One thing about having your own review labs is that you get to see the latest gear and often before it goes on sale. Lately we have been testing a lot of notebooks and netbooks from the likes of Toshiba, Medion, Acer and Dell but it was one particular notebook from Fujitsu that really caught my attention. After almost a week of putting the Fujitsu LifeBook T2020 through its paces, I have to say that I am impressed.
It is obvious the minute you unpack it that this is no ordinary notebook. It is sleek and has a swivel screen and stylus which allows you to flick it over into A4 page mode.
More importantly, unlike other tablet notebooks, the touch screen actually works well due to use of a “Penable Wacom” stylus and some neat Fujitsu software which allows you to use the screen easily without having to go back to the keyboard to enter data.
The handwriting recognition capability is also impressive, especially as I am a writer with the world’s worst handwriting. This device just sucked in my scrawl and spat out recognisable text.
The 12.1in TFT screen is excellent and even in bright conditions I was able to see clearly the content.
Within minutes of opening this device in a public place I had several people approach me wanting to know what it was. They were really impressed until they were told the price. At $3,999 it is pricey for what you are getting.
This device is to notebooks what Audi and BMW are to motor cars. It goes a long way to setting a neat new standard for notebooks in that it is brilliantly designed without being dainty or over the top. It also delivers excellent functionality and performance. It is finished largely in matte black plastic, and the casing feels sturdy. However, it does tend to attract fingerprints on the screen and occasionally on the matte black plastic but not enough to be of major concern.
Under the bonnet of Fujitsu’s LifeBook T2020 is a 3.5G wireless capability that allows for the insertion of a SIM card giving users instant access to their mobile broadband provider. A small flip-out antenna on the right side of the display helps improve 3G reception. For wireless connectivity both 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are available.
It also has an Intel Core Duo U9300 CPU running at 1.20GHz along with 2GB of RAM. It weighs in at a mere 1.64kg and has a battery life of up to 9.1 hours with expanded battery capability. Out of the box I got just over 3.5 hours.
It comes with Windows Vista Business Edition pre-installed and has a 300GB, 5400rpm hard disk drive which was able to write files quickly during our file transfer tests.
The Fujitsu LifeBook T2020 also has a D-sub port, two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire IEEE 1394 port, Gigabit Ethernet, headphone and microphone jacks, a 3-in-1 flash card reader that supports MMC, SD and Memory Stick cards, a PC Card Type II slot and a Kensington lock slot. However, it lacks a HDMI connection and has no built in DVD player or recorder.
What’s really impressive about this little beast is the versatility of the bi-directional screen that can be swivelled both ways. The latch for the screen is well designed and sturdy – which it has to be because of the constant back and forth that this latch manages.
The battery is located at the front of the notebook and acts as the palm rest – which means no track pad. Instead Fujitsu use a green TrackPoint rotating button device in the middle of the keyboard which is a tad old fashioned but you will probably find yourself using the stylus anyway. After only a short period of time, I found myself using the stylus as a default touchpad but I do advise that that if you buy the Fujitsu LifeBook T2020, you should instantly go to programs and practise with the stylus – it makes a big difference.
The Wacom digitiser stylus is good,but it is a little rough around the tight edges of the screen. One of the problems with notebooks of late appears to be heat extraction. For example with the Medion, the heat is pumped out on the left hand side of the notebook and as I tend to use a wireless mouse and I am left handed it very quickly becomes annoying. With the Fujitsu LifeBook T2020 both noise and heat were minimal.
So is this the ultimate small business notebook? It comes damn close and unless we see some exceptional new designs in the next batch of notebooks due soon from several vendors this notebooks gets my vote.
