Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 Review

[Tiffany Boggs]

Fujitsu recently announced the addition of the LifeBook T5010 to their Tablet PC line-up. The T5010 is the successor to the T4220 and it sports a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor. The T5010 also has a 13.3" active digitizer display that is very nice looking. This business focused tablet is great for taking notes and giving presentations. Check out what we think about this sleek new LifeBook and how it performs.

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Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 Tablet PC specs as reviewed (starting price $1,769):

• Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz processor
• Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 MHD graphics
• 2GB RAM
• 80GB, 5400rpm hard drive
• 13.3-inch WXGA active digitizer display (1280x800)
• Windows Vista Business OS
• Bluetooth
• 1x 15-pin D-SUB connector for VGA external monitor
• 3x USB 2.0
• 1x DC In connector
• 1x IEEE 1394 (4-pin type) jack
• 1x LAN (RJ-45) connector
• 1x modem (RJ-11) connector (on certain configurations)
• Docking port (100-pin, to dock with port replicator)
• 1x stereo headphone jack
• 1x stereo microphone/line-in jack
• PCMCIA Card slot for one Type I or Type II card
• Memory Stick/SD Card slot
• Dedicated Smart Card slot
• Battery: standard 6-cell Lithium-Ion
• Dimensions: 12.56" x 9.61" x 1.44/1.52”
• Weight: 4 pounds 13 ounces with battery

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Design and Build

The LifeBook T5010 has a solid design. The chassis is sturdy and it doesn't feel cheap. The model we have is a preproduction unit, but I haven't noticed any problems with it yet. It has a sleek appearance, but nothing fancy or high-gloss like with HP tablets. The T5010 has a black lid, silver palm rest area and the keyboard has white keys.

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It converts to tablet mode easily and only weighs in around 4.5lbs. It has that simplistic feel to it. Great for taking notes and browsing the Web, very functional. It has a good variety of features, but the price may need to drop a little more to entice consumers. However, I think the T1010, the T5010's baby brother, is focused more toward the consumer market. The T5010 is more for business users, although it would be great for college students as well.

Display

The T5010 has a nice 13.3-inch display. I always love Fujitsu's screens. The colors are bright and vivid. It's very easy to read and has a resolution of 1280 x 800. The screen has a little reflection to it, but nothing major. Some users prefer the gloss screens. I like that there isn't much graininess because that is a huge plus for a tablet. It makes the screen look more like a notebook.

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The T5010 has an active digitizer and the pen is very accurate. I had no problems opening applications or taking notes with it. The bi-directional hinge is sturdy and a bonus feature unlike any other tablet except Fujitsu's because the screen can rotate in both directions, great for presentations. The viewing angles are good as well. You get a little color bleed on the right side of the screen, but not much. Even in tablet mode the screen is easy to read and it automatically changes orientation.

Performance and Benchmarks

The LifeBook T5010 sports an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz processor and a 80GB hard drive. Well, this preproduction model we have does. I would go with the better processor and hard drive option if I was purchasing one though. It also has the Centrino vPro technology. I thought browsing the Web was fast and easy and even downloading benchmarks went fairly quick. It's PCMark score is good and it didn't have any problems running multiple applications. I did notice the left side of the keyboard and palm rest do get pretty warm when running benchmarks and the fan runs too. It's a nice work-horse as long as the battery life stays acceptable.

Comparison Results for PCMark05

PCMark05 measures the systems performance as a whole. As you can see the T5010 is on top of the competition with the new Centrino 2 processor technology.

