Entered CNET Catalog: 09/10/2007
SKU: 0611343080514
Manufacturer: Fujitsu
Manufacturer description
Delivering touch screen capability and long battery life, the LIFEBOOK U810 Mini-Notebook is a stylish, super light weight, ultra compact, fully functional convertible notebook computer. The Fujitsu LIFEBOOK U810 Mini-Notebook provides the procession power and efficient energy use to power through your day. You will experience long time ultra-mobile computing on a single battery with this amazing notebook.Product summary
The good: Best ultramobile PC keyboard yet; tablet functionality provides another input option; access to pointing stick even when the tablet lid is closed; inexpensive for a UMPC.
The bad: Too many keys double-mapped; no mobile broadband (yet); thick screen bezel makes display look even smaller; limited ports and connections.
The bottom line: Ambitious but flawed, the Fujitsu LifeBook U810 has more of a traditional laptop design than other UMPCs, but the otherwise excellent keyboard is marred by the loss of several important keys.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 09/19/2007
The Fujitsu LifeBook U810 skirts the line between an ultraportable convertible tablet and a UMPC (that's ultramobile PC, if you haven't been paying attention). We've always liked UMPCs in theory--shrinking a laptop down in size to something you can almost pocket--but these systems, including the Sony VAIO UX390, shed so much usability and so many features along the way that they are more like souped-up smart phones than actual computers. There's only so much one can do with a BlackBerry-style thumb keypad or, worse, an onscreen keyboard. And, sadly, they've been priced more like computers than smart phones.
The new $999 LifeBook U810 takes a different approach, mimicking a traditional laptop's design, shrunk down to a 5.6-inch swiveling touch screen, along with a fairly full-featured keyboard, fingerprint reader, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi (but no mobile broadband yet). It also runs Intel's mobile A110 CPU, which may account for its sometimes sluggish performance, as even full-size, dual-core laptops can struggle with Windows Vista. Though certainly ambitious, the U810 suffers from the same flaws we've seen in every UMPC to date, most notably, the awkward input options make it nearly impossible to take advantage of the full-fledged OS. Another, we found the 5.6-inch screen to be too small for everyday use and a bit too large for a portable Internet tool (perhaps the iPhone is better suited for that task). Still, for under $1,000, this is the best UMPC deal we've seen to date.
| Price as reviewed / Starting price | $999 |
| Processor | 800MHz Intel A110 |
| Memory | 1GB, 400MHz DDR2 |
| Hard drive | 40GB 4,200rpm |
| Chipset | Intel 945 |
| Graphics | Mobile Intel Express 945GM (integrated) |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Premium |
| Dimensions (WDH) | 6.6 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches |
| Screen size (diagonal) | 5.6 inches |
| System weight / Weight with AC adapter [pounds] | 1.6/2.2 pounds |
| Category | UMPC |
Despite its diminutive size, the U810 shares a basic design with full-size laptops. Its closest cousin is probably the Vulcan FlipStart 1.0, which has more of a clamshell design. The U810 is slightly wider and deeper than the FlipStart, but also thinner by about half an inch. The unit is small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, but a large battery protruding from the rear mars the silhouette and may make it harder to stow.
Our review unit had a black keyboard tray and screen bezel, with a matte white lid, but that particular color scheme will not be available to U.S. consumers. Instead, the American versions will be all black, based on some consumer research by Fujitsu that led the company to conclude that the white look for gadgets is definitely out (come to think of it, none of the latest iPods are white, either, so they may be on to something).
The keyboard is clearly the biggest innovation on the U810, and it is far better than the tic-tac style keys found on devices like the Samsung Q1 Ultra and the FlipStart. While miniaturized, the U810's keys are the same general shape and style as any other laptops, and measure half an inch across. Unfortunately, to squeeze the keyboard into such a tiny space, several compromises had to be made, and many keys are forced to do double or triple duty. Some of the alt-key choices are annoying, others downright bizarre. Our biggest gripes are that the Tab key (double mapped to the space bar) and the arrow keys (double mapped to punctuation keys) require you to hold down a function key to access them. When scrolling through Web pages or working with Web forms, the up and down arrows and Tab key are vitally important, and having them mapped as secondary functions of other keys is a clear mistake. Despite this, we still found the keyboard on the U810 to be the easiest UMPC keyboard we've seen to date, in terms of text input, whether using it as a regular laptop keyboard or holding the unit in your hands and using your thumbs, BlackBerry-style.
