Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Mini bends beneath our grubby paws

There's no nice way to say this, Fujitsu-Siemens: your Amilo Mini's keyboard flexes like a trampoline. Sure, there's an Atom processor inside here, a great 9-inch screen and some other fine tech specs, but in general this netbook just feels like a shoddy piece of work, and we expect more from a top-tier manufacturer (you do desire to be a top-tier manufacturer, right?) Take those trackpad-flanking mouse buttons, for example: how are we supposed to work 'em? Have you ever attempted to use this laptop? Let's hope Dell's Inspiron 910 can lift this form factor up from the mire and give it a shot at actually outlasting this faddish stage -- netbooks like this just aren't going to cut it.

Gallery: Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Mini bends beneath our grubby paws

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[who? @ Aug 29th 2008 9:58AM]

It should have been Aluminum. No more bending. MBP FTW!

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Aug 29th 2008 10:07AM]

There has to be a way for the community to collectively ban morons like this. PLEASE. Help us, Blogsmith.

[andrew @ Aug 29th 2008 10:20AM]

ah, this has got nothing to do with apple, oh dear. mbp is not in the same category.

[Juxtah @ Aug 29th 2008 10:31AM]

Because a $400 netbook and a $2000 laptop is such a fair comparison...

[who? @ Aug 29th 2008 1:16PM]

Honestly, does someone pay you to complain about any comment pertaining to Apple? That's the only reason I could imagine wasting my time trying to control the opinions of others... can you say Nazi?

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Aug 29th 2008 1:32PM]

Such an idiot.

[saiz moi @ Aug 29th 2008 7:40PM]

"There has to be a way for the community to collectively ban morons like this. PLEASE. Help us, Blogsmith."

- that would wipe out 97% of engadget visitors

[Ankan Bhowmick @ Aug 29th 2008 10:05AM]

ZOMG! I have never seen someone FAIL soooo bad!
It's F- for you.

[zervin @ Aug 29th 2008 10:25AM]

Speaking of which...here we are at the end of August and still no sign of the elusive 910. Save the picture and support docs that have cropped up, WHAT GIVES DELL!!! I hope they're deep in the dungeon arguing over why they should stick to the $299 base price and undercut the rest of the market+take over the world...{sigh}

[w4rh34rt @ Aug 29th 2008 10:40AM]

Lol, to be honest. I wouldn't buy this.. I just, don't think it looks as good as the Acer Aspire One lol. Does have nice spec's though :D

[Onetrack @ Aug 29th 2008 10:49AM]

Quit mackin in the mini-inspiron... its pretty much crap without function keys.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Aug 29th 2008 10:59AM]

You use the function keys THAT MUCH? And do you plan to do more than a little bit of chatting, internet browsing, and small menial tasks on your netbook? If you say yes to any of those, get a laptop, because this isn't your market.

[bebop @ Aug 29th 2008 11:44AM]

@Mr. Mouse

You'd think that, but it's clear you don't own one. I type this from an Aspire One. My fellow users are knee deep in all kinds of crazy stuff. Check out www.aspireoneuser.com/forums.

On the issue of function keys, for starters, the housekeeping functions are usually mapped to them: sleep, display switch, etc. Put all that junk on the number keys and those keys now have at least four functions: number, shift-character, F-key, and Fn assigned hotkey. For another thing, the terminal is accessed on my A1 from Alt-F2. For windows users, there's Alt F4 to close windows, and the ever popular F5 to refresh a browser window. Oh right, F1 for help... no one likes to admit they use that one!

At first I thought the Dell keyboard was a brilliant idea, but it does seem to make trivial things more complicated... I'm no longer convinced its worth it.

[retro77 @ Aug 29th 2008 11:12AM]

Ouch, thats rough.

[Baz @ Aug 29th 2008 12:24PM]

Ouch, indeed.

Just a query though - why is Engadget getting its knickers in a twist specifically over Fujitsu and their mouse buttons placement? I've tried both the HP Mini-Note and the Acer AspireOne and both have this (awkward) configuration - its not as if Fujitsu is doing something completely bizarre to spite Engadget.

I forget, did the Site gnash it's teeth quite so vigorously over these other netbook's button placement - or was it too busy swooning over these alternatives to the Eee?

[Petter @ Aug 29th 2008 11:26AM]

Top-tier? After experience with two different Fujitsu-Siemens computers, I wouldn't touch this one with a 20-foot pole.
From what I've heard, there is going to be more F-S, by the way. But the hardware will be the same crappy stuff wherever it lands next, I'm sure.

[bebop @ Aug 29th 2008 11:26AM]

Another week another netbook consigned to the scrapheap of failure.

Since the hardware and even the screens aren't so different, netbooks tend to be rightly judged by their keyboards. Since typing on these things is borderline anyway because of the small size, little details do make all difference.

Bad Fujitsu. No cookie.

[Jason @ Aug 29th 2008 11:34AM]

F - -

[duxxyuk @ Aug 29th 2008 12:03PM]

Ok, so the keyboard flexes a bit, perhaps that can be rectified... what are the "other fine tech specs" ?

[Mooney @ Aug 29th 2008 4:27PM]

I don't think I would be able to use the trackpad buttons at all positioned where they are. Thats terrible.

[crsh @ Aug 30th 2008 9:00AM]

That's my main issue with the HP Mini-note, plus the trackpad on this Fujitsu unit is offset (like the Wind's), so it looks like a real winner to me. Ie. I'd never buy this.

[monockle @ Aug 30th 2008 12:36PM]

Great netbook. Keyboards with flex aren't new. Check out Toshiba's Protoge R500 ultra-thin ultraportable. The keyboard and *screen* flex because of the material used in reducing its weight. It's still durable. Also, HP's netbook has the same trackpad button layout. It's nice if you want to reduce the depth of netbook, plus people who are used to using two hands with a trackpad won't find it a problem. This is one of the best netbooks on the market right now.

[Albert @ Aug 30th 2008 5:15PM]

I type this comment from an Acer AspireOne. Thus far, I've had no real problems with it. The touchpad is very easy to get used to, took me all of ten minutes. The keyboard is smallish, but doesn't flex at all. I can manage full speed typing without a problem. . Anyone who puts down this form factor is a fool fr ignoring the price point, weight, and purpose - These netbooks are just barely smaller than ultraportables, yet 1/3 or less of the cost without much of a tradeoff. For simple EDC word processing and e-mail, netbooks can't be beat.

[Eufouria @ Aug 30th 2008 5:44PM]

Yeah, now only if dell would release the damn thing.

[Saul Martinez @ Sep 1st 2008 3:41AM]

We have the same effect on some brand new LIFEBOOK E Series notebooks (for business version). It seams they changed the keyboard lately because we have some older unit without that cheap keyboard. Not recommended!