Fujitsu LifeBook U810 First Impressions Review

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.

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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 40 GB hard drive. The 5.6-inch WSVGA display is small, but still up to Fujitsu's standards, meaning it looks great.

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 in case you don't want to use the pen or touchscreen.

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It takes a while to get used to the mouse, and 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.

Since the keyboard is so small some of the keys are combined, like the Home, Tab, Page-Up and Page-Down. This isn't a problem though.

The U810 converts into tablet mode easily thanks to its solid hinge, and the screen automatically changes orientation.

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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.

Performance

The U810 sports Intel's A110 800 MHz processor. It has 1 GB of RAM and a 40 GB 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.

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 also 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 port, 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. The U810 connected to the Internet with no problems, but it does have poor signal strength in some areas. 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 my hands-on video of the LifeBook U810 in action.

Specifications

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

Photo Gallery

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)

Bottom view of the U810 with nice suede patches. (view large image)