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Fujitsu Lifebook P770 review

Fujitsu Lifebook P770
Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £1868
inc VAT

Fujitsu have crammed a wondrous number of features into this small wonder, but poor build quality and a cramped keyboard let it down, and it's far too expensive

Specifications

12.1 in 1,280×800 display, 1.4kg, 1.07GHz Intel Core i7-620UM, 4.00GB RAM, 128GB disk, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

http://www.misco.co.uk

The Fujitsu Lifebook P770 sounds like the ultimate ultra-portable: it weighs only 1.4kg, yet includes an optical drive, a Core i7 processor and lasted over seven hours in our light-use battery test.

Unfortunately, the Intel 620UM is the new ultra-low voltage (ULV) version of the Core i7. It runs at a pedestrian 1.06GHz, compared to the standard Core i7 620M which runs at 2.67GHz, and so we weren’t surprised when it scored only 66 overall in our benchmarks. It still supports Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost, and the latter boosted its performance in our single-threaded image-editing test to a decent 86.

This means it’s powerful enough to run most applications, but we’d expect better for this price. Given that there’s a solid-state drive (SDD) instead of a mechanical hard disk, the P770 would be even slower without the SSD’s helping hand. Although it adds hugely to the price, it also improves durability as there aren’t any moving parts.

Fujitsu Lifebook P770

The design is quite plain, as is the norm for a business laptop. We were impressed with the way Fujitsu has managed to pack in so many ports around the edge of the case, as well as the optical drive. There are VGA and HDMI ports for video output, three USB ports and an ExpressCard/54 slot. There’s even a memory card reader cleverly built into the drive bay door.

Build quality is a worry however. The case flexes quite alarmingly around the optical drive bay, and the lid is rather bendy as well. Other problems included a strong backlight bleed-through at the top edge of the display, which shows as a bright strip. Otherwise, the screen’s matt finish helps to reduce reflections from overhead lights, and we found colour and contrast to be excellent. It has a 1,280×800 resolution which narrower and a little taller than the 1,366×768 resolution found on other laptops.

The keyboard has some flex in its base too, and we found the keys a bit too small. They have a light action with a distinct bite that provides feedback for touch-typists, and the layout is standard. There are five small shortcut buttons in a row above the keyboard, and these too looked and felt a bit fragile. A small touchpad sits under the keyboard; it’s responsive and supports multi-touch gestures, and its two large buttons have a light action and are comfortably placed at the edge of the case.

Of course, all these features in such a small package come at a cost, and a particularly steep one at that. We weren’t impressed by the performance of the new CULV Core i7 processor; it has two-thirds the performance of the Core i5 in the Lenovo ThinkPad X201, but only gives an extra hour-and-a-quarter of battery life. Poor build quality and a cramped keyboard add to the P770’s woes, and at this price we can’t recommend it.

Basic Specifications

Rating **
Processor Intel Core i7-620UM
Processor clock speed 1.07GHz
Memory 4.00GB
Memory slots 2
Memory slots free 0
Maximum memory 4GB
Size 30x282x215mm
Weight 1.4kg
Sound Realtek HD Audio
Pointing device touchpad

Display

Viewable size 12.1 in
Native resolution 1,280×800
Graphics Processor Intel HD Graphics
Graphics/video ports VGA, HDMI
Graphics Memory 64MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 128GB
Optical drive model Optiarc AD-7930H
Optical drive type DVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 3
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support 802.11b/g/n, UMTS
PC Card slots 1x ExpressCard/54
Modem No
Supported memory cards SD, SDHC
Other ports minijack audio output, minijack microphone input

Miscellaneous

Carrying case No
Operating system Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating system restore option backup and recovery software
Software included none
Optional extras none

Buying Information

Warranty two years collect and return
Price £1,868
Details www.fujitsu.com/uk
Supplier http://www.misco.co.uk