Design
The LifeBook T1010 is a curious creature from a design perspective. Open it up in traditional notebook style, and it looks rather like the current Macbook — all white plastic and not much in the way of an adorned logo. At the same time, the black highlights give it the curious look of 1970's technology — this is a system you can't mistake as being made from anything but plastic. Close the lid, and you're struck by the white striped pattern that adorns the back of the T1010. It's one of those design features that you'll either love or hate — one passer-by commented that it looked rather like a boiled sweet, an image we've been unable to shed.
Features
But is this a boiled sweet that you should suck upon, or spit out? From a features perspective, the T1010 doesn't offer a great deal to get too excited about. It runs on Windows Vista Business (with an XP Tablet Edition Downgrade disc in the box), features an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz processor, 2GB of memory, a 250GB SATA hard drive, multi-format DVD writer and integrated Intel GM45 graphics. The display is a 13-inch panel with a top resolution of 1,280x800, and as a tablet, it'll flip and twist down into a slate configuration.
On the networking front, the T1010 carries a Centrino 2 badge, so it utilises Intel's own home-grown WiFi Link 5300 chipset for 802.11b/g/n compatibility, along with Bluetooth and gigabit Ethernet. Three USB ports, one VGA port, standard microphone/headset inputs and a modem port finish out the T1010's connectivity options.
Performance
The T1010 offers an interesting mix of components, and so we weren't that shocked by its test results. Its score of 4,766 PC Marks in PCMark places it quite well amongst its tablet brethren, and points to a decent productivity machine. Put it up against standard notebooks and bear in mind the asking price and it's less interesting, however. The T1010's 3DMark 06 score of 907 PC Marks is what we'd expect out of its integrated graphics chip, but a clear sign that this isn't a multimedia powerhouse.
One area where the T1010 did manage a good showing was in our battery life test, where it managed a very solid two-and-a-half hours of DVD playback. That should be enough to get you through most movies, but critically, it also points to enough power to keep working for a solid period of time in between recharges, given that the DVD playback does test the battery in a pretty hard fashion.
Fujitsu offers a two-year nationwide pick up and return warranty, which is comparatively generous in the modern notebook marketplace, where single-year warranties (with paid extensions) are far more common.
Tablets do still command a price premium — something's got to pay for the touch panel, not to mention the modifications needed to have a screen that flips and works — but we couldn't help but come away from the T1010 feeling ultimately unimpressed. For the asking price of the T1010 you could clearly have a more functional system if you could forego its tablet capability. Even within the tablet family there are systems that pack in more punch than this, so if you're interested in a tablet system we'd certainly suggest shopping around.
