The E8010H is one notebook that delivers both power and performance. It provides the connectivity that even lower-end desktops cannot match.
The E8010H is one heck of a notebook to own. This desktop replacement kicks in with a whole range of ports to cater to most needs. We have to applaud this notebook for delivering the performance, battery life and features that are so desired in its counterparts. A DVD burner supporting all formats is thrown in. Even the graphics card is a dedicated one. Although this is one heavy and expensive laptop, kudos to Fujitsu for a job well done.
Fujitsu's heavyweight is no eye-catcher at first sight. Its gargantuan 333 x 285 x 32.2 mm form and 3kg bulk in a silver plastic casing is a strong turn-off for one on the move. A massive 15-inch screen lies beneath the lid providing ample screen space.
A touchpad with a two-direction scroll button is located beneath the keyboard. Adorned above the keys are the speakers, five quick launch buttons and a power button. As a contrast to other notebooks with bright LEDs to indicate battery life and hard disk activity, a narrow LCD panel is where this information is displayed. Another negative point is that the volume controls can be accessed by means of only the Function key.
The E8010H packs in the latest Dothan-based Pentium M Processor 735 1.7GHz. This Centrino notebook comes with 512MB RAM along with a massive 80GB hard drive. Gamers getting tired of notebooks with integrated graphics cards can rejoice. The ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 has 64MB of dedicated memory allowing smooth rendering of games such as FIFA 2004.
There is little to fault in terms of connectivity. The rear is decked with a serial, PS/2, parallel, VGA-out and three USB 2.0 ports, while the right edge includes two PC Card slots. If that is not enough, the left edge is adorned with another USB port, an S-video out, FireWire and a Secure Digital (SD) / MultiMediaCard (MMC) reader. Of course, if you are looking for perfection, support for other flash cards such as CompactFlash is lacking. For networking, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g wireless LAN, infrared and Gigabit Ethernet are all thrown into the package. The front comes with a switch to activate wireless networking along with an earphone-out/SPDIF and microphone-in. With the optional port replicator, the connectivity is similar to the rear of the notebook with the exception of a DVI-D slot and an extra USB port.
A multiformat DVD burner provides support for DVD±RW, DVD-RAM as well as CD-RW. The optical drive is removable and is located on the left edge.
For a desktop replacement, the E8010H was terrific in these two areas. Based on MobileMark 2002, the notebook clocked an outstanding performance rating of 224. For a desktop replacement, the battery life was equally striking. Although the manufacturer stated that its 8-cell battery was capable of up to 4.7 hours, the rating we obtained clocked 258 minutes (4.3 hours). According to Fujitsu, an optional modular bay battery will extend battery life up to 9 hours. As for 3DMark2003, the notebook hit a graphics performance rating of 2630 which ranks amongst the better 3D performers.
Together with Windows XP Home Edition, the E8010H is packed with software including Norman Virus Control, Norman Personal Firewall and Sonic RecordNow DX. DVD content management is managed with PowerDVD which plays DVDs and PowerProducer 2 for producing home movies and photos.
A three-year warranty comprising a one-year international carry-in (parts and labour) warranty along with a second and third-year local carry-in (parts only) warranty applies.
Fujitsu LifeBook E8010H
Company: Fujitsu
Price: AU$4,299
Phone: 1800 288 283
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