LifeBook T4210

 

The tablet PC hasn't grown in popularity as quickly as pundits thought it would. When these touch screen portables first arrived on the scene a few years ago, many industry bigwigs claimed they would eventually all but do away with standard laptops. Obviously, that hasn't happened.

But tablets are still a strong alternative to a traditional notebook, and the top-of-the-line Fujitsu LifeBook T4210 could give even the most entrenched laptop user reason to consider switching camps.

For starters, it's a remarkably powerful machine. It has an Intel Centrino Duo Core processor running at 2GHz and a gig of memory under its hood, giving the T4210 more than enough horsepower to handle multiple business apps—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etcetera—at the same time without any sort of tangible effect on system performance.

It does a great job with more demanding apps as well, including image editors, video players, and even PC games. We tested CivCity: Rome, a strategy game which, though it doesn't have particularly sophisticated graphics, can put even high-end gaming machines to the test once the screen becomes loaded with hundreds of moving characters. The T4210 coped surprisingly well with these intense game sequences on high graphical settings—lag existed, but it never came close to frustrating levels. In short, the T4210 will get the job done for casual PC gamers. Perhaps more faith ought to be placed in Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator 950 display solution.

The T4210's 12.1-inch TFT display has a native resolution of 1024x768, and uses electromagnetic touch-screen technology that recognizes the tip of the stylus and nothing else (which is why you can rest your hand on the screen without it being detected). It's extremely durable; you'll feel weird using the hard plastic nub on the back of the stylus as an eraser, vigorously running it back and forth across the screen to delete your writing, but rest assured it won't leave a mark. The only potential downfall of the display is that it is covered in what appears to be either an anti-glare or scratch resistant coating (perhaps both) that has a direct impact on image sharpness and color; fine details are a bit fuzzy, and the display has a perpetual just-washed-with-a-damp-cloth look

From a design perspective, the T4210 is easily one of the top tablets on the market, combining quality materials with an ergonomic and logical layout.

The screen rotates both ways, which makes converting the machine from notebook to tablet and back again an intuitive task, regardless of your dominant hand. A manual latch easily flips between the top and bottom of the display to secure the laptop shut or lock it in tablet mode. The stylus rests in a compartment on the left side of the display.

Surrounding the screen is an assortment of controls that are easy to access regardless of which mode you happen to be in. A fingerprint reader sits on the lower left side of the screen and five function buttons run along the bottom. Also on the bottom is a digital display providing information on battery charge, wireless connectivity, and hard drive activity. A power button is in the bottom right corner. (Position descriptions apply to notebook mode.)

The keyboard, composed of grayish white keys, is full-sized, sports a commonsense button configuration, and is supposedly spill-proof (though we didn't put it to the test). Meanwhile, the touch pad is very comfortable with a default sensitivity that felt spot on to our fingers. A rocker that does a fairly accurate job of simulating the functionality of a scroll wheel sits between the left and right mouse buttons.

The sides of the machine are adorned with a healthy variety of jacks. The back features two USB inputs, an infrared eye, VGA out, and Ethernet and modem networking ports. The right side houses a bay for either an optical drive—the T4210 comes with a DVD-RW—or an additional battery. The front sports standard memory card, microphone, and headphone inputs as well as a pair of speakers, and the left side is home to a third USB port as well as slots for Smart Cards and PC Cards and a wireless LAN on/off switch (it's also Bluetooth enabled, though there isn't a physical switch to activate or deactivate this function).

The underside of the T4210 provides access to the main battery and has sealed compartments concealing the machine's innards. Like other Fujitsu models, several panels of suede-like material line the bottom of the machine to diffuse heat and keep it from slipping on and scratching smooth surfaces.

At 4.5 pounds, the T4210 may be a tad heavy for some users, especially those who expect to use it in tablet mode most of the time, but the weight is by no means a deal breaker.

Fujitsu claims that the battery will last up to 6.5 hours under ideal circumstances, and if you're using two batteries you can get as much as eleven hours of juice. I didn't have a second battery to test the latter claim, but under normal usage I managed to get over three hours out of the main battery.

Pricing for the T4210 starts at about US$1,750 / CA$2,200 and, depending on options, can go as high as US$2,350 / CA$2,700. That sounds a bit pricey, but keep in mind you're paying for cream of the crop technology; your colleagues, be they classmates or executives, will almost certainly be drooling over this convertible.

Details
Reviewed: Aug. 16, 2006
Type: Computer, Hardware
From: Fujitsu


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