Fujitsu's LifeBook P1620 is lighter than (MacBook) Air

Fujitsu's P1620 was just announced with a Stateside price starting at $1,599. This quicker update to the highly praised P1610 boasts a new ULV 1.2GHz U7600 Core 2 Duo processor with up to 2GB of memory and 100GB of disk -- a respectable bump from the old 1.2GHz Core Solo and 1GB memory and 80GB disk limit. The rest of the specs appear unchanged which is fine by us: 8.9-inch 1,280 x 768 display, a $299 32GB SSD option, and standard 3-cell battery (6-cell for a worthy $45) which delivers 3.5-hours under real-world stress. Ships standard with XP Tablet PC though Vista is a $0 option.

[Via UMPC Portal, thanks AFD]

Gallery: Fujitsu's LifeBook P1620

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[David @ Jan 18th 2008 6:14AM]

THAT is pretty sweet. An eraser head only?

[m @ Jan 18th 2008 2:22PM]

who needs a trackpad when you have a tablet????

[Camperton @ Jan 18th 2008 6:21AM]

These bumped specs suddenly make this thing look mighty sweet.

[j_g_puff @ Jan 18th 2008 6:25AM]

"Vista is a $0 option"

Well, it's nice to see that you're getting what you pay for.

[Ipaq3115 @ Jan 18th 2008 10:51AM]

Computer makers should pay you to use vista...

[OneLove @ Jan 18th 2008 12:22PM]

now that companies like HP are forcing you to buy it.

[torqueo @ Jan 18th 2008 6:36AM]

There's plenty of laptops lighter than the new Macbook. I think this is where Steve missed the boat - thin doesn't matter, light-weight does!

[BobTurbo @ Jan 18th 2008 6:51AM]

Thin matters in terms of aesthetic appeal and functionality. Apple may have wanted the base to be relatively thin to match the new screen technology. And in terms of functionality, thinness can be problematic in terms of openning the laptop, and breakage.

[torqueo @ Jan 18th 2008 7:06AM]

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, how does thinness affect function? Unless we're talking mobile phones, or something of the like. My boss takes his laptop everywhere, from the office to meetings across the world, and he swears by his 2~2.5lb VAIO. Even a 3lb laptop (a la Macbook Air) seriously turns him off when looking at new ones. When you're carrying something everywhere (with other stuff), you tend to care less about aesthetics and more about "will I break my back today?"

[BobTurbo @ Jan 18th 2008 7:11AM]

If it is too thin, it can be harder to open the lid because you can't hold onto the base as easily while trying to lift the latch. So thinness can actually be a negative aspect.

[torqueo @ Jan 18th 2008 7:14AM]

Oh, I see. For sure. And it's made out of aluminum! These things seem far from durable. Should be interesting to see over the next few months, how many of them break. ;)

[bob @ Jan 18th 2008 7:50AM]

no, software is what matters, as hardware is nothing without it, mac macbook has osx, deal-breaker.

[ray @ Jan 18th 2008 8:00AM]

Macbook Air is an idea of VAIO X505, the thickest part is 0.8" and it only wights 1.8lb. VAIO did this years ago, Apple stole the keyboard and finally they stole the whole concept.

[darkstar @ Jan 18th 2008 8:22AM]

yeah. thickness is irrelevant. people like me only cares about weight.
i was expecting the MBA to be around 1.5lbs. i wouldnt hesitate to buy the MBA if it was $2000 if it was 1.5lbs. 3lbs is still a lot. what was apple thinking???

[Tony C @ Jan 18th 2008 9:06AM]

How exactly is half a pound (its 3.5 hours is achieved only with the heavier high-capacity battery pack, $45 more for the base model) important when this Fujitsu convertible tablet has 4.4 inches of less screen real estate and a similarly cramped keyboard?

The Air also isn't crippled by a lower speed Ultra Low Voltage processor (1.6/1.8GHz vs 1.2GHz) and its accompanying lower speed front side bus (800 vs 533MHz) and memory speed (667 vs 533MHz). No camera, no 802.11n, Bluetooth is a $30 option on all but the $2200 model and the one even remotely priced like the Air only comes with a 60GB hard drive ($100 for 80GB, $200 for 100GB) and 512MB of memory ($300 for 1GB, $450 for 2GB!).

They're not even in the same market space, so why bother making the comparison? Just because it weighs less?? Yeah, that's rich. Don't even get me started on the Fujitsu's hideous industrial design...

