Given the number of budget laptops on the market today we're a bit confounded by the Fujitsu LifeBook V1010. Its low price is certainly attractive, and its light weight and mostly solid design look great -- in a vacuum.
But the V1010's minimal feature set and previous-generation components don't hold up all that well when compared to similarly priced systems. And for just hundreds of dollars more, users could buy the far more full-featured (though slightly heavier) LifeBook A6 series. Two advantages the LifeBook V1010 does offer are respectable battery life (especially for a budget laptop) and a beautiful display. But unless you're willing to sacrifice some connectivity and features for more computing time, you'd be better served by a different low-cost laptop, such as the LifeBook A6 series or the Lenovo 3000 N200.
Design
The boxy LifeBook V1010 features a black lid and silver base that will right fit in to business environments. The plastic case seems fairly well constructed, except for the lid, which flexes slightly under pressure; it's flexible enough that we'd worry about carrying the LifeBook V1010 in a tightly packed laptop bag. Still, the laptop's screen hinges and spill-resistant keyboard seem capable of standing up against everyday abuse. Its 2.8kg weight shaves a few grams off that of Fujitsu's 15-inch consumer LifeBook, the A6 series, and is reasonably light enough to carry on the occasional business trip.
The LifeBook V1010 features a 15.4-inch display with a fairly typical 1,280 x 800 pixel native resolution. Text and icons looked sharp and were large enough to read without squinting. Like most mainstream Fujitsu laptops, the V1010's screen produces remarkable colour saturation and contrast that makes movie-watching a pleasure. Of course, there's a small trade-off: the screen's glossy finish, partly responsible for its depth of colour, also produces slight reflections, particularly if you're working with a light source or window behind you. There is no option for a matte-screen finish, which is a noteworthy omission for a business system that is likely to see more spreadsheets than movies. The V1010 lacks the built-in Webcam found on higher-end LifeBooks, such as the A6 series.
The LifeBook V1010's case is wide enough to accommodate a full size keyboard. Typing was comfortable; the keys provided just enough resistance as well as a satisfying, yet muted, clickety-clack. The laptop's touchpad incorporates a rough surface that provided a bit too much drag for our tastes. However, we liked the V1010's ample mouse buttons, which drop down at the front, making it easier to press. Even on a business-focused system we'd expect to find a row of quick-launch keys or perhaps volume controls on the keyboard deck, but the LifeBook V1010 includes just a single "Support" button that launches a suite of diagnostic tools with links to Fujitsu's support Web site. The final feature of note on the keyboard deck: two speakers that emit tinny, disappointing sound.
Features
Only the most minimalist users will be satisfied with the ports and connections found on the LifeBook V1010. Fujitsu significantly pared down the laptop's feature set, opting not to include the S-Video and FireWire connections or the multi-format memory card reader found on similarly priced business machines. The V1010 also features just three USB ports, a number more commonly found on smaller, 14.1-inch laptops. Fujitsu's own LifeBook A6 series, which costs just slightly more than the V1010, includes all these plus a PC Card slot, two more USB ports, and support for Draft-N wireless.
Performance
The LifeBook V1010 has a 1.86GHz Pentium Dual Core T2130 and 1GB RAM, with the option to upgrade to a maximum 4GB RAM. The V1010 relies on integrated graphics, in this case Intel GMA950.
Like other LifeBooks, the V1010 produced a broad range of scores on CNET Labs' performance benchmarks. On our multimedia multitasking test it trailed the LifeBook A6 series, built on a more recent chipset and graphics, by 14 percent; however, it performed on par with the similarly priced Sony VAIO NR160. The LifeBook V1010 did quite well on the Photoshop test, on par with the LifeBook A6110 and ahead of similarly priced systems that only included 1GB of RAM. As with any modern laptop with a dual-core processor, the V1010 didn't suffer from any particular performance lags on typical productivity tasks, such as typing documents and surfing the Web.
We were more impressed by the Fujitsu LifeBook V1010's two hour, 17 minute battery life. That's about the amount of juice we'd expect from a higher-priced mainstream laptop, and it's on the high end of all the laptops in our sub-AU$1,500 roundup. It's also a notable advantage over the LifeBook A6 series, which lasted just an hour and a half. Our DVD battery drain test is especially gruelling, so you can expect even longer life from casual Web surfing and office use.
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