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz, Mobile Intel 4500 MHD graphics)	4,864 PCMarks
HP tx2500 (AMD Turion X2 Ultra 2.4GHz, ATI HD 3200 graphics)	3, 873 PCMarks
HP tx2000 (AMD Turion 64 X2 2.3GHz, Nvidia Go 6150 graphics)	3,738 PCMarks
Asus R1E (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz, GMA 965 chipset)	4,679 PCMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.2GHz, GMA X3100 graphics)	2,334 PCMarks
Gateway C-140x (Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz, ATI X2300 HD graphics)	4,342 PCMarks
HP Compaq 2710p (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.2GHz, GMA X3100 graphics)	2,453 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz, GMA X3100 graphics)	3,473 PCMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz, GMA X3100 graphics)	4,171 PCMarks
Gateway E-155C (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.06GHz, Intel GMA 950 graphics)	2,205 PCMarks
Toshiba R400 (Intel Core Duo ULV 1.2GHz, Intel GMA 950 graphics)	2,187 PCMarks
HP tx1000 (AMD Turion X2 2.0GHz, Nvidia Go 6150)	3,052 PCMarks
Toshiba Tecra M6 (1.66GHz Intel T2300E, Intel GMA 950)	2,732 PCMarks

 

Comparison Results for 3Dmark05

3DMark05 tests the overall graphic capabilities of a notebook.

Notebook	3DMark 05 Results
Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 (2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, Mobile Intel 4500 MHD graphics)	1,520 3DMarks
HP tx2500 (2.4GHz AMD Turion X2 Ultra, ATI HD 3200 graphics)	1,622 3DMarks
HP tx2000 (2.3GHz AMD Turion 64 X2, Nvidia Go 6150 graphics)	636 3DMarks
Asus R1E (2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, GMA 965 chipset)	923 3DMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, GMA X3100 graphics)	566 3DMarks
Gateway C-140x (2GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI X2300 HD graphics)	1,956 3DMarks
HP Compaq 2710p (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, GMA X3100 graphics)	634 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (1.6GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA X3100 graphics)	812 3DMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 (2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA X3100 graphics)	925 3DMarks
Gateway E-155C (1.06GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA 950)	500 3DMarks
LG C1 (1.2GHz Intel Core Duo, Nvidia Go 7300)	1,392 3DMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook S2210 (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52, ATI x1150)	810 3DMarks
PortableOne UX (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA 950)	590 3DMarks
Toshiba Satellite A135 (1.73GHz Core Duo, Intel GMA 950)	519 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,092 3DMarks

 

wPrime results:

 

HDTune Results:

 

Keyboard/Touchpad/Pen

The LifeBook T5010 keyboard is solid and doesn't show any signs of flex. The keys are flat and it is easy to type on. The keys are white though, which isn't a favorite of mine because they get dirty easily and sometimes can be hard to read in poorly lite areas. The keys are normal sized except the Fn key and the PgUp key shares function with the Home key as does the PgDn key with the End key. The left side of the keyboard can get warm too, but I will explain that in the Heat section.

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The touchpad on the T5010 is responsive. I like that it is indented in the palm rest area, so your finger doesn't loose its place. The touchpad has a textured feel to it as well, which hides your fingerprint grease. The right and left click buttons work as expected, but do have that cheap plastic feel.

The pen that comes with the T5010 is your standard tablet pen. It is made of a solid lightweight plastic and is easy to write with. It is accurate on the screen with the digitizer and it even has an eraser, so you can flip the pen over and erase away those mistakes. A bonus when you're in a hurry and trying to take notes fast.

Tablet Features

In tablet mode the T5010 is easy to carry around and great for note-taking. The screen is bright and can be rotated in both directions. The webcam is fun to use for chatting with family and friends while away on business or at college. Since it's a tablet and the screen can turn in either direction, the webcam can take pics of your surroundings without moving the notebook.

The active digitizer works accurately with the pen, but beware the pen sometimes gets stuck in its silo. There are a couple of programmable buttons on the screen of the T5010, which make for great shortcuts when in tablet mode and the keyboard is covered. The speakers don't get covered in tablet mode, so you still can get some sound, although I recommend using headphones.

Heat and Noise

The T5010 does put out some heat. Remember I have a preproduction unit though, so this may get fixed. The left side of the keyboard and palm rest area get pretty warm. Enough that typing can get to be uncomfortable. I noticed it getting really warm when I was running benchmarks or over-working the tablet. The bottom gets a little warm, but not like the keyboard area and it only seems to be the left side where the vent is. One a cold day it might be nice, but during these hot summer days the heat from the T5010 is uncomfortable. When the T5010 isn't in High Performance mode it doesn't get as hot, but the performance gets knocked down a notch.

