Fujitsu LifeBook E8210 - First Take

The Fujitsu LifeBook E8210, the latest in the company's line of business-oriented thin-and-light notebooks, is by no means exciting, flashy, or inexpensive, but it does offer serious performance and security at a competitive price. The LifeBook E8210 looks a bit like a cross between an Apple MacBook and a Lenovo ThinkPad: it's all business black on the outside, but opening the notebook reveals a silvery-white interior. Measuring 14.2 inches wide, 10.2 inches deep, and 1.4 inches thick, the LifeBook E8210 is just a few tenths of an inch different in size than competing notebooks. Its 5.7-pound weight places it at the low end for 15.4-inch, wide-screen notebooks.

The LifeBook E8210 can be configured with Intel Core Duo processors ranging from 1.66GHz to 2GHz; from 512MB to 2GB of fast, 667MHz RAM; 40GB to 100GB, 5,400rpm hard drives; and a DVD, DVD/CD-RW combo, or dual-layer DVD burning optical drive. A fingerprint reader and a trackpoint are optional. The notebook is dockable for convenience at a desk, and it has every port an on-the-go business user will need, including 4-pin FireWire, serial, parallel, and four USB 2.0 ports; S-Video out; microphone and headphone jacks with S/PDIF out; and a 3-in-1 memory card reader that supports MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, and Memory Stick cards. Networking options include Gigabit Ethernet and a 56Kbps modem with 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth available as options; WWAN is conspicuously absent, but there's both a PC Card and an ExpressCard slot to add the latest cellular modems.

While the LifeBook E8210 isn't extraordinarily expensive, it's certainly not cheap. Our $1,944 review unit came with a 1.86GHz Intel Core Duo processor; 1GB of fast, 667MHz RAM; an average-size 80GB hard drive spinning at 5,400rpm; and ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics with 128MB of dedicated VRAM. For more information, see our full review of the Fujitsu LifeBook E8210.