A notebook in miniature

You'd be forgiven for classifying Fujitsu's U810 notebook as a slightly clunky ultramobile PC.

After all, it weighs a pound and a half, has the Intel A110 processor used in Samsung's UMPC, and allows for fairly easy and accurate thumb typing. But you'd be wrong. Fujitsu prefers to call it a mini-notebook, mostly because it's essentially a scaled-down version of its other convertible notebooks.

It opens like a notebook, but has a rotating screen, which can be swiveled and locked down like Fujitsu's other Lifebook products. The U810 has a lot of features--biometric security, Webcam, keyboard light, stylus and a touch-screen interface, and some decently sized keys for such a small keyboard. It's equipped with slots for SD cards, compact flash, USB, and has a port for an included Ethernet dongle and can connect to a docking station. It's 802.11 a/b/g and Bluetooth capable, with Wireless WAN (wide-area network) coming in February, courtesy of AT&T.

There's also not a lot of choice here. The tiny notebook will only be available in black, and will come with a standard 5.5-hour battery, 40GB hard drive and 1GB of memory. Buyers will have a choice of Windows Vista Home Premium, Vista Business or XP Tablet PC. The U810 starts at $999 and ships September 18.

Fujitsu has also updated its T series line of convertible notebooks. The T2010 is 3.5 pounds with a 12-inch, LED-backlit wide screen. It's designed specifically for tablet use, so the 9-hour battery stays in the front, but the latch is moved nearer to the notebook's swivel hinge.

Fujitsu has scrapped the optical drive so it weighs less. It includes an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, has PC and smart card slots, is Bluetooth-ready, and also will have Wireless WAN in February. The T2010 is slightly more customizable than the U810. Buyers can choose between a wireless chipset from Intel (802.11 a/b/g/n) or Atheros (802.11 a/b/g), and Vista or XP Tablet PC.

The T2010 goes on sale Tuesday, starting at $1,599.