Other input options include the touch screen, which works with your finger or the included stylus, or a pointing stick and mouse buttons, which are located at the back of the keyboard tray. The pointing stick's location is a bit out of the way for regular use, but it keeps the pointer and mouse buttons available when the lid is folded down in tablet mode (more on that in a minute). There are also tiny page-up and page-down buttons next to the pointing stick, which still don't make up for the lack of arrow keys on the keyboard.
We still think the Vulcan FlipStart offers the best input options and interface of any UMPC because it provides both a ThinkPad-style pencil eraser nub and a tiny 1.5-inch touch pad. We stand by our opinion that the pointing stick preference (and the ability to use one) is largely a generational issue, with older users who fondly recall IBM ThinkPad pointing sticks having a marked advantage over those of us who came of age in the touch-pad era.
As the U810 is a convertible laptop, the screen swivels around on a sturdy central hinge. The hinge only turns clockwise--we're generally in favor of bidirectional hinges on tablets. The screen itself measures 5.6 inches and has a native resolution of 1,024x600, which provides for a good balance of screen real estate and readability. The thick bezel surrounding the screen mars the look somewhat, adding nearly an inch on either side of the display. The extra space does, however, allow for a fingerprint reader and stylus to be built into the lid.
| Fujitsu U810 | Average for category [UPMC] | |
| Video | None | VGA-out |
| Audio | headphone/microphone jacks | headphone/microphone jacks |
| Data | 1 USB 2.0, SD card reader and CF card reader. | 2 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD or multiformat memory card reader |
| Expansion | None | None |
| Networking | Ethernet (via dongle), 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. | modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN |
| Optical drive | None | None |
With such a small footprint, you're not going to find a lot of ports and connections built into the LifeBook U810. There's only one USB port and no video output, but you do get both SD card and CF card slots (although we don't know who still uses compact flash). Fujitsu says mobile broadband is coming in the near future, via AT&T, but for an ultramobile device such as this, clearly meant to be used on the go, we'd rather see it at launch.
To make up for the lack of connections on the actual unit, Fujitsu offers an $80 docking station that adds four extra USB ports, a VGA out, and an Ethernet jack (there's also a small portable dongle for using an Ethernet cable with the U810 itself).The dock also holds the system at a raised angle for easy viewing (which we put to good use this past weekend referencing online mojito recipes with the U810 sitting in its dock on the kitchen counter).
With Intel's new 800MHz A110 CPU, specifically designed for mobile devices like smart phones and UMPCs, the LifeBook U810 takes a step away from previous UMPCs, which used typical laptop CPUs. The difference can most clearly be seem when the U810 struggles a bit with Windows Vista, particularly during the long start-up time, which took nearly 2 minutes. We were able to surf the Web and work on office documents without any slowdown, but in CNET Labs' benchmark tests, it fell behind the Vulcan FlipStart and Sony VAIO UX390, which both had low-power laptop processors, only besting the OQO model 02 with its sluggish VIA CPU.
The LifeBook U810 ran for 3 hours and 15 minutes on our DVD battery drain test, using an external USB-powered DVD drive and the included four-cell battery. That's impressive for such a tiny system, and on par with the Sony VAIO and FlipStart, but the U810 requires an unsightly battery that sticks out from the back of the system. Bear in mind our DVD battery drain test is especially grueling, so you can expect longer life from casual Web surfing and office use.
Fujitsu includes an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the system. Support is accessible through a 24/7 toll-free phone line, and a Web site with online chat, a knowledge base, and driver downloads. Three years of coverage costs and extra $179, while adding on-site service runs $50 per year.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Find out more about how we test laptops.
Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Windows Vista Home Premium; 800MHz Intel A110; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; 64MB Mobile Intel 945GM/GU Express; 40GB Toshiba 4,200rpm
Vulcan FlipStart 1.0 Windows XP Professional; 1.1GHz Intel Pentium M Ultra Low Voltage; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; 64MB Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS/910GML Express; 30GB Toshiba 4,200rpm
OQO model 02 Windows Vista Ultimate Edition; 1.5GHz VIA C7M Ultra Low Voltage; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 64MB VIA/SG3 UniChrome Pro II IGP; 60GB Hitachi 4,200rpm
Sony VAIO UX390 Windows Vista Business Edition; 1.33GHz Intel Core Solo U1500; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; 224MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express; 32GB NAND Flash Memory
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16out of 16 user reviews
It's a GREAT portable computer to take on the go!
Pros: Great battery life, Great operating system (yes Vista), Very light weight Great features.
Cons: Keyboard, small harddrive, more USB outlets and S-video.
out of 16 user reviews
Have tiny fingers and good eyes?
