Fujitsu Lifebook P5020 Review

I am a serious enthusiast – I have owned every piece of computer hardware from a calculator to a Cray. Let me tell you there is nothing better than this laptop. Lets not forget, the point of a laptop is portability – and the P is for portable. The screen quality is simply stunning – it is faster than most desktops, and the battery life is simply amazing. Unless you want a big hulking overwieght laptop – this is the best laptop probably ever made. At $1600 it is a steal. Do not be swayed by these idiots saying the keyboard layout is bad. It is simple to adjust to, takes about 5 minutes. Best laptop ever made.

Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

Having used the P5020 for over a month I can honestly say I will NEVER EVER return to the shoulder breaking laptop bricks people pointlessly call portable computers. Once you have tried one of these babies, appreciated the speed, screen clarity and 5 hour plus battery life, you would never ever consider lugging around a 8+ pound desktop replacement…..Fujitsu supply a fastastic utility from Synaptics for enabling single click, zone click and scrolling regions on the mouse pad so I rarely have reason to use the left, right or small scroll buttons.

Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

Small, stylish and powerful! This machine has all the goodies required for portable computing and more! The built in wireless (802.11b/g) works flawlessly at home with my G router. The screen is beautiful – playing DVDs is great! Battery life has been nothing short of astounding, and the keyboard is actually great quality. Easy to adapt to the comma/period issues. I have to check that this thing is still in my backpack it’s so light. ATTENTION LINUX USERS – everything works except for 1280×768 desktop resolution, not supported in X using current intel drivers. That’s the only reason I’ve given this guy a 9.

Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

It’s very rare to get one of the best pieces of high tech equipment at a pricer lower than almost all the competitors. If this note had bluetooth, i’d call it a perfect 10.

- screen quality is the best i’ve seen. It’s on par with the Sony screens

- 7200rpm HD. The competing products from Sony & IBM use a smaller HD type which is much slower.

- strong screen hinges. One of the worst problems a note can run into are loose hinges that won’t prop the screen up. These are the most stable hinges ive seen on a small note

- keyboard is suprisingly useful for the size. If you can’t handle smaller keys, i don’t think a sub-note is the proper piece of equipment. A thin/light might be better.

- integrated DVD/CDRW, ethernet, Memory Stick, SD, CF, 802.11g. I absolutely hate small notebooks that require a half dozen peripherals hanging on the sides.

- Alps touchpad, much better than the cheaper version found on Dells and others

- excellent build quality and tight tolerances on the parts. I took the LCD apart and was very impressed with how well all the pieces fit together.

Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

I was very impressed by the spec and placed my order straight away, but the Lifebook hasn’t lived up to expectations and, I’m afraid to say, has already been relegated to the drawer. Power users will find that the machine really isn’t up to running Linux — hardware support is sketchy, with the built-in modem flat out refusing to work and the display is somewhat distorted — really not what you expect after shelling out this much for a laptop. Buyers beware, this machine could become an expensive mistake — be sure to check for compatibility with your OS before ordering!

Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.

It is absolutly amazing. This thing beat Sony’s Tr series easily. Why would u pay almost 1000 cad dollars more for just a camera, which is basically the better part of sony. Also i found that Sony dont live up to their word. When they say 5.5 hours they actually meant 3 hours, but fujitsu have almost 5 hours of batter, and 10 hours with a high capacity battery. If you really want some power, get the extre modual bay high capacity battery (which i did), from my testing it gave me a bit over 19 hours of battery. The performance of this is good for regular day typing, image editing programs, but if you are an extreme gamer i suggest you to get a Alienware or Voodoo, whcih is what they are for. It is great, i take this baby to class everyday and no sound would be made, if u exclude the attention i attract with it. In over all it is a wondeful machine, get it if you have the money. Screw sony it is a rip off.

Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

This is a wonderful road machine that has supplanted both my big Dell Lattitude and my Dell desktop as my primary machine. The battery life is great–can watch a movie on one battery (carry two batteries, watch two movies!), and the screen is adequate (I’m using it now). The speed is adequate for word processing, spreadsheets, etc. HUGE 60 GB HDD is only half full, and I have lots of MP3s, etc. I have written one book on it, and edited a second. I love this machine and cannot live without it.

Downsides: the machine is flimsy–it feels solid, but the plastic hinge covers come loose easily, and the little doors (like on most computers) that cover the VGA port, and the ethernet/modem connections are prone to falling off. Had to send the machine back to deal with the hinge cover problem–Fujitsu wanted to charge over $200 to repair what they considered “abuse,” but which was normal wear and tear. You sort of have to baby the thing–the case Fujitsu sells with it is nice, but you should put the Lifebook in its case, then put the case in another case or the padded pocket of a backpack.

This is a good way to tote it–I can fit the machine, AC adapter, extra battery, headphones, and a DVD or two into a backpack with room for a book or two, strap it to my back and run across the airport to make connections. Try that with an 8 lb boat anchor cum desktop replacement! Get this machine, but treat it nicely.

Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

I had this laptop and it was awesome, until it got stolen. It had very good battery life and the screen was amazing.

Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 1 people found this user review helpful.