InsaneJournal

Tablet                                     $1,388.57

RAM (4GB)                              $109.95

Total:                                       $1,769.24 

After four months of extensive daily use, I can happily recommend this Tablet to any student who wants a robust and versatile tablet for taking notes in class, surfing the web, playing basic games, word processing, watching video from the hard-drive, etc. In fact, if I didn't have a huge music and video collection, I could probably use this as my primary computer. 

With the 4 GB of RAM, the tablet is fast and dependable, and the built-in wireless allows me to get online practically anywhere - I have no problem using both my home and campus networks and going from one to the other effortlessly.  Vista Business is a wonderful operating system, and I was very pleased to find a tablet that came with it installed: an irritating number of sellers had already installed the XP downgrade as a convenience feature  - very annoying. The special Tablet features that are available in Vista are amazing: handwriting recognition is very accurate, inking is smooth and quick, using the pen as a mouse is simple and intuitive. 

Speaking of mice, I recommend a Bluetooth notebook mouse for comfortable use while in laptop mode. My build came with Bluetooth built in, which is very nice. The built-in trackpoint mouse isn't very comfortable, especially for extended use, so an external mouse is a must if you spend a significant amount of time in laptop mode.

The keyboard is nicely laid out and easy to use, with no strange key placements to drive you nuts. While not full-size, it's not cramped, either. Perfectly acceptable for general daily use, as well as typing papers, etc.

Many users have said that the Tablet fan is loud, and it can be, especially on those rare occasions when the CPU's are running at 100%. But even then, it isn't loud enough to be disruptive in the classroom. In fact, in most classrooms and public areas, I can't hear it at all. It's only at home, in a small, quiet room, that the fan noise becomes noticeable. 

Battery life is good, I get 3 1/2 to 4 hours out of each battery. However, keep in mind the fact that I run the screen at the brightest setting and have set the wireless to never turn off. Turning off/down these features would allow me more battery life, but since I have 3 batteries, it's hardly a concern for me. 

The screen quickly and easily converts from laptop to tablet mode & back again, and the hinge feels quite sturdy. But there is no securing mechanism when the screen is in tablet mode: it can slip and slide with just a firm nudge. This isn't a problem if you place the computer on a flat, stable surface while in tablet mode, as the screen is secure enough that the act of writing on it does not budge it. If you plan to spend a lot of time writing on the tablet while holding it in your arms or bracing it in your lap, the lack of a secure screen fastener could be a major irritant. For the average college student, this probably won't be an issue, since most of our tablet mode use involves a desk or table in the classroom. It certainly doesn't bother me.

The screen itself is wonderful: the images are clear and crisp with vibrant colors. With the brightness turned all the way up, it can handle most lighting environments with ease. It works wonderfully indoors, outdoors in shade, and in most brightly lit classrooms (and in poorly lit classrooms too). When in tablet mode mode, you might want to avoid sitting in front of large windows or directly underneath bright lights, as this can wash the screen out somewhat (still usable, but not as comfortable).  In laptop mode, though, you can probably work almost anywhere, since you can tilt the screen as needed for the best viewing results.

Overall, the tablet feels quite sturdy, and has held up well to daily use. It is not "rugged", and there are a few places on the outer edges of the screen case that give a bit if squeezed, but I don't feel as if it will break if I breath on it. Keep in mind that I do take good care of my electronics, and treat them carefully, not carelessly. Frankly, there are very few electronics that can continue functioning after being run over with a tractor, put through a combine, slammed into a car door, or dropped off a four-story building! So, if any of those activities are part of your plan for your tablet, well...

The tablet doesn't come with too much crap-ware pre-installed, just Google Desktop Search and few other annoyances that the PC Decrapifier easily detected and got rid of. At the beginning of December, however, a problem (caused by my own foolishness) prompted to me to backup my files and do a clean reinstall of Vista. Fair warning here: Fujitsu doesn't include the Vista Reinstall disc, instead choosing to give you a disc of (useless) "repair" utilities. So, unless you have another install disc (all discs that haven't been screwed with by the PC manufacturer contain all versions of Vista) handy, you will need to contact Fujitsu to obtain the disc. I used a retail disc that I had, and entered the product key from the bottom of my tablet: no problems, but I did have to reactivate by phone instead of online. 

The Out-Of-Box Vista experience has been so positive for me that I recommend all users do a clean reinstall (this may void your warranty). You'll need an external CD/DVD drive to do this, since the tablet has no internal CD/DVD drive. Fujitsu does include the drivers disc, which is actually very useful. Don't bother to install the Drive Shock protection software, as it is not compatible with Vista SP1 (at least the version offered on the driver disc is not. There may be a more current version available through Fujitsu).  Let Windows Update download and install most of your drivers, and only insert the driver disc once that's done. Windows Update generally has the latest driver updates, and the disc may not.

Interestingly, several minor Vista features that were inaccessible to me while using the factory-installed setup became accessible once I did the clean reinstall. For example, the Windows Explorer Details pane, which I hadn't been able to find before, is now available.  And did you know that while the Windows games aren't installed by default in Vista Business, they are available? Just go to the Control Panel, choose Uninstall A Program, and choose Turn Windows Features On Or Off.