Review: Fujitsu LifeBook P3110
Note: This is a ultra-delayed review. I’ve review the Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 in February. But only found time to sit down and write the review now. Paiseh.
It seems like the netbook war is over. PC makers seems to be slowing down on their netbook production and focusing on laptop using ultra low voltage (ULV) processors. When laptop with ULV first came out in mid last year, they appears to be in a disadvantage over netbook in terms of performance due to the fact that ULV laptop are running Windows Vista while netbook are running Windows XP. Windows Vista requires much more processing power and is clearly not suitable for ULV. Which is why I don’t recommend people to get a ULV on Windows Vista.
But the game changed significantly after the release of Windows 7. Windows 7 requires less processing power and is pretty suitable for ULV laptop. Suddenly, the ULV laptop category looks very attractive. Low cost, slightly bigger screen and more processing power than most netbooks. In fact, at some point during the review, I almost forgotten that I’m using a ULV laptop. Everything seems to run smoothly. But of course I won’t recommend you using a ULV for processor intensive stuff. But for normal surfing and word processing, the ULV laptop should suit most people’s needs.
Sorry, I digressed a little. Back to the Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 review. The Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 is running on a Intel Pentium Processor SU4100 1.30GHz processor with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium. The unit I reviewed comes with 2GB RAM (support max 4GB), 320GB harddisk and Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD. The display screen is 11.6-inch WXGA Back Light LED capable of 1366×768 pixels. The Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 has 3 USB port, 1.3 megapix camera, WIFI, Bluetooth 2.1, SD/MS card reader, VGA port, 1 mic jack and 1 headphone jack. Pretty standard stuff here. But like most ULV laptops and netbooks, it doesn’t comes with a optical drive. The P3110 weighs about 1.6kg.
The keyboard is Spill-resistant although I don’t have the chance to try that out. It’s very comfortable to type on the keyboard. Feedback is good, feel is great. I certainly don’t mind writing old grandmother stories with this keyboard. The wrist rest is a little too small for my liking but I soon got used to it. The touchpad is also a little too small for my liking. And the only one thing that I dislike about the LifeBook P3110 is the 2 touchpad buttons. It’s shiny silver. Those that you can use to check your makeup if they are bigger. I have no idea why Fujitsu choose to use a fingerprint magnet material for the touchpad buttons.
Personally, I wish Fujitsu would also include some physical buttons for volume controls and mute. But judging from the size of the device, I guess it would be a bit hard for them to squeeze these buttons without affecting the form factor or compromise the keyboard size. If you notice, there is a huge gap between the keyboard and the screen. That’s the battery in case you are wondering. Yes, the 6 cell battery provided is huge. And I can understand that because the Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 is able to deliver roughly 6 hours of battery life. (Published 6.7 hrs) That is one killer feature.
The Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 is a great ultra low voltage laptop. If you don’t need the processing power of a full fledged laptop and want more processing power than a netbook, the Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 is definitely worth considering. The Fujitsu LifeBook P3110 is retailing at S$1388.
In short:
Great value, long battery life and fantastic keyboard.
Likes:
Long battery life
Comfortable Keyboard
Great value
Dislikes:
Shiny, fingerprint magnet touchpad buttons
PS: Fujitsu also released the LifeBook P3010 which is running on a AMD Athlon Neo processor 1.6GHz. The remaining specs are more or less the same as the P3110. But 1 huge difference is that the P3010 only has a published 3.47hr battery life compared to the P3110′s impressive 6.7 hrs battery life. The P3010 retails at S$1,188. Honestly, I’ll recommend you pay $200 more for the better P3110.
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Its an excellent notebook. It is excellent because it is the only notebook in which you can have powerful SU7300 processor with Internal 3G Moudle and Bluetooth and 4GB memory all at one time in 11.6 inch size. All other notebooks in 11.6 size does not provice all these features at the same. I mean if they provide one thing they are missing the other thing. The only notebook that is close to this notebook is Lenovo U150 but it also does not have Internal 3G Moudle installation option at all. What I dont like about Fujistu P3110 is that it is missing eSATA and HDMI ports. eSATA is very important these day due to usage of external shared Hard Drives in many homes.