Fujitsu Lifebook P1610

Ultraportable notebooks used to be the preserve of rich kids who would let them casually tumble out of their man-bags, while they pretended to talk on their gold-plated phones. But now, more people can afford a Dolce & Gabana RAZR and, due to falling prices, ultraportables too are now within our grasp. While you can still get flashy gadgets such as the ASUS S6 and the Sony UX17, the Fujitsu P1610 is the mullet of the portables world: Business in the front, party in the back. But that's not to say it's unfashionable: It comes in an understated black and gun-metal box, and is almost "cute".

DesignAs you'd expect, the Fujitsu P1610 is incredibly tiny, and one of the smallest tablets we've ever seen. Though it may look somewhat like a toy, it certainly isn't. It's built fairly sturdily, and the hinge--very important on a tablet--is rugged and will take a little abuse. It is an update from last year's P1510, and includes some updates including a higher screen resolution (1,280 x 768 vs. 1,024 x 600) and a shift to a Core Solo processor from a Pentium M.
The P1620 converts to tablet mode(Click for larger image)
The screen is an 8.9-inch indoor/outdoor model which, while missing out on some of the glitz of full-sized notebooks, is perfectly readable--if a little "grainy". When swiveling the display into tablet mode, the screen orients itself automatically based on the way you're holding it.

FeaturesSmaller dimensions mean less powerful parts, and the Fujitsu runs an Intel U1400 at 1.2GHz with 512MB of RAM. The hard drive is an 80GB 4,200rpm Toshiba which has been partitioned into two drives. Connectivity includes two USB ports, 802.11 a/b/g adapter, an SD card reader, PCMCIA, modem and Ethernet. The specs page lists it as "Windows Vista capable", and it just fits the bill, if you don't want to run Aero, that is. To be capable you need only run an 800Mhz processor and 512MB of RAM, but we'd always suggest 1GB to ensure a smooth experience.