Pros: Embedded 3g slot
Weight
Size
Cons: Keyboard
mouse
minute screen resolution
sluggish feel under Win Vista
dissapointing battery life
Battery not swapable without full shut down
restart take time
The keyboard is too limited, the tab key isn't there and you'll find yourself fat fingering "q" all the time as that is where the tab key would be. Arrow key are accessable via function key, and the home and end keys are missing, further hampering your computing experience. In fact the key size is too big to be a thumb keyboard but too small to touch type.
The touch screen doesn't interface the way I'd like to interface. You press an icon on the fujitsu's screen and a mouse image pops up and then you need to double click the cartoon mouse buttons to open a program three steps. Handwriting recognition is very good, but it feels like a parlor trick, as this is not a practical way to enter data.
The mouse is a thumb pointer on the right shoulder of the machine and the mouse buttons are on the left shoulder. All mouse functions require two hands. The pointer is tappable, but I find it inadervtantly gets tapped, so I've disabled it.
Interefacing with this machine is incredibly frustrating, and for that reason I would avoid it.
If I had a time machine and could go back, I would get something Toshiba Portege r100 sized. This is just too small.
out of 16 user reviews
REALLY PORTABLE POWERFUL UMPC
Pros: FAR better than other UMPC on the market and blows away the asus EEE pc 701s
Cons: absolutely none. this is a UMPC not a laptop replacement (BUT, this is currently the only laptop i own and i use it everyday)
out of 16 user reviews
A nearly perfect hybrid
Pros: Small size, full keyboard, huge 5 hour battery life, screen crisp and clear at 1024x600 resolution
Cons: Double mapped arrow keys, unfortunate air vent and dongle positions, overly reflective screen, awkward stylus
The screen is beautiful, very sharp and crisp, but not perfect. It is quite reflective, which makes it hard on the eyes if you're near a window or bright light source. The optimum viewing angle is also pretty small. By optimum, I mean showing maximum contrast and vibrancy of color. It is still legible out side of the optimum, but faded, and combined with the reflectivity of the screen can be hard on the eyes. Ideally you want the screen to be tilted slightly upward, not parallel to your face.
The touch screen is wonderful, but a little hard to calibrate because we're dealing with such a large resolution on a relatively small screen. 1024x600 on a screen that is only 5.6" across is pretty amazing, but makes precision pointing tricky. I'm used to it because I often ran my Asus 730w in real VGA mode, doubling its native resolution, but the average user might have to practice a bit with the stylus and mouse to hit those tiny menu buttons.
Some users have reported lag with the touch screen. This is actually a feature of the power saving that you can turn off. If the screen hasn't been touched in a few minutes, it turns off and needs to be "woken up" in order to receive input. This is the lag you're seeing. It is not a bug.
The keyboard is another much maligned aspect of this device. I find it to be perfect. I have small hands, and I can touch type on this with little problem. I've only had it a few days, and I estimate my WPM to be around 55-65. My WPM on a full sized keyboard is around 75-80, so I expect with a little practice I can get very close to my normal typing speed. If you've got small hands and/or dexterous fingers, you will have no problem adjusting.
The only drawback with the keyboard is the fact that a lot of important keys are double mapped, such as the arrow and tab keys. This makes editing kind of a pain. You're also missing the end and home keys, but thankfully some of the buttons are reprogramable allowing you to get that functionality back.
Otherwise, use it in tablet mode and enable the handwriting recognition! It's excellent. I can't believe how much it's improved over the last few years. It's nearly 100% word-perfect despite the fact that my penmanship has been compared to that of a drunken monkey. The only hitch is that it relies on dictionary spellings to correct/guess the words you're writing, which means that if you're using esoteric terms or making up your own (e.g. while programming) you will have to write legibly because the software will likely guess wrong.
The mouse is one of the few things about the device that does not make me happy. The nipple (AKA pointing stick) and air vents reside in a very close proximity to one another. This means it is very easy to accidentally block them with your hand. Luckily, the screen is touch sensitive so you can always use the stylus, or resort to your fingernail if needed.
Performance, so far, has been very good. It is very responsive running Vista Home Premium, but I have yet to do anything with it that requires more processing power than web browsing and document editing. Start up time is about a minute and a half, which I think is very acceptable considering the specs. Nonetheless, I will "downgrade" to XP to get the most out of this device.
Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and I think it is a nearly perfect device. No, it's not quite a PDA, nor is it a full blown laptop, but I think it has made compromises in all the right places. If you can handle the keyboard and aren't expecting a speed demon, it is an excellent choice.
out of 16 user reviews
Forcing me to use vista should be illegal
Pros: Great hardware, good battery life.
Cons: Worst operating system ever!
