| 27 APRIL 2005 |
| Fujitsu
Lifebook S7010 Notebook |
Fujitsu's Lifebook series is known
for being unique in its shape and size. Although they currently
are not as prevalent in retail stores compared with other brands
such as Dell or Toshiba, Fujitsu notebooks are still a viable
option for it's uniqueness. You may have seen those incredibly
small Lifebook notebooks which are about the size of a small
textbook. The Fujitsu S7010 has actually been out for quite a
while, but still offers an attractive package. The laptop
carries the Centrino label and does offer a set of features
which are competitive against current existing notebooks in the
market today.
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The laptop overall has a black and
silver-blue design which make the laptop look clean and
professional. The cover of the laptop has the silver-blue color
with a shiny plastic edge. The rest of the laptop is mainly
black underneath. The shiny black plastic edge is the only part
of the laptop that tends to pick up fingerprints more easily,
but for the most part can't be seen at a distance. Without this
edge, the laptop would look plain. I looked closely at the
silver-blue color at the front of the laptop and I suspect that
it can fade easily if you don't take care of the laptop. Right
at the center of the lid is the Fujitsu Lifebook logo which
identifies the brand of the laptop.
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These are the exact specifications
of the laptop:
-Intel® Pentium® M Processor 745 (1.80 GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 400
MHz FSB)
-Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
-14.1" SXGA+ TFT display
-512 MB (2 x 256 MB) DDR333 SDRAM memory
-80 GB hard drive¹
-Modular Multi-Format DVD Writer
-Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG (802.11b/g), multinational²
56K³ V.90 modem and Gigabit Ethernet
-Integrated Bluetooth wireless
-Integrated fingerprint sensor
-Dual pointing with Touchpad and Quick Point
-One-year International Limited Warranty
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When opening the laptop, you will immediately notice the white
colored keyboard keys. The white keys are more of a darker
white to help prevent dirt being seen over time. At the top of
the keyboard, there are several multi-use function keys as well
as a small LCD display which shows the status of the laptop such
as a battery indicator, and hard drive activity. I found that
this laptop can use a better hard drive indicator. Even with
slight hard drive activity, the hard drive indicator will stay
fully lit. I read in other reviews that the keyboard was
flimsy, this was not the case this time. The keyboard on this
laptop is overall very quiet and is solid.
What was interesting is that this laptop contains the QuickPoint
mouse typically seen in IBM laptops. This mouse sits right at
the center of the keyboard. You use a single finger on the
QuickPoint to control the mouse. I personally find this type of
mouse on a laptop much easier to use. The problem with using
the QuickPoint mouse is that you have reach with your thumb in
order to reach the left and right mouse buttons. Therefore, it
can be awkward to use with just a single hand.
The touch pad mouse is located below
the keyboard with the left and right mouse buttons located below
the touch pad. The left and right mouse buttons are
semi-circular, therefore, they are easy to press. Surprisingly,
the scroll wheel is both a scroll wheel and a fingerprint
reader. To use the scroll wheel, you just slide your finger
across the gold contact area in the appropriate direction. You
must use the appropriate software in order to get the
fingerprint reader to work properly.
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When booting into the laptop the
first time, I was confused at first because the screen looked
slightly blurry. It was running at 1024x768 resolution. Only
until I increased the resolution to a maximum of 1400 x 1050
resolution did the display look crystal clear. The display does
look very detailed, bright, and clear. It is a quite impressive
screen for a slim notebook.
When I looked at the back of the
laptop, I found no support for legacy devices. This means that
there is no LPT1 port if you have an older printer or not even a
PS/2 port. If you have any older devices that use these kinds
of ports, the only way to use them with this laptop is to
purchase the extra dock for this laptop. The dock is another
$100-$150.
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When you initially power on the
laptop, the internal fan will power up for a few seconds and
then the laptop will become dead quiet. It is so quiet that it
even takes some effort to hear the hard drive. Only after a
long period of use does the fan turn back on for a while. The
battery life is what I had expected for a Centrino-type
notebook. The advertised 7 hours is an overestimation that is
only feasible if you plan on just doing word processing.
Otherwise, my typical use of using the wireless network to
browse the Internet with occasional word processing led to a
more realistic 4 hours of typical use.
The software package included in this notebook varies
according to the software packages you order with the notebook.
Nevertheless, the notebook does have the necessary software for
you to get you up and running. Unlike other manufactures, there
isn't really any unnecessary software that is provided just to
make you think you're getting a better deal. This is a no
frills package, that is fairly simple.
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The Fujitsu Lifebook S7010 notebook
is a notebook packed with the latest features such as Bluetooth,
wireless technology, and even a fingerprint sensor. The
performance of this notebook was above average. The only minor
problem with this notebook is the lack of legacy ports. Unless
you still rely on the use of older ports, this notebook may not
be for you. Otherwise, if you are looking for a slim, small
notebook which is packed with performance, then this is for
you. This notebook is very easy to carry around and use all the
time, which is the advantage over larger notebooks.
Reviewed by
ronald@digitalreviews.net
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