Fujitsu Lifebook T4210

There are only a handful of systems that are quality when it comes to convertible tablets. With its combination of portable frame, built in optical drive and dual-processor, the Fujitsu LifeBook T4210 ($ 2349 direct) passes with flying colors. This is the kind of system that makes sense to have in your daily life, if you pick up the pen scanner to draw on the screen or the screen turning around to tap the full-size keyboard.

Weighing a mere 4.7 pounds, the T4210 was small and light enough for me to wear all day on my commute, unlike the bridge M285-E, whose 14-inch display was too big for the ear around of the city. The T4210 has 12-inch screen what Fujitsu calls an "outside". It looks a little grainy when you're indoors, but on a bright day, you can see the screen image and get some work done outdoors.

The pen, conveniently located at a site adjacent to the screen, has a smooth feel that the one found on the Mobile Toshiba M400-S4032, and it handles like a ballpoint pen. I tested the pen and tablet screen applications written with two-beta software EverNote, a little careful note-taking utility, and Microsoft OneNote 2003. The software EverNote immediately recognized each move, and pen on paper is certainly a sense perceptible. I found that the use of the pen in OneNote is even more enjoyable, especially when drawing and annotation diagrams.

A disadvantage of the T4210 is the absence of a FireWire port for video capture. It has three USB ports located in the periphery of the machine and a double-layer DVD. The convertible tablet also has a 3-in-1 card reader (SD, MS, MS Pro). For security reasons, Fujitsu added a fingerprint reader, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and a smart-card slots.

The T4210 also runs hot. That is because he wears a 2-GHz Intel Core Duo T2500 processor (a step faster than the 1.83-GHz CPU T2400 available on the M400-S4032) and 1 GB of RAM. Although this means faster performance, power elements, but also the higher temperature of the system. This laptop emits a considerable amount of heat below, which can get pretty boring after a while. Battery life suffers too. The T4210 battery took only 2 hours 50 minutes to run down while playing a DVD-Video big step for air transport. Also, the limits of its integrated graphics card to make a choice unattractive to perform 3D graphics-intensive applications. To do so, I recommend the Gateway M285-E with discrete nVidia graphics.

The Fujitsu LifeBook T4210 is not cheap. It costs at least $ 150 more than the M400-S4032, which comes with a built in EV-DO cellular modem and runs a lot cooler (though it has condensed keyboard). Yet, overall, the T4210 is a convertible tablet elite. It is certainly worth a second look for those who want a quick, go-anywhere tablet that can make things a typical notebook can do and then some.