Always Always Always check your screen for dead pixels! If I had not done that on the way out of the store I would have discovered that they had repackaged the laptop when I got all the way home.... Microcenter had their logons on both units we went through…It took me 45 minutes to get out of the store with a new unit.
The other thing is this. I had to really grind away on the unit to get it where it was fairly serviceable. Windows vista is a flaming piece of garbage that seems to be windows ME reincarnated.
I have had one hell of a time trying to find windows xp tablet edition …and I plan to remove vista as it is the worst os I have ever seen.
What is good is I was able to boot from a cd rom using my own external usb cdrom. That I put together from an external cd rom case I got from fry's …I did how ever change the boot priority in bios to the cd rom device as the first boot device.... To get to the bios just press fn and f2 a couple times during reboot. And you can figure it out from there….
I plan to order tablet edition xp from new egg and I suggest that those of you who hate vista do the same….
With vista on this machine I can not control my telescope or run any of the software that I legally purchased. I can not plug in my telescope’s usb camera or even run my lcars desktop beta without a crash. I cant even plug in my stamp 2 programmer! It wont talk to it.
In short: Microsoft is trying to push vista on everyone. Its is almost impossible to find xp tablet in the stores I have checked the entire dfw area. Nobody has it that I could find. That is stupid. Because more and more people will switch over to MAC or Linux if they keep forcing the issue. I know I will, and I work in IT… NOBODY likes vista except for aolers and dorks.
Here is a tip Fujitsu people. Dump vista, this type of unit appeals to I.t. people and geeks and we don’t like vista the term we use a lot is. UPGRADE TO XP.!
Veronicca
Updated on Feb 2, 2009Awfull what else can I say. this computer sucks in a big way. I Have had nothing but trouble since I got it. I am feeling ripped off right now and I compare this pc to the 80s hundai of pcs out there. it sucks and peorple need to know that fujitsu is a sack of sh(&%
out of 16 user reviews
I loved it. It does everything one could expect from an equipment this size.
Pros: Very handy buttons, brilliant screen with a very good resolution, reasonable response (considering Vista), SD card reader and a small but functional keyboard.
Cons: plastic cap to USB port is difficult to open, only one USB port,
Very good value return for this category of equipment.
out of 16 user reviews
I love this lil computer!
Pros: Portability (small size), versatility, long battery life (5 hrs), touch screen w/ stylus, fingerprint scan (which opens it)
Cons: Keys are smaller than regular size, making typing harder. Also, many keys double function, only one USB port
out of 16 user reviews
Great mini laptop, loaded value
Pros: Features, usability, size
Cons: Performance
The U810 handles basic web browsing, email, MS Office, digital music and media like a champ. Just limit the number of apps open at once, along with some Vista tweaking, and you'll be fine. Had some problems with the power button awakening the U810 from Sleep, but resolved with a quick call to Fujitsu support. Another reason I chose the U810 was to have a portable device for digital audio recording in the field (as a musician), and it works well with the M-Audio MobilePre USB interface.
Suggestion: Get the leather protection case from Fujitsu, $59 and definitely worth it.
out of 16 user reviews
Very cool little machine with limitations
Pros: Typical Fujitsu quality, flexibility, having access to all PC applications in small form factor
Cons: CF card reader problems
I love it on airplanes (I sit in the cheap seats, so any boneheads who recline their chairs had effectively prevented me from working on my other laptop). You can work with it in a standard laptop configuration (on the table with keyboard and screen), held in your hands, or as a tablet. I find I use all three at different times and different situations, sometimes switching in the middle of a task. I thought I would settle on one preferred style, but having the flexibility is nice.
Another surprise is how often I use the tablet. I’ve never used windows tablet before and my handwriting is terrible, but I’ve found the recognition software to be very robust. (Mind you, I still need to do some post note taking edits). I now use it for note taking in meetings which was an unexpected application for me.
Like dougwf I find the wireless signal deteriorates over intermediate distances that my VAIO handles with aplomb.
I have never been able to consistently use fingerprint readers – I end up swiping my thumb and every other finger multiple times before getting anything readable. The Fujitsu was no exception so I unloaded the software.
The screen is crisp and gorgeous but I am a middle aged guy with reading glasses and trust me, you will need your reading glasses as well. However, this is the price you pay for the form factor. If you haven’t worked with small form machines before, realize that any task will take longer only because keyboard maneuvers are more intricate, and a stylus cannot match the performance of a mouse.
One of the major problems is the CF card reader. Having a built in CF reader was a major selling point for me. My thinking was that a few 16 mb cards in my pocket would readily compensate for the small 40 GB hard drive. But the U810 cannot handle high capacity, high speed cards. Apparently the highest read and write speed are around 2MB/s so it’s really a useless appendage. Even at that speed, I can only access a fraction of the files I have on the card. Very disappointed.
