Fujitsu LifeBook® P1500D (FPCM20651) PC Notebook

I have had this notebook-tablet for a month now. It is a fabulous machine. All around me in the wireless coffee shops I see folks lugging their ever larger, ever heavier laptops. I had been waiting for someone to design a good machine bigger than a hand-held computer but lighter than the smallest Apple, Averatec, or Sony. This is the machine which is the size of a small, thinner hard-back book. With the extended battery (6-8 hours) it weighs 2.5 pounds.

We all buy computers to fit our needs. I needed something that would let me download the morning news stories as individual files and allow me to read them later. With the extended battery, I can read anywhere I want for about six hours of battery time with the brightest screen resolution. When in appropriate indoor lighting, I reduce the brightness to the lowest comfortable level and save even more battery time.

The processor meets all my video needs such as online streamed video, google video movies, downloaded music videos, and various other downloaded videos. I have even managed to watch a movie, run on the DVD player of my desktop PC in one room while I watched it via my home wireless network on the Fujitsu in tablet mode in another room.

I read the news with in tablet mode, with the text size increased, giving me a book-sized font that pages up and down with buttons to the side of the screen. On properly designed web pages that resize themselves, there is no need to scroll.

I purchased the set of five screen protectors which are a bit pricey but I am amazed at the durability. All I have to do is wipe the protector to remove finger oil from touching the screen. For a while I had misplace the stylus, and then discovered that anything narrow such as a pencil or the coffee stirrers provided in Starbucks and like places worked just fine. I am so happy that every coffee place wants to provide me with a free stylus!

Another useful purchase is an extra power supply so as to leave one on the desk and have one handy in the laptop bag for recharging when an outlet is available when out of the house.

I also purchased the 512Mb RAM option but did not opt for the larger hard drive. The standard 30Mb drive was sufficient because anything I acquire out of the house that needs to be saved can be backed up on flash drives. I always carry several.

No more balancing my lightweight laptop (I had an Averatec) on my knees when away from a table or desk. The Fujitsu is held just like a book.

The only drawback is that the processor heats up after operating in battery mode after a couple of hours. That is easily countered by simply holding it without one's hand on the back or by placing a magazine or some kind of a pad underneath if it needs to be on one's lap for some reason.

Of course the small size does not allow for more than tinny sounding music but I purchased a quality set of USB earphones with mike and I can listen to music just fine and with Skype I talk free anywhere in the world from my favorite coffee shop with free wireless. If it gets too noisy I simply close the top and walk outside not missing a beat in the conversation with my buddy in England.

There is no internal DVD/CD and instead of buying the Fujitsu accessory for $200 I picked up one at Sam's Club for $100 and it works just fine. With adjustments to the bios setup it will boot the Fujitsu if I have to do a complete system recovery.

This machine could not be recommended more highly if you are in need of a very light tablet that provides somewhat more than twice the screen area than a handheld.

The paid price of $2100 included extra RAM, second power supply, set of 5 screen protectors, and and extra year on the warranty. For and extra $45 my renter's insurance policy covers a replacement for ANY reason with no deductible.

Update 1.

Eopinions would not let me write an update as a second opinion so I have to add it here. I am moving my original Cons here along with an update.

I have now had this notebook-tablet two months and I use it VERY often. Since people have found the first review helpful, I am adding an update.

First, a comment on smaller tablet or notebook-tablets that have been in the news lately. Unfortunately I only remember that IBM was on and I forget the names of the others. I found it ridiculous that review of the upcoming competitors to this Fujitsu did not seriously compare this model as a competitor, even the new items did not have the features that the P1500D has. And it was ironic that a Fujitsu ad for the P1500D was right there on the web page.

CONS:
Original Runs hot after several hours use.

Con Update 1: Sure, it gets hot, but when I am using it as a "book" (often) I simply don't hold my hand over the processor (in the back), and often it is in a book stand or on a table, so that makes "hot" a moot point. Also, it is too lightweight and small to use in a fight with muggers. You would need to get up close and shove it in his mouth.

I will try to follow the orignial review, above.

It's still a fabulous machine.

I forget to use battery saving techniques, so I figure I am getting 6 hours on the battery. Some techniques would be to stop or remove anything I don't need that takes power when I am on battery in the home, reducing the screen brightness by 3/5 (yep, it still can be read well), turning off wi-fi when I am reading saved news stories.

Still using the first screen protector which is durable because it is heavy duty. Cleans easily.

I noticed the reviews of the new competitors made a comment that only the P1500D is a touch-screen. So besides the starbucks coffee stirrers, the used-up PaperMate Sharpwriter mechanical pencils (as well as others that work as a stylus), my finger works fine for quick scrolling or shutdowns (I favor the standby mode). So now I have stylii (is that the plural?) all over the house and several in my notebook bag.

Buying the extra power supply was brilliant. Worth $50.

I still find the 512 RAM and the 30Mb drive sufficient. I might get a pocket USB drive for backups. Of course I have an external USB hard drive at home for regular backups.

For music I found an expensive but sufficiently good-sounding speaker that operates on battery or adaptor. I keep the adaptor plugged in at home and carry rechargeable batteries to use outside the home. Generally I use earphones in portable mode, but the portable speakers came in handy when I had to give a demonstration of Skype VoIP phone calling to some students.

90% of my use is in a truly portable mode (on battery) and folded into tablet mode and (1) held as a book, (2) held in a book holder so I can read the news at the kitchen table, (3) propped on my backpack at my favorite cafe, (4) taking quick "write directly on the screen" notes, (5) making quick sketches on the screen of houses I am looking to buy, and (6) making international calls for free using Skype. In this last mode, an Italian friend got a kick out of my walking around with the video cam in my hand showing him my house. Bottom line on portability: VERY portable.

As I stated, I favor the standby mode. It seems to use no power to speak of in this mode. It still has %100 of the battery even after several hours in standby.

I really like the fingerprint security feature. If it isn't in standby, I don't have to punch my ID in with a stylus or flip to notebook mode to type. Just flip to tablet and swipe my finger. Only thing that might beat that is the computer recognizing my voice, as in "Yo! It's me!"

I bought one of each, SD Drive and Compact Flash, which I keep plugged in with specialized stuff. I plan to get more.

Now after two months of using the chicklet keyboard when it was convenient, I am making fewer fat-finger errors. I also have a roll-up USB keyboard ($12) in case I go out of town and I plan on doing a lot of typing.