Fujitsu Stylistic ST 5112

Slate tablets and ultra-mobile computers aren't generally powerhouses, but the ST5112's Intel Core Duo processor running at 1.2GHz is an admirable performer. The Core Duo CPU, admittedly, not the latest Core 2 Duo, but still better than the Core Solo single core CPU or older Centrino processors. The computer handles business tasks with aplomb and won't leave you tapping your pen in frustration. The processor has 2 megs of level 2 cache, a 533MHz front side bus and 1 gig of DDR 667MHz memory. We're pleased with the 1 gig of RAM and even more pleased with the max 4 gigs supported. Should you wish to upgrade, the machine has two standard SO-DIMM slots with one slot pre-populated with a 1 gig DIMM. Heat is minimal (a good thing since you'll likely often hold it on your arm) and the CPU is power-frugal which translates into long runtimes.

Battery stamina is rated at 6 hours for the standard 6 cell 5200 mAh Lithium Ion battery. We managed about 5.2 hours with display brightness set to 50% and WiFi on while doing average business tasks including web surfing, email, and working with Office documents. Should you require more staying power, Fujitsu sells an extended 9 cell, 7800 mAh battery rated at 9 hours. A tablet that can last through the workday is indeed key to vertical markets, and while the ST5100 series can't beat the Electrovaya Scribbler's amazing runtimes, it has respectable stamina.

The Fujitsu ST5100 series feature 5400 rpm Serial ATA drives (SATA-150) and ours came with an 80 gig drive. Drives as small as 40 megs and as large as 100 gigs are available if you order a customized model. Sorry, there's no room for an optical drive, so you'll need to use an external drive or purchase Fujitsu's docking station which includes a DVD/CD-RW drive. The docking station is very solidly built with a secure base that houses the DVD drive, 3 USB 2.0 ports, a 4 pin unpowered FireWire port and AC. The $449 docking station comes with a spare charger and the tablet mounts onto the hinged upright plate that's adjustable to several different angles. That's a pricey accessory, but it does make up for that a bit with its solid design, included copy of WinDVD and the spare charger.

The Fujitsu Stylistic ST5112 in the optional docking station.

The 12.1" indoor/outdoor viewable display is sharp by tablet standards and reasonably bright, though not the brightest we've seen. It displays at XGA 1024 x768 resolution with 16 million colors (saturation is good) and can drive an external monitor up to 1600 x 1200 resolution with 32 million colors. The 10.4" ST5111 has an outdoor optimized display for those who work primarily outside, and it shares the same XGA resolution. Like all tablets, you can rotate it in 90 degree increments to portrait, landscape or 180 degrees. The Wacom Penabled active digitizer uses an EMR pen, as do most Windows tablets. This makes for better accuracy and no accidental vectoring compared to passive touch screens; though it's less convenient as you must use the special pen. The viewing angle is fairly wide at 160 degrees and is a great improvement over first and second generation tablets which had a very limited viewing angle. The Fujitsu uses Intel's integrated graphics: the GMA 950 with up to 224 megs of shared video memory. Performance is adequate for light Photoshop work, Internet applications and business applications. Clearly it's no gaming or CAD powerhouse, but then same is true of other slate tablets.

The ST5112 is a well-connected machine, offering everything except a wide are cellular radio (you can add that yourself with an EVDO or HSDPA PC Card). The ST5100 series is a available with Intel's Pro/Wireless ABG Wifi 802.11 a/b/g module or the optional Atheros Super AG AR5006EXS which includes Atheros' Client Utility to manage connections. Our unit had the Atheros and it provided excellent range and reliable connections. Their WiFi management software is profile based, so you can create separate profiles for work, home and Starbucks for example. Our tablet had a Toshiba Bluetooth 2.0 module (Toshiba makes the Bluetooth modules for most notebooks). This uses the Bluetooth Stack for Windows by Toshiba and the Toshiba connection wizard. Our ST5112 worked well with Bluetooth keyboards, mice and a variety of Bluetooth enabled mobile phones for DUN and file transfer. For the wired worker, the ST5100 series has gigabit Ethernet (Marvel Yukon 10/100/1000 Ethernet) and a 65k V.90 fax modem.

The Fujitsu ST5112 has a biometric fingerprint scanner and a Trusted Platform Module for hardware-based security and a Smart Card slot as well.