Tablet notebooks come in shrinking packages

NOT SO LONG AGO, Fujitsu-Siemens released a new series of tablet PCs and notebooks, each with slightly differing specifications and features aimed at slightly different groups.

We have had the chance to play around with the baby of the series, the Lifebook P1610. This little tablet notebook is the baby in size only and packs a pretty mean punch for something so small.

The unit itself is amazingly small with a 9.6" screen and weighs only one kilogram, that's including the battery. On the left you'll find PC Card slot and the wireless on/off switch. The right hand side houses the stylus, SD card slot, two USB ports, headphone and microphone jacks and the power socket. On the back is the modem and network ports and below the screen is the power switch, battery and hard drive indicators and six buttons that allow quick access to a variety of functions, some of which are customisable, but we'll get to that in a bit. Next to the screen is also a pin-hole microphone and a fingerprint sensor.

Under the dinky little keyboard resides an Intel Core Solo U1400 @1.2GHz, 512MB DDR2 RAM, Intel 945GM integrated graphics card which shares up to 128MB of system memory and a 60GB HDD. Connectivity options include a 56K modem, 1Gb LAN, Bluetooth V2.0 or Wi-fi a/b/g. Soon this model will also have the option of an embedded UMTS data connection as well. You can also opt for 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive if required.

For expandability there is a PC card slot and an SD card slot as well as two USB ports and of course the port replicator, which adds a VGA connector and a further two USB ports.

The unit opens just the same as any normal notebook does, but rather than on hinges the screen is mounted on a swivel that allows you to rotate the screen so you effectively flip the screen over to use it as a tablet PC. The screen itself is a 9.6=inch TFT touch screen, which has a default resolution of 1280x768, which may be a bit high for most people as it makes most things very small. The screen is very reflective, which can make usage in direct sunlight tricky, but all in I found the display to be sharp and clear although the colours were a little washed out of the screen brightness wasn't close to full. The swivel also felt a little shaky, but I've been assured that the mechanism is thoroughly tested and should survive extended use, of course there only time will tell.

The P1610 also lacks a touchpad but there is a small touchstick nub embedded in the keyboard or alternatively you can just touch the screen. For security there is a fingerprint sensor next to the screen, it takes some getting used to but does work very well once you get the hang of it.

The battery connects to the front and this model comes standard with a three cell 2600mAh battery than keep going for up to four and a half hours, but there is the option of six cell 5200mAh battery that can provide power for up to nine hours but does a little extra weight and size to the whole thing.

So now we know how it looks, but what's it like to use? As I said before, it is very small and unbelievably light, but it sacrifices some comfort to attain that. The keyboard is big enough to allow a good typing speed, but it forced my wrists to bend in at an odd angle which caused some discomfort after extended use. Similarly the screen is a good quality but its small size can makes long sessions but the provided docking station will allow you to connect a bigger keyboard and mouse while you're working at your desk.

The touch screen is very responsive and I was extremely impressed with the handwriting recognition. My only problem with it is that in order to avoid problems while resting your hand on the screen, it only responds to fairly small points of contact. This is good because you don't get problems if hand or arm brushes the screen, but bad because you can't use your fingers, you have to use a fingernail or the stylus. This has the unfortunate side effect of making the on screen thumb board almost useless. As with any touch screen there is also the problem of smudging and I highly recommend keeping a cloth handy to wipe down the screen from time to time.

In its normal configuration the P1610 works just like any other notebook PC and when you swivel the screen the display automatically rotates 90 degrees into portrait mode, allowing comfortable use as a tablet PC. There is also a clever little catch at the top that you can push through either way to help secure the screen when it's closed. As mentioned earlier there are six buttons next to the screen, these are used as escape and enter keys, to rotate the display, a function key an Alt key and a brightness key. Pressing the function key once allows you to use the enter, escape and brightness keys to open predefined program shortcuts and pressing it twice opens a menu of utilities on the screen.

Amongst the included software is a hard drive shock sensor which can detect sudden movements and temporarily dock the hard drive to protect it. There is also some security software to handle the fingerprint scanner and other security functions as well as a program to manage the on screen keyboard layout if you want to use it. The on screen keyboard can be configured in a variety of ways including a normal keyboard type layout or a thumb-board type of setup. There is also a very useful program called Windows Journal that allows you to use the tablet like a paper notepad.

In Short
If you want flexibility and portability then the P1610 from Fujitsu Siemens is perfect for you, as long as you don't have thick fingers. For all its minor imperfections, we really love this little thing. It's well suited for someone who spends significant time in one spot, but travels enough that portability is also important. If you were considering a UMPC or similar device then this tablet should also enter your list of potentials. As long as your specification requirements are massive this will handle everything you need to do. If it is too small for you or your need something with a little more power behind it the P1610 has a bigger brother, the T4215.

It isn't perfect, but we certainly enjoyed using it. We could listen to music over Bluetooth while writing up this review and it didn't break any shoulders carrying it around. We could watch movies on it, surf the Interweb, take written and audio notes with it at press functions, making it a great all-round gadget. Of course a lot of our enjoyment stems from the fact that it suits our lifestyle, which it won't for everyone. The price tag of around £1300 may put some people off, but there is a premium to be paid for this kind of portability. ?