Toshiba Picks Up Fujitsu’s HDD Business

Fujitsu Limited and Toshiba Corporation have announced today that Fujitsu will be transferring its hard drive (Hard Disk Drive - HDD) business over to Toshiba, through the creation of a new company. Fujitsu will move its HDD-related assets and business into this new company, in which Toshiba will have around 80% ownership (Fujitsu will have less than 20%). It will then fall under the Toshiba Group as a subsidiary of Toshiba. At some point in the future, Toshiba will acquire the remaining 20% and become the sole owner.

The goals are to boost Toshiba’s market share in 2.5″ and 1.8″ HDDs (in the laptop/notebook/netbook market), as well as their enterprise-level storage systems. They also mention that it will help boost Toshiba’s Solid State Drive (SSD) business.

They are working to complete this by the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2009.

Read: Japan’s Corporate News

Windows 7, SSD Netbooks, UMPCs

A couple of more ultraportables have had Microsoft Windows 7 pre-beta installed on them, with information / benchmarks listed.

UMPC Fever has a forum member who installed Windows 7 on a Fujitsu U2010, which worked great, from the included screenshots. They were able to use Vista drivers, and it was supported better than XP. They mentioned it was faster than Vista.

Ultramobile PC Tips had news of another forum user on a Spanish-language site who had installed Windows 7 on a Gigabyte UMPC U60. They reported that it booted faster than Windows XP Tablet PC Edition (SP3) and runs just about as fast overall. It also had no problems with the U60’s WiFi (Vista did). (via SlashGear)
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Fujitsu LifeBook T2020 Review (TabletPCReview)

Yesterday, Tiffany Boggs over at TabletPCReview published their review of the new Fujitsu LifeBook T2020, an Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) powered convertible. Due to its pivoting display, it can be converted back and forth between a Tablet PC form factor and a traditional notebook form factor.

The reviewed T2020 does have an active digitizer. The 12.1″ display is also an indoor / outdoor display with wide viewing angles. It’s nearly identical to the Fujitsu LifeBook T2010, and shares the same overall design (the differences being “under the hood” so to speak).

With the 9-cell battery, Tiffany was getting 8-9 hours of battery life, but even without, the display is enough to sell the T2020 by itself.

Read: TabletPCReview

Fujitsu LifeBook P1630 Introduced

Fujitsu has quietly introduced a replacement for the 8.9″ Fujitsu LifeBook P1620. It’s the aptly-named 8.9″ Fujitsu LifeBook P1630 and it retains much of the convertible form factor that the P1500 and P1600 series is known for.

It’s convertible in the sense that by pivoting the display, you can convert it from a laptop form factor into a Tablet PC form factor. While the P1630 runs Windows Vista Business (which has full Tablet PC/Touchscreen functionality), you can still downgrade to Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.

Among the changes over the P1620:
- Upgraded chipset/platform (Intel GS45 Express)
- Upgraded CPU (Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300) Ultra Low Voltage
- Upgrade graphics chipset (Intel GMA 4500HD)
- Weighs slightly less.
- Upgraded OS to Windows Vista Business

Fujitsu claims that with the 6-cell battery, you can get just over 6 hours of battery life. The P1630 starts at $2,179, and for slightly more, you can upgrade to a 6-cell battery from the 3-cell, add Bluetooth 2.1, and get a slightly larger HDD. There is a 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD) available.

- P1630 information
- Fujitsu LifeBook P1630 Gallery

Fujitsu LifeBook U820 - Available in US

The 5.6″ Fujitsu LifeBook U820 (or U2010 as its known elsewhere) has popped up on the US Fujitsu site. It’s Fujitsu’s first Intel Atom-powered ultraportable available here in the US, and it’s a “convertible” - it can convert between a Tablet PC and a laptop form factor.

It’s lumped in with netbooks because of its size and CPU, but it’s $999 starting price tag prices it out of the range of most netbook buyers. Again, it does have Tablet PC functionality.

They have two models, one starting at $999 with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium and a 60GB HDD, the other starting at $1,299, with Windows Vista Business and a 120GB HDD. Both are available through in the ultraportable section of Fujitsu’s site.

via jkkmobile

Fujitsu LifeBook T2020 Introduced

Fujitsu has quietly released an update to it’s 12.1″ Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (available during the summer of last year). It’s the Fujitsu LifeBook T2020. It’s a “convertible” laptop - the LED-backlit display can be rotated from a conventional laptop form factor to a Tablet PC form factor. The 12.1″ touchscreen has an active digitizer and there are two display options - one for indoor viewing, the other for indoor and outdoor viewing.

Truc Bui over at GottaBeMobile points out that while most of the updates over the T2010 are minor, the T2020 apparently offers a much better latch design.

It’s powered by Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) CPUs.

Base model for the US:
- FPCM11501
- Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300 (1.2GHz)
- 1GB RAM (DDR3)
- 120GB HDD
- Atheros XSPAN® Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/draft-n)
- No internal optical drive (either USB or one of the port replicators that has a DVD drive)

A 6-cell battery comes standard (up to 6 hours, 45 minutes of battery life), with an optional 9-cell battery providing up 11 hours of battery life. With the 6-cell battery, you are looking at 3.5 pounds (1.59kg). The 9-cell adds just a little bit of weight - up to 3.82 pounds (1.73kg).

At some point in the future, a 64GB or 128GB Solid State Drive (SSD) option will be available, along with AT&T mobile broadband options.

The base $1,699 model shows a shipping date of October 24, 2008.

HP Working on Touch-Oriented Devices, 10″ Netbook

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hewlett-Packard is working on touch-oriented devices, and will even roll out a touchscreen consumer-oriented notebook later this year.

Keep in mind that while Tablet PCs might have touchscreens, not all touchscreens are used in a Tablet PC form factor (or even the “convertible” form factor). This will look like a normal laptop and will not be a convertible like the HP Pavilion tx2500z.
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Fujitsu LifeBook T1010 Review (CNET)

CNET Australia posted their review of the 13.3″ “convertible” Fujitsu LifeBook T1010 Tablet PC. Convertible in the sense that the rotating display allows you to convert the device from a conventional laptop form factor to a Tablet PC form factor and back again.

They gave it a 6.9 out of 10, giving it low marks for the touchpad and low-resolution display (only 1280×800 on a 13.3-inch display) and the price.

On the plus side, they were able to get great performance out of the battery, hitting 2.5 hours while playing a DVD (which does drain the battery down quite a bit more than normal use). You also get a two-year warranty from Fujitsu, something that many manufacturers include as an option (that you pay extra for).

Read: CNET Australia

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