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This is not the future of Windows 8 convertibles

The old tablet PC model won't cut it in the age of the iPad and Microsoft Surface.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
Fujitsu Lifebook T902 Tablet PC starts at $1,900.
Fujitsu Lifebook T902 Tablet PC starts at $1,900.

In case you missed it (which is likely), Fujitsu has entered the Windows 8-ready fray with a convertible "tablet PC."

You probably don't remember tablet PCs because they weren't big with consumers. Nor businesses for that matter.

But they've been around for at least a decade. For instance, there's the Compaq-branded Tablet PC TC1000 that Hewlett-Packard launched in 2002.

Or the more recent -- relatively speaking -- HP EliteBook Tablet PC series.

So now, in 2012, in the age of the svelte, 903g Microsoft Surface tablet, we have the 13-inch Fujitsu Lifebook T902 (PDF).

Like Surface, it's got the latest Intel "Ivy Bridge" Core i series processors and the option for a solid-state drive.

But that's where any similarity ends. Fujitsu has bulked up the T902 (hands-on video here) with a modular bay for a Blue Ray player (or a second battery or second hard drive) and just about every port under the sun (four USB, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, SD, dock connector, to name a few).

And, oh, it starts at a whopping $1,900 and is 1.2-inches thick and 4.4 pounds. The quintessential price, dimensions, weight of a vintage tablet PC.

The point is that these traditional, pricey convertible Window tablets won't appeal to anyone in a big way.

Personally, I hope PC makers take their cues from Microsoft (or Asus) and not go back to the Tablet PC well for inspiration.