Fujitsu Lifebook P Series - TM5800 Crusoe Processor
The Fujitsu Lifebook P
Series is the first Crusoe powered notebook from this company to be available in
North America. The Windows XP version of the Lifebook P Series will retail for
about $1499, while the Windows 2000 version will go for $1699 beginning in
mid-November 2001.
The LifeBook P Series is one of the smallest two-spindle notebooks
to have caught our attention. Weighing in at 3.4Lbs, the notebook comes standard
with an internal 8x DVD + 8x/8x/24x CD-RW Combo drive and the drive space can
also house a second battery for up to 14.5 hours battery life.
Measuring only 1.59" x 7" x 10.6" the Lifebook P series subnotebook is
extremely portable and designed for use by business professionals,
commuters, students and technology enthusiasts. Most subnotebooks on the market
lack the internal CD-ROM, and the addition of the DVD/CD-RW combo
functionality enables the LifeBook P Series to act as a full-fledged
portable multimedia solution.
The Japanese version of the LifeBook P Series, called the Biblo LOOX S
received several industry awards while also being named the Best of Show
for PC EXPO 2001.
The LifeBook P Series is the first notebook by Fujitsu in the U.S. to
feature the Transmeta Crusoe processor, and one of the first few notebooks to
include the new TM5800 Crusoe processor.
The two-spindle subnotebook comes standard with a 10.6" SXGA TFT 3/4 display
(1280x768), 20GB hard drive, 128MB SDRAM, ATI RAGE Mobility-M video chipset with
4MB integrated video memory, 8XDVD-CDRW and external USB floppy drive.
The 10.6-inch Wide SXGA TFT display produces a 15:9 aspect ratio
for letterbox and comes equipped with 5:1 surround sound via Dolby earphone
software. The notebook comes with an SVGA out and mini-VGA out to allow users to
connect it to a larger display or LCD projector for presentations.
Two flavors of the LifeBook P Series are available, one with
Windows XP Home Edition, and the other with Windows 2000 Professional. This
is a smart move by Fujitsu, as many consumers were initially turned off when
Crusoe-based notebooks with WindowsME only first hit the shelves. It took some
time for the manufacturers to introduce models where Windows 2000 was
standard.
Connectivity is pretty good for the little Lifebook P with built in 56K
V.90 modem and 10/100 base-Tx Ethernet. IEEE 1394 is also supported
for digital video and high speed data transfer.
