If you are a student, or you have a student in the family then you are entitled to take advantage of this special offer while stocks last.

About the Fujitsu Lifebook T4310:

• Includes the high-end Wacom Multi-Touch Screen with Active Digitizer Pen (Pressure sensitive for use with Photoshop and others)
• Superb display with wide viewing angles
• Uses the Intel Core 2 Duo T series high performance processor
• Perfect for taking notes with Microsoft Office OneNote.

Buying from TabletPC.com.au gets you access to our years of experience with Tablet PCs. That means helpful advice, backup, and service.

Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 With Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010

RRP $2099

$1680 Including GST while limited stocks last.

Call 03 9012 6602 or email us at: info@tabletpc.com.au

Tech Specs:

Display: Excellent 12.1" screen (WXGA – 1280×800 resolution) with Wacom Active Digitizer and Multi-touch screen – perfect for note taking

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ T6600 2.2GHz – Runs windows 7 beautifully

Storage: 320GB SATA Hard Drive

Memory: 2GB RAM – We can upgrade this for you to 4Gb for an extra $99

Warranty: 1 year Parts and Labour

You’ll also find Intel Atom processors in the current crop of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPC – small touch screen tablets) and most of the current range of full Tablet PCs feature the Intel Core i7 or Core i5. Occasionally the Intel Atom and the Intel Core i7 meet up with products like:

• Rugged Tablet PCs – Motion F5v (Intel Core i7), Motion J3500 (Intel Core i7), Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 Mk 4 (Renamed Toughbook 19 – Intel Core i5), Trimble YUMA (Intel Atom) and Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1 (Intel Atom)
• Mobile Clinical Assistants (MCA) - Motion C5v (Intel Core i7) and Panasonic Toughbook H1 (Intel Atom)

In these categories you might be considering a product with an Intel Atom processor against a product with the Intel Core i7. These overall product ranges are in a much higher price category compared to regular notebooks and tablet PCs, so the processor cost is insignificant in the overall price. In other words, cost is not a factor.

So why would you go for Atom over Core i7?

Certainly not based on performance. As the following video shows, the Intel Core i7 demonstrates up to 40 times the processing performance of the Intel Atom.

Of course performance is not just about whizz bang 3D animations. It directly relates to how responsive your computer is and there’s nothing more frustrating than a computer that is constantly working to catch up.

What we have found is that Tablets that are slow and frustrating are usually sitting at the back of someone’s draw or at the bottom of the cupboard. A rugged tablet or MCA would make an especially expensive paperweight!

What about battery life?

Power consumption is usually a big part of the decision to go with an Atom processor in a rugged Tablet PC or MCA. Unfortunately much of the discussion gets lost on battery life run times. The reality is that all manufacturer’s claimed run-times are based completely unrealistic scenarios.

Yes, real battery life is important and you may squeeze and extra few minutes of battery life from an Atom based processor. Our testing with the Mobile Clinical Assistants shows that while the manufacturers claimed run times for Atom based tablets might look good on paper the real use run time is not much different to the Intel Core i7 due to the fact that Atom has to work so much harder at all times. Certainly the power savings are not usually enough to justify computer that is up to 40 times slower!

What is more important is battery management. Things like fast charging and hot-swappable batteries are critical to ensure that your Tablet PC continues to work goes through the day uninterrupted.

Why does it matter?

Tablets, particularly the rugged ones are usually deployed into companies for very specific jobs. And your testing might show that an Atom is passable for that one job. What you don’t know is that Tablet PCs open up possibilities… “What if we did…?” What your tablets will be used for in one, two or three years is likely to be much more than you ever imagined.

For example, a physiotherapist might look at a Tablet PC as a way to eliminate paper notes in their practice, and its note taking capabilities will be perfect for that job. Over time the physio will learn how to prepare exercise sheets, book appointments or even demonstrate conditions to their customers using 3D anatomy modelling software.

The Atom based Tablet might be fine for taking the notes on, but it will be a painful experience for any of those other tasks. So the task that you want your Tablet computer to achieve today is only 1/10th of its usage scope over its lifetime. You need to plan for that.

The following quote from a Toms Hardware article sums it up for us:

“we recommend staying away from Atom if you have the slightest expectations for how systems should perform, if you’re impatient, or if you regularly run