[willyboy @ Jan 18th 2008 9:17AM]

@ BobTurbo

What latch...? Like the macbook, the MBA (sounds like a bank) uses a magnet to hold the lid closed. It is a very nice feature. Almost as nice as the magnetic power attachment.

Oh and yah, I am a fanboy......Apple works for me.

[torqueo @ Jan 18th 2008 9:19AM]

Correct it's a poor comparison, because this is a *true* ultra-portable class laptop (too bad Steve doesn't read, he might learn what ultra portable really means!). It'd be better compare to the VAIO's or LifeBook's with larger screens.

[Alan Partridge @ Jan 18th 2008 9:23AM]

@ray

You'd be amazed about the number of people who dont know that Apple 'borrowed' their new keyboard designs from the X505. Just a search on google for 'sony' 'macbook' and 'keyboard' gives moronic articles like these:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=290
http://www.pbcentral.com/columns/hildreth_leo/070711b_Sony-MacBook_or_Apple-VAIO.shtml

and even some from Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/07/sony-vaio-vgx-tp1-announced-loaded-up-with-hdmi-out-dvd-burner/

I would be surprised if someone pulled up a picture of an X505 (released for years ago) and claim Sony have ripped off the MacBook Air

[zorg @ Jan 18th 2008 10:43AM]

How much light weight? Is it like zero pounds? That would be pretty good. But I don't see an actual weight spec here.

Plus, whatever it is, if it was achieved by micro screen and micro keyboard, you will soon find that you missed the boat: you'll spot a few squinting geeks hunched over these, but mostly normal people using the MBA as if it were a normal laptop.

[BobTurbo @ Jan 18th 2008 9:01PM]

@willyboy

yes I know it doesn't have a latch, I was refering to laptops in general. It is still exactly the same though as you have to hold the base to break the magnetic attachment otherwise you just lift the whole thing up and it doesn't separate.

[Nubaeus @ Jan 18th 2008 6:36AM]

Please say it has > 1 usb port. That Macbook Air really pisses me off, but I can't wait to see all the little freshman art students with one so I can make fun of them.

[jakem @ Jan 18th 2008 8:37AM]

Two USB ports on the right hand side.

[Curtis @ Jan 18th 2008 8:51AM]

@ jakem

It only has one USB port, the other is the new Micro DVI.

[drakono @ Jan 18th 2008 9:06AM]

@ Curtis: I think jakem is talking about THIS laptop, not the MBA.
http://www.engadget.com/photos/fujitsus-lifebook-p1620/594986/

[jakem @ Jan 18th 2008 11:05AM]

Yeah I assumed this article was about the P1620 and not the Macbook and the Fujitsu does have 2 usb ports.

[Reginald @ Jan 18th 2008 6:38AM]

I never really wanted a tablet PC until just now. It'd make a pretty good sized PMP. All of a sudden that nice 3in screen on the Samsung YP-P2 seems trivial.

Oh, and the fingerprint scanner is a nice touch on a tablet (or maybe that's just standard and I never noticed)

[Erwos @ Jan 18th 2008 6:52AM]

Fingerprint scanners have been common on tablets for a while now.

Unfortunately, if you want to outfit this thing comparable to a 12" tablet, you're really going to be paying around $2300, which is a little on the high side (to say the least). Serious business travellers only for now, I guess.

[TMM @ Jan 18th 2008 6:56AM]

Do you know what really pisses me of?

The large horde of morons that now a new sport: attacking Apple on every, doesn't matter how vaguely related, opportunity.

And the funniest thing about that is: most of those morons don't know a bit about design or engineering. Talk about talking out of your ass.

If you don't like the MacBook Air, don't buy it. That you don't like it doesn't make it bad or wrong.

It is good and right from the perspective of design and concept ... and far ahead of the times ... again ... because Apple doesn't compromise. At least not on what they are trying to accomplish on the road ahead.

[Jeff @ Jan 18th 2008 7:02AM]

I dunno, 1 USB port, no changeable battery, no optical drive sure sounds like "compromise" to me.

[torqueo @ Jan 18th 2008 7:10AM]

I'd respond to this, but I'm running Photoshop with a few high res images on my Macbook Air (with 2GB soldered-on RAM), and I think if I leave Safari running for a minute longer the thing will explode...

