When size matters
Written: Aug 02 '02
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Pros: Small, lightweight, cheap, does it all.
Cons: right shift key.
The Bottom Line: If you want an inexpensive, featherweight yet capable computer, this is it.
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| SomeNYCGuy's Full Review: Fujitsu LifeBook P-2046 Crusoe 800MHz / 20GB / 256... |
Let me first tell you why I purcahsed it: I am, among other things, a computer programming
instructor. I also ride a motorcycle. I wanted a super light computer that I could use 3
hours a night, twice a week during class for demonstrations. The Fujitsu fits the bill
perfectly.
I had a Fujitsu B112 for 4 years before this, and decided to upgrade because of the 266MHz
CPU. The 800 MHz (now 863?) in my P2046 is more than capable. It seems half as fast as my
AMD 1600+ desktop, which makes sense. There isn't any single action I do that takes more
than 5 or 6 seconds on the Fujitsu, and I can live with that. Let's face it, we don't all
perform CPU intensive number crunching for a living, 8 hours a day. The speed is fine.
One of the first things I did when I got it was ditch the installed Windows XP in favor of
Win2K Pro. I have had problems with WinXP and my wireless network, so I decided a day after
I got it (and had similar networking problems) to just install my 'old faithful' Win2K.
Install was a breeze, thanks to the built-in CD drive. The only small issue is that the
super-cool Function keys to control brightness, sound, and external monitor support don't
work in Win2K. Well, according to Fujitsu they aren't. I installed the software from the
Fujitsu CD for the control panel, and they worked, but get a bit quirky at times.
The Fujitsu Service Assistant CD was pretty useless. I installed it, and used the web site,
but I would say it might only be helpful or informative a computer newbie. It was removed
just as fast as it was installed.
The 256Meg of ram should be plenty, though I have heard mixed reports that you can install a
256M memory bank in place of the existing 128M expansion, bringing you to 384M. I have also
read that you can replace the 20Gig hard drive with a 40Gig model yourself, which I put more
trust in (I did this with my previous laptop myself). But, again, lets put things into
perspective: On this machine, I have installed and often run simultaneously the following
software: Microsoft Office (everything!), SQL Server Peronsal Edition, Visual Studio Enterprise, MSDN, IIS, and Windows 2000. Installed, but run less frequently: InstallShield Express, Visual eMmbedded C++ and VB, Visual Basic, Visual Foxpro, JBuilder 6.0 Professional, Metrowerks CodeWarrior 8 Palm Edition, Inno Setup, and about 2 gigs worth of downloaded patches, drivers, and updates.
To the above, add about 2 gig of my own files and projects for work and school, and I have 7 gigs left over. It has taken me several years to get 2 gig of work, so I should upgrade to a faster CPU before I run out of disk space. So, memory and diskspace are more than adequate for any power user. I suppose if you started copying your home movies to it with the Firewire connection, you might run out of space quickly.
The native resolution of 1280 x 768 looks great, but just a tad bit small for the screen. Display is sharp and perfect, just a bit small. Changing the resolution lower (I often use 800x600 for class demonstrations) works, but the display isn't as clear (as is always the case on LCD displays). Watching DVDs on it, is fine.
It has 2 USB ports, a PCMCIA slot, a Firewire connector, Ethernet, Modem, Audio In and Out, SVideo, and mini-VGA adapter. Quite impressive for such a tiny machine, and it all works well. I suppose an infrared port would have been nice, but I wouldn't have used it in reality.
It comes with an adapter for the mini-VGA plug to use normal VGA plugs. I hate dongles, so I taped it to the power cord so I wouldn't lose it.
The real selling points for me were the following: 1. Price, 2. Light and small, 3. Battery life, 4. DVD/CDR/CDRW built in. This unit has it all, and it all works as promised.
The DVD/CDR/CDRW drive I normally leave out, making it even lighter (sub 3 pounds!). The fact that their are two enhanced battery options to insert into DVD drive bay or replace the standard battery, supposedly give it 11 hours of battery life. I've just used the normal battery, and it seems to last about 3 hours as promised. Just the length of my class, nice.
If I had to pick at anything, it would be the tiny right-side shift key. This takes getting used to, but I did.
Overall, this is a very usable machine, priced right, fast enough, and loaded with features. I completely recommend it over its competion (Toshiba Libretto and Sony VAIO C1) for the DVD/CD drive, battery life, and price.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1499
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: 701-800
Screen Size: 11
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
SomeNYCGuy
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Member: Mario G
Location: New York
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 3 members
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