This has been a major issue raised on other forums and from what I gather, Fujitsu is struggling to develop a fix.
see http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1743&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&start=0
Hard drive runs hot – in the 40-50+ degree C range, depending on amount of HD access.
Build quality is very good. I’ve owned Fujitsu before and they are consistently well built machines. Contrary to one of the other reports about poor service, I’ve found their call centers to be responsive.
out of 16 user reviews
Very capable UMPC
Pros: Convenient form factor, decent battery life, SD card slot, Decent HD size, touch screen, biometrics
Cons: Only 800mhz processor, low in ram department, poor wifi
out of 16 user reviews
If I could only replace the keyboard
Pros: Size, Clear Screen, Full OS
Cons: Keyboard Mapping/Size is Terrible
The form factor of the U810 seemed perfect surfing, IM, emailing and reading ebooks. Unfortunately, the keyboard isn't really suited for typing while holding or on a desktop. This issue is serious enough to have cut into my usage of the device.
I originally intended to swap my Toshiba M200 out of normal mobile usage for the U810, but without the ability to type freely, it's not going to happen. Now, I'm left to figure out the best way to use it. I could easily connect it to an external keyboard, but then I lose a layer of portability. Tab and Space share a key?!?
Without this shortcoming, I could have easily given this product an 8.
out of 16 user reviews
For $950 it's a STEAL. i LoVe it!
Pros: Size, Bright screen, wifi,bluetooth 2.0, fingerprint sensor,webcamera and more,
Cons: Keyboard takes some getting use too. 800 mhz,1 usb port.
out of 16 user reviews
Ok, but could some improvements would help
Pros: Fingerprint security, good battery life, lightweight
Cons: Fujitsu zoom utility is useless. Scroll keys too small. Tablet mode weakens wireless reception
1. It works well as an ebook device. I find the screen size adequate and quite readable. When reading ebooks or other documents, I am finding that battery life is acceptable (seems to be as advertised in the 4 to 5 hr range --- IF wireless adapter is turned off while reading).
2. Functions well to browse the internet because it is a full computer running Windows Vista. I downloaded Firefox and the performance is surprisingly fast, given the resources already in use by Vista.
I chose Vista over XP because of the reported improvements to Tablet features in Vista vs XP Tablet PC. Since I am a new 'tablet' user I cannot verify any difference, it is only what I have read.
A VERY nice unexpected feature for me is the 'Sleep' mode of Vista that is supposedly a combination of Standby and Hibernate in previous Windows versions. This removes the boot process almost entirely, and combined with the fingerprint login, I can simply open the device, swipe my finger, and be back on, usually within 10 to 20 seconds. To me, this is a big advantage over normal login process because of small keyboard that requires looking at the keyboard even as a touch typist.
Unfortunately, I am finding that wireless receptions diminishes when I fold the u810 into tablet mode and hide the keyboard. I have not read of any other complaints of this problem, so maybe it is unique to mine. However, it happens EVERY time...and if I am more than ~50ft from the signal source, I will generally lose my connections. I would be curious to know if others experience the same problem.
The u810 has 2 FN scroll buttons on the upper right. While it was a great idea, I find the 'raised' FN key to get in the way when scrolling down (with the left scroll key). Hitting the left scroll key by itself scrolls one line at a time, hitting the FN key first and then the scroll key creates a page down sequence. Unfortunately, they are so close (and since they are thumb operated) that sometimes my thumb will simultaneously hit the FN key and cause a 'page' down scroll instead of a line by line scroll...forcing me to scroll back up. A thumbwheel scroll on the side of the device would have been VERY nice in comparison. Also, for internet browsing, a hard 'back' and 'forward' key would have made it even better.
I have also found that the machine does heat up after about 20 minutes which can also be annoying.
All in all I am happy with the device, but disappointed with the wireless reception in tablet mode. I enjoy sitting and being able to read (e-books or Internet) while relaxing and watching television at the same time or to lay in bed and read. I always found a full laptop to be too big and cumbersome to do the same. This device works very well for both.
out of 16 user reviews
Finally, a useable UMPC
Pros: Good screen, great keyboard, multiple input devices
Cons: None yet - time will tell
out of 16 user reviews
Avoid Fujitsu -- no support of Product
Pros: Nice and Light Laptops
Cons: Fujitsu Abandons its Products
So now I have a $1,500 paperweight.
out of 16 user reviews
Want it! This is just too cool
Pros: I have been waiting for this forever
Cons: The keyboard looks a bit weird