[Kamokazi @ Jan 18th 2008 7:17AM]

Or maybe you just can't accept that the MBA is not an engineering accomplishment, ahead of the times, or realy special in any way, and it probably deserves most of the criticism it is getting.

The only thing that took any effort was the motherboard. Leaving out ports, optical drives, and using smaller than standard components and a thin, custom battery and it's no wonder the MBA is so thin...they simply removed everything bulky in a laptop and slapped an aluminum shell around what was left.

Any other manufacturer could make up something that thing if they wanted to make the same sacrifices, but they haven't, probably because the felt the product wasn't marketable at that point, since it lacked so many features.

But Apple's always been better at marketing than anything else, and evidently they think this thing will be marketable, so we'll see if everyone else was wrong.

[Sam Zebian @ Jan 18th 2008 7:30AM]

Doesn't compromise??
Macbook Air- No Optical Drive, 1 USB port, small HDD, non-removable battery... Should I go on?

Imac- Non-upgradeable hardware (other than HDD and RAM), not very many optoins, Crappy GPU, etc.

Ipod- No FM radio, no wi-fi in their Classic and Nano, no wi-fi syncing on the touch, crappy headphones, still used the non-brushed aluminum backing on all models (scratches/smudges very easily), etc.

Iphone- No keyboard, no 3g, no picture messages, no video mode, no push-email support, still only comes in 8GB, not enough buttons (sometimes you can be way too simple for your own good), recessed headphone port, doesn't work with many ipod accessories, etc.

OSX- Doesn't run many games, doesn't work with lots of hardware, Most software won't run on it, very closed system, doesn't even have a PVR program shipped with the OS (maybe they should take a look at Windows Media Center), has Safari as it's native browser (everyone knows safari is too limiting), etc.

Did I make my point?

[Taylor @ Jan 18th 2008 7:35AM]

Sam Zebian:
Most consumer PCs, for the matter, have crappy graphics cards.
I have a MacBook and a PC with a decent graphics card for gaming.

[Sam Zebian @ Jan 18th 2008 7:42AM]

Taylor:
But the thing with most consumer PC's (and I mean desktop PC's, not laptops, hence the reason I was talking about an Imac) is that you can upgrade the GPU to something powerful, something you can't do with an Imac.

[jay-t @ Jan 18th 2008 8:23AM]

@ Sam Zebian
Sure, but the average consumer does not change the GPU. The only think most of them will upgrade is RAM, if at all. Usually they buy the PC and live with it.

[Sam Zebian @ Jan 18th 2008 8:35AM]

Doesn't matter, if the option isn't there, then it's still a downside to the Imac.

[TMM @ Jan 18th 2008 8:44AM]

SAM!

All you say is so complete NON SENSE and talk out of your ass.
Really: everything.

You're the example for the whining techblog guy who attacks everything Apple does and get's proven wrong by the success they have ... espacially in the Pro market, where people who really rely on their computers make the decisions.

And not gamers, like you.

[Cory @ Jan 18th 2008 9:24AM]

TMM.. Success? Success in what? Sales? Sure, they have that. But sales success does not necessarily mean they have a better product, just better marketing.

Now, don't get me wrong, there have been things that Apple's done right, I even own a few Apple products myself. My point being that just because somethings sells well doesn't mean it can't be a piece of crap, because people are, by and large, stupid.

[TMM @ Jan 18th 2008 9:48AM]

Saying that people, are in large, stupid is stupid by itself. This sounds like not overcome puberty to me and is very offensive and arrogant, if you think about it again.

And by the way: following your argumentaion, Apple would be the choice by smart people, because the vast majority buys the ugly zero-design-windows-machines. Checkmated yourself there.

The success Apple has, is that they lead the industrie into new directions. The ripp-off effect alone, I mean companies ripping off Apple, is enough to improve most of the electronics: good for all customers. The pressure get's clearly big now. Look at all the companies trying to figure out what they're doing wrong and Apple is doing right.

Most of the "downsides" of Apple products, that have been pointed out in reply to my comment, are not downsides at all. The problem is the wrong perspective - this happens a lot in reviews, as well.
I can only repeat: Not being able to exchange hard drive, RAM or GPU and CPU is not an automatic "downside".
That is complete bs. Argueably. This is - design wise - 1. semester stuff.
Also, the word „compromise” and what's meant by it, seems to have been misunderstood.