The T5010 isn't a loud tablet at all. It makes noise though when working. When running multiple applications or benchmarks the fan definitely was kicking on and off. It sounded like I was blow drying my hair. In a class room environment this may get annoying to your peers. However, when the T5010 is set to save battery power on Balanced mode, the fan doesn't kick on as much. So if you don't want to hear the fan kick on and off multiple times just changed the power settings.

Ports

The T5010 has a nice array of ports. I know some users will want more, but it does have the basics. The optical drive is swappable for the optional 6-cell battery too. I know an HDMI port would be nice, it does seem like Fujitsu is a little behind the times.

Front view of the T5010. (view large image)

Left side view of the ports. (view large image)

Right side view, optical drive. (view large image)

Back view of the ports. (view large image)

Underneath of the T5010. (view large image)

Battery

The T5010 stands up to everyday life, but in High Performance mode you are going to need your power brick. In High Performance mode I got under two hours of life (1 hour 40 minutes). Once you change the settings to Balanced mode you get a nice boost in life and still enough performance to do everyday tasks. I was getting almost four hours in Balanced mode and the Power Saver gives you even more, but I find it hard to work with such a dim screen. You can always get the extra modular bay battery to for all day computing power.

Speakers

The speakers don't get covered in tablet mode on the T5010, so you can still listen to music. However, I recommend going with headphones, this isn't an entertainment tablet. At high volume levels the music sounds distorted. This isn't an iTunes machine, but with a good pair of headphones you could listen to music quietly or view videos. The speakers run across the backside of the tablet under the screen, so even in notebook mode they still put out decent sound.

Wireless

The wireless features worked fine on the T5010. I had no problems connecting at my office or home. The Atheros XSPAN (802.11a/b/g/draft-n) works well. You can also get Intel WiFi Link 5300 AGN as an option. No matter where I went I could connect to a network and the antenna strength is pretty strong too because my neighbors network kept popping up, not that I used it. Bluetooth comes on the T5010 and is always a nice feature for those external devices like wireless mice.

Conclusion

Overall my impressions of the T5010 are positive. It rendered Web pages fast and browsed through applications with no problems except the left side of the keyboard getting excessively warm. The new processor update is a bonus. It has a solid design and I like the bi-directional hinge and 13.3" display. As I mentioned Fujitsu has nice bright screens.

It does have the Wacom active digitizer unlike the T1010, which is passive. For being the successor to the LifeBook T4220 though I don't like the pen location. It gets stuck in the silo sometimes. The design is similar though, except for the black lid, which seems to be trademark for Fujitsu now. Their tablets and notebooks have that simple yet functional look, as the T5010 does.

Pros

• Vivid, bright colored active digitizer display
• Solid design, functional and simple
• Bi-directional hinge
• Modular bay swappable battery option

Cons

• Left side of keyboard and palm rest get hot
• Pen can get stuck in silo

Pricing and Availability

The LifeBook T5010 is available now for ordering on Fujitsu's website. Pricing starts at $1,769 for the basic configuration.

[SimsHsia]

Interesting to see that the release switch for the modular bay peripheral is on the bottom as opposed the LifeBook T4200 series' release switch is on the side. It appears, by using powers of logic, that to remove the said modular peripheral, one flips the switch to "unlock" and then pull the peripheral out.

It also seems like the memory panel is a bit smaller than the memory panels that the T4200 series and T2010 have, or it could just be my eyes. Either that or Fujitsu is now stacking two memory modules close together (a la Gateway C200X series) or have one accessible slot on the bottom and the other below the keyboard. Anyways, after reading the manual, it appears that Fujitsu is doing the former option (rather than the latter) of "stacking" the memory modules on top of each other -- at least from what I can tell from the figures on page 88.

An interesting find I see from the T5010's manual is the inclusion of a dust filter near the CPU fan (right of the yellow warning sticker, left to the circular object which can only be the heatsink fan), the manual only states that it stops any dirt or dust from entering the system -- and it's user-removable so they are able to clean it out every once in a while. Hmm.

