Fujitsu Port Replicator review: Fujitsu Port Replicator

Fujitsu Port Replicator
The $199 Fujitsu Port Replicator (model FPCPR48AP) does a decent job of bringing together critical connections for a Fujitsu LifeBook S7000 or a LifeBook E8000 notebook. While it has a handy Suspend/Resume button, it's hard to line up the notebook with the dock, and it lacks some of the basics that we're used to seeing, such as a modem.

The eye-catching black-and-silver Fujitsu Port Replicator supplies the ports you need at the office, and at 1.3 pounds, it's portable enough to bring on the road. The Replicator provides a quartet of USB 2.0 ports, and it's a good thing--when we docked the LifeBook S7010, its two USB outlets were blocked. The dock provides serial, parallel, external monitor, LAN, digital video, audio, and a PS/2 port, and it will charge the notebookÂ’s battery. On the downside, it lacks a modular bay for an optical drive, a built-in hard drive, and a modem connection, although the notebookÂ’s modem remains active when docked. The Replicator has a pair of Kensington cable lock slots--one for the notebook and one for the dock itself--but we donÂ’t put much stock in this as an antitheft device: it'd be easy enough to pull it apart with a good-size screwdriver and a little elbow grease.

We had trouble aligning the LifeBook S7010 with the Replicator--simply docking the notebook was consistently frustrating. Once it was docked, we could tilt the notebook's screen backward a comfortable 5 degrees, but we couldn't raise the display to eye level. Thankfully, the notebook releases easier; there's a single button in back. The big bonus for those who move often between the road and a desk is the dockÂ’s Suspend/Resume button, which conveniently puts the notebook to sleep or quickly wakes it up.

With a throughput of 75.6Mbps, the Fujitsu dock held pace with the Dell and Toshiba docks we tested, but it was slightly slower writing data with a throughput of 59.5Mbps. Fujitsu doesnÂ’t include any printed manual with the device, but the company backs the Port Replicator with the typical one-year warranty; we prefer the three years offered by IBM and the two years promised by Targus. While we're fans of FujitsuÂ’s excellent online resources for notebooks, we were disappointed to find no mention of the Port Replicator on the company's support Web site. Fujitsu makes it easier to start a service or support request with e-mail or in its online chat room, but the toll-free phone help desk is open 24/7.