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This P series Lifebook is tiny. It weighs in at a minuscule 1.5kg, is only 35mm thick, and is easily the smallest machine we've seen to include a DVD drive.
The P2020 is based on a 633MHz Transmeta Crusoe TM5600 processor, with 128Kb of Level 1 cache and 512Kb of Level 2 cache. Crusoe uses a software process called code morphing to translate its instructions into the x86 instructions needed to run Windows applications. This allows the processor to run more efficiently and use less power.
All well and good but, if Intel is to be believed, a mobile processor only uses 15 per cent of the notebook's available power, so the potential for saving is quite small.
Microsoft Media Encoder gets a bit confused when it fails to find an Intel or AMD identifier on the processor, and assumes it is under powered. This prevented our benchmark software from running correctly, so we have no performance test results to show you.
Rather bizarrely the P2020 ships with Windows ME installed, yet there is a sticker just below the keyboard that proclaims it is "designed for Windows 2000".
The online specification sheet continues this theme and claims that the 128Mb of PC133 SD-Ram memory is "ready to experience Windows XP", although we'd recommend more memory.
The monitor is a widescreen 10in SXGA unit with a native resolution of 1,280 x 600. We also like the keyboard. It's big enough to allow normal typing and, although it flexes slightly when you press the keys hard, this is not a problem in regular use.
There isn't a touchpad, but there's a trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard, plus two mouse buttons and a scroll button.
The connectivity of this model demonstrates that it is aimed at the domestic, rather than the business, sector. You get a mini Firewire port, headphone/mic/line-out jacks, a port to take a Fujitsu Siemens VGA dongle, S-Video out, two USB ports and modem. There is also a single Type II PC Card slot but no local area network.
ATI Mobility graphics do a fine job, although the Ali sound is fairly poor through either headphones or the speakers. You don't get a floppy drive, so you'll need access to a USB floppy if that's a problem. We feel that 14Gb hard drive is at the small end of the acceptable scale these days.
We reviewed the P2020 with the standard three-cell Li-Ion battery, rather than the optional six-cell, and it achieved two hours, eight minutes in our standard battery test.
That slightly exceeds Fujitsu Siemens' claim for a two-hour life, so we see no reason that the double sized battery wouldn't last twice as long.
Widescreen movies use a ratio of 16:9 and this screen has a 19:9 ratio so our next step was obvious; we had to see whether the Lifebook P could play an entire DVD movie on a single battery.
There are four shortcut buttons just below the screen and a slider to switch them to dedicated DVD playback functions. When the mains power cord is unplugged the screen darkens slightly to save some battery life. We switched to DVD mode, plugged in the headphones, unplugged the mains power and slipped Gone in 60 Seconds into the DVD drive.
As well as Microsoft Works 6.0 and Word 2000, Fujitsu Siemens pre-installs Intervideo WinDVD, so we were in movie heaven. The sound was rather muted and was only just loud enough when turned up to maximum. But playback was absolutely fine and the whole experience was much better than we had anticipated.
The snag was that playback stopped after 76 minutes, which happened to be chapter 29 out of 32. This is an automatic function when the battery life falls to 15 per cent. You could use this Lifebook as a personal DVD player and save cash too, but you'd want to buy the extended battery first.
We feel this would be ideal for use on journeys when you need to catch up with report reading and writing, and have no desire to lug a full-sized notebook about.
Price: £899 (£765.11 ex VAT)
Contact: Fujitsu Siemens 01344 475 555
www.fujitsu-siemens.co.uk
See also:
It's JVC's first attempt at a notebook - and from where we're standing, this minute model shapes up well. 30 Oct 2002
JVC's first foray into the notebook PC market is a pretty impressive product. 29 Oct 2002
A fairly priced notebook with great battery life and a good selection of software. 28 Jun 2002
This first 2GHz Pentium 4 notebook offers cutting-edge power and portability. 15 Mar 2002
All Notebooks & Tablets PCs
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