Review: Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 convertible laptop

PC World - The Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 convertible laptop is built for business. Running on the Centrino 2 vPro chipset and packed to the gills with IT-friendly security features, it's designed to be an efficient portable workstation for the mobile professional.

The T5010 runs Windows Vista Business Edition on a 2.4GHz P8600 Core 2 Duo CPU. Also inside are 2GB of RAM and a 5400-rpm, 160GB hard drive, plus an Intel 4500 MHD graphics controller to power the display. Overall, in our tests it made a good showing, earning a score of 83 in the WorldBench 6 test suite and clocking in a few minutes shy of 4 hours in battery life (though the average is a little over 4 hours).

As far as aesthetics are concerned, this business-centric notebook is best described as utilitarian. It's sturdy, without the slightest hint of bend or flex to be found from screen to base. When it's in laptop mode, it offers a spacious, capable keyboard. The keys are responsive and evenly spaced, great for error-free typing. While the trackpad is a bit narrow, it's coated in a matte texture for smooth pointing movements, and the buttons are adequately responsive.

Of course, the whole point of this machine isn't really about mousing around--you're more likely going to use the T5010's touchscreen. At 13.3 inches and with a 1280 by 800 resolution, the T5010's screen might not be ideal for watching movies, but it makes for a comfortable writing surface. The screen is well lit, though colors appear muted. The configuration I tested was equipped with the optional dual digitizer, which provides a capacitive touchscreen for two-finger gesture support. This feature comes at the cost of an outdoor-ready display option, so users will have to decide if multitouch capabilities are more important than being able to work efficiently outside.

As the tiny Fujitsu LifeBook U820 shows, Vista can handle handwriting recognition and general tablet work with finesse. The included Wacom pen (with a nifty digital eraser) presents a convincing imitation of the ink-and-dead-tree experience. While lacking the robust pressure sensitivity of a full Wacom tablet, the combo here worked like a charm with light image editing and casual doodling in GIMP. When you aren't using the pen, you can store it in a slot just under the base of the machine.

You can use only one control scheme at a time: Touching your finger to the screen disables the stylus input, and vice versa, nice for preventing mistakes. The optical drive is automatically disabled once you enter tablet mode, as well, to prevent discs from ejecting into your chest.