Fujitsu Builds Tablet PC Support Into Notebook
Includes swivel top, plus touch-screen and writing tools
Computerworld - Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp. today will announce a notebook PC that weighs just 2.2 lb. and can be converted into a tablet device with touch-screen and handwriting-recognition capabilities. The format is designed to appeal to users in health care and other vertical industries.
The new LifeBook P1500 will replace the P1000 model, of which more than 200,000 units have been sold globally over the past four years, said Paul Moore, director of mobile product marketing at Fujitsu's U.S. headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Although the P1500 will first ship with Windows XP Professional, Fujitsu plans to also make it available with Microsoft Corp.'s Tablet PC Edition operating system by year's end, Moore said. The new model, which has a list price of $1,499, is based on a 1.2-GHz Pentium M processor and includes an 8.9-in. screen.
The older LifeBook opens like a typical notebook PC, but the P1500 can be flipped open and swiveled to convert to a tablet format. That capability is something doctors who use the P1000 have asked for, said C.A. Nix, president of Medical Practice Technologies LLC, a Cumming, Ga.-based systems integrator.
Tablet PC technology, which was introduced in late 2002, has largely remained a niche product. "Microsoft had much higher expectations for Tablet PC than materialized," said Brian O'Rourke, an analyst at In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Nonetheless, the market for Tablet PC devices hit $1.2 billion in total sales last year, said O'Rourke. He predicted that sales will rise to $5.4 billion in 2009, as average prices for tablet devices drop well below $2,000 and more applications become available for them.
O'Rourke and other analysts said there already are a couple of ultraportable notebooks on the market that are similar in size to the P1500 but don't have its tablet capabilities.
Barry Zane, executive vice president of sales at Brandwise SSI Inc., a Lakewood, Colo.-based integrator of sales force applications, said the faster CPU in the P1500 will make it "truly a little computer." Zane noted that the P1000 sometimes takes two to four seconds to load new pages -- too slow for some applications.

Fujitsu's LifeBook P1500
Read more about Laptops in Computerworld's Laptops Topic Center.


- Excel 2010 Cheat Sheet
- Register for this Computerworld Insider Cheat Sheet and gain access to hundreds of premium content articles, guides, product reviews and more.
- Forrester Whitepaper: IT Operations Managers Must Rethink Their Approach to Private Cloud
- Organizations of all types are attracted by the promises of private cloud computing, but few actually have the virtual maturity to be successful....
- Roadmap to the Cloud Summary HP Brochure
- This white paper reveals the key steps you need to take in order to build an effective cloud computing infrastructure. Start building your...
- Five Myths of Cloud Computing
- In recent years, cloud computing has been as visible as any topic in IT. Its front-page news status has been accelerated by Amazon,...
- Hybrid IT service delivery: A strategic thinking model for optimizing IT resources
- With the introduction of cloud computing, the IT industry has a new path for applying Shared Services business models to better utilize a...
- Driving Secure Enterprise File Sharing and Syncing in the Enterprise
- GroupLogic's new activEcho is the industry's only secure Enterprise File Sharing and Synching solution that balances the need for simplicity for the end... All Laptops White Papers
- Seven Deadly Sins of Cloud Security (Video)
- As cloud computing gains popularity, too few people are aware of the security threats that are emerging. In this short video, experts from...
- Delivery Management -- Extending Lifecycle Management
- Date: Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 1:00 PM EDT
Siloed organizations continue doing the wrong things and doing things wrong, leading to increased costs,... - Leverage automation today to reduce IT complexity
- Date: Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 2:00 PM EDT
Whether your B2B complexity is caused by multiple technologies due to M&A, business or application specific... - Redefine Expectations in the Data Center
- Need to do more with less? Watch this video to learn how HP ProLiant Gen8 servers can help your business deploy servers three...
- BMC Control-M - Single Point of Control Demo
- With BMC Control-M, you schedule and manage everything - down to the very last platform and application - from one simple interface. It's... All Laptops Webcasts