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The stylus fits into a slot on the left hand side of the screen when not in use. The stylus is pretty average, both in look and feel, but it is functional. A set of replacement tips are provided, but a spare stylus would have been a good addition in the box. Fujitsu-Siemens also supplies a strap that can be attached to both the stylus and the side of the screen, to secure the stylus to the laptop. The stylus is used much in the same way as on a PDA, although it has an extra button on it that can be set up to act as the right mouse button or to bring up the virtual keyboard. The touch sensitive screen and stylus actually employs Wacom technology, so it is all tried and tested.

There are six buttons along the side of the display which consist of the power switch and five quick access buttons. Two of the buttons enable you to scroll up and down, since this isn’t easy to do with the stylus. The third one enables you to change the screen orientation, while the last two double up as Fn (function) and Alt keys. The same buttons are also used to enter the PIN code , necessary if you take advantage of the BIOS security features that Fujitsu-Siemens has incorporated.

As with several other Fujitsu-Siemens laptops the T4010 had an integrated LCD display at the base of the screen that gives you an indication of the status of battery life, if Wi-Fi is enabled, if the power cable is attached and so on. This is a handy overview feature that I'd like to see on other notebooks.

Looking at the benchmark numbers, the T4010 performed quite well. The battery managed three hours and 27 minutes, not quite up meeting the “up to five hours” claim, but still pretty good. The overall SYSmark 2002 score of 213 is also quite impressive, but our review model shipped with 1GB of memory so the benchmark numbers will be better than the standard machines that ship with 512MB RAM, leaving the second slot free for upgrades. The PCMark 2004 scores highlight the integrated graphics and the 4,200rpm hard drive as low points, but apart from this there is little to criticise about the T4010s performance.

Whether you like the Tablet PC concept or not is a matter of personal preference and you should try and use one yourself before buying, but the T4010 has definitely made me warm towards the format. Having used the T4010 ‘in the field’ I have to say that this is an excellent laptop for anyone on the road. The price is steep considering the specs at £1,514.58 including VAT, but you can virtually think of it as getting two machines in one.

Verdict

The Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook T4010 has converted me to the Tablet PC format. The ability to draw directly on the screen is a powerful benefit and it also acts as a fully-functional conventional notebook. Considering the overall features and spec the T4010 should definitely be considered if you are notebook that can do more than the average portable.

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