The only thing you can argue about is: does it satisfy my needs. On the free market, you have the choice. Looking at the target group, and in expectation of what Apple clearly shows to try to develope - the total unwiring of periphals - Apple is the only company that is anywhere near that target in their product world - the MacBook is a great design. The only "Subnote" I would consider right now, because it's not only a "feature list".

On the opposite, it more often is a downside to compromise and try to please to many target groups at once, which leads to the too big amount of different types of ports and heavily overloaded and hard to manage hardware - AND software, btw.

I'm open to serious discussion, and in my first post I wanted to show how disappointed I am about what is going on in tech review blogs: a lot of noise by people that should just listen, not talk.

[Xzavier @ Jan 18th 2008 10:13AM]

@TMM

Pro Market???

Now I am not an Apple fanboy in anyway however I do have 5 Power Macs and I am ACTC 10.3/10.4 certified. I'm into technology and what I can do with it and what it can do for me!

This Pro Market... I have work in Sony Pictures Entertainment, Morgan Stanley, CBS News, CNBC, Rickey Lake, just to name a few. I don't know if you would call those companies the Pro Market however I can tell you this. I don't remember seeing ANY Mac's in any of those CEO's offices and very few in the other offices!

Can you clarify what this "Pro Market" is please?

Oh and by the way. I rarely do play games however whenever I do play a game online with my friends I ALWAYS have to use my WinBox. For some STRANGE reason that game just isn’t available on my Mac... tisk , tisk, tisk.

[BigD @ Jan 18th 2008 1:17PM]

Did you know that "I Love New York" and "Rock of Love" are popular shows that have achieved success in ratings? They've even been brought back by popular demand.

Solja Boy Tellum is a platinum artist on the heels of his hit single, "Crank Dat." Wow...successful.

The dumbing down of America is almost complete. The consumer electronics brainwash is quite possibly the last step. I'm happy that companies that assume that their customers can't or won't need to do anything additional with the products are having so much success.

Welcome to the social?

H3ll no! Welcome to the flock!

[m @ Jan 18th 2008 2:29PM]

@TMM: will you and your friends please stop whining about how everybody else is whining about the Air? why is criticism of a machine you had no part in making so personal to you? but this dude "bluelight" is by far the worst. somebody find and punch him, please.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=415848

[2shae @ Jan 18th 2008 6:59AM]

It' lighter but 8.9" screen is really tiny. IMO 13" should be a minimum. Otherwise just get a ASUS EEE PC for $400.

[rektide @ Jan 18th 2008 1:57PM]

The P series is Fujitsu's ultraportable line; at least it used to be, until recently, when they degraded the P8000's to a huge unwieldy 13" screen. Theres no way anyone could ever consider 13" to be ultraportable, its bloody huge. Obviously I disagree that 13" is minimum -- as do almost every tablet manufacturer out there (12" is by far the most common size) -- but there are other really well built Fujitsus of a heftier size, if thats your desire.

My primary laptop is still a Fujitsu P1120, with a 800 mhz crusoe and 8.9" touchscreen, albeit not a tablet. Its almost five years old, but I love the form factor and it has wonderful battery life.

[BobTurbo @ Jan 18th 2008 7:15AM]

"If you don't like the MacBook Air, don't buy it. "

OK, but until the internet is censored by the Australian government (it will be soon), I can criticise it on gadget blogs and you can choose to read it or not.

"because Apple doesn't compromise"

Yeah, because nobody around the world needs an expresscard slot for the most convenient form of mobile internet access.

[Oinquer @ Jan 18th 2008 7:20AM]

you can always use USB...but then you wont have it for other stuff hehehe...but hell..you can always buy their HUB! wich costs 3 times a normal one :D

[BobTurbo @ Jan 18th 2008 7:42AM]

Yeah but having a USB modem dongle hanging off your computer is very annoying.

[tcc3 @ Jan 18th 2008 8:40AM]

specially when its supposed to be mobile. Making an ultralight doesn't do any good if you have to dangle all the crap you need off the side.

[BigD @ Jan 18th 2008 1:24PM]

Not to mention...people don't even know if they are going to have problems using a USB dongle because of the unique position of the port. You know kind of like the iPhone audio jack thing.

[m @ Jan 18th 2008 3:09PM]

one of the many things the Air is begging for, but doesn't yet have, is wireless USB. apple released it too soon. i fear they will regret it.