Notebook A110 800 MHz - 5.6" TFT
view detailed pricing from 11 stores starting at $1,025.00 rate product |
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