I also can't seem to find a method to get to the hard drive, which I guess is left to the battery, my take on it is that you have to remove the two screws underneath the display release latch, then possibly the screw to the left of area left to where the hard drive is. Anyways, I'm getting to in to the upgradability of the T5010 than the new features like that scroll sensor on the display bezel, optional 1.3MP webcam, Firewire, and etc.

Anyways, I'm unable to see any of the speakers, but the manual states there are two (25mm x 16mm) of them somewhere in there.

And, yes, it's an LED backlit display (as expected).

[kureshii]

It saddens me to see the pen moved to a silo, and to see this iteration wider than the T4220 but not slimmer (which would be obvious due to the larger screen size). It's nice to see the rest of the specifications updated, especially the LED-backlit screen, though.

I think it's about time to start saving up for another tablet (even if it's not a Fujitsu T-series)

[AmbiDextrose]

Could someone please review/revisit the 3DMark05 scores for the Fujitsu T5010, specially when compared to the HP TX2500? According to the (previous) review of the TX2500 as seen here:

http://www.tabletpcreview.com/defaul...vilion+tx2500z

the HP TX2500 scored a 3DMark05 score of 2914 and a 3DMark06 score of 1520. Furthermore, the drivers used by the T5010's X4500HD IGP is still (probably) version not optimized when compared to the (relatively) mature drivers for the TX2500's ATI HD3200 IGP.

[tebutts]

Tiffany,

Was the unit you tested the indoor screen or the indoor/outdoor? Is there a difference between the two in display characteristics other than in daylight visibility? I have never seen an indoor/outdoor screen and I would like to know if you give something up to get the daylight visibility.

Also, pardon my ignorance, but does the processor and RAM have any effect on the 3D score? In other words, would the T9600 processor upgrade available and 4 GB of RAM improve the 3D performance at all, or is it strictly a function of the graphics chip? Do you think the 3D mark will improve with a true production model?

Thanks.

[DRTigerlilly]

I agree with tebutts, that its hard to have an accurate representation particularly if the machines are not at least similarly spec'd.

It would be interesting to see how the t5010 performs w/ more memory though it is obvious from the pc marks score that the processor does give it an edge overall.

[justauser]

Seems a bit heavy and there is no mention about the weight of the power supply. On the 4220, the power supply is a brick and adds too much to travel weight.

[Frank]

It looks like the indoor version. I think it's the same like with the T2010. Indoor is AG, indoor/outdoor is AR. And this display looks like AG. But we will see what Tiffany says.

3D score: More ram does not mean better 3D scores. If you look at the comparison I made then you'll see higher scores with the 4GB, but I don't think it's because of the additional 2GB, it's rather because of the active dual channel. I don't know how much RAM the IGP uses but I don't think more than 2GB The limiting factor is bandwidth. So if Dual Channel was active then everything is fine.

[waka75]

AmbiDextrose - I saw that too. There were actually 2 reviews done one was a user review by RexOrbis2 which you linked to and a TabletPC review done by Tiffany which is here. During Tiffany's review she mentioned that the review unit had IGP problem which attributed to the lower 3DMark05 score. She mentions it in her review:

After a week of constant attempts by our editorial staff of technical experts to diagnose the problem (including multiple driver updates and replacing the system RAM), it was determined that the Radeon HD 3200 in our review unit was not operating properly due to a hardware malfunction. In other words, our tx2500 is going to have to go back to HP for repair or replacement.

So she is still using the score that was done by the her review. Personally, I would like to see an update concerning the problem. But that's what I looked at so far.

[encorevous?]

From the review, I'm a bit concerned with heat and noise.
I mean, fan sounds like a hair dryer, keyboard uncomfortably hot...
I'd like to get user's comments on this; how does it compare to the 4220 in that aspect?

Hot, noisy, low-res, large, widescreen...
So much for that LED sxga montevina t4220 I was hoping for.
5010 is indeed starting to sound like a step back.


But I'll probably end up getting one anyway, now that I seem to have missed my chance for a t4220 sxga, which is not available anymore on fujitsu canada.



And by the way, not that big an issue but, has the digitizer been improved in any way on the 5010?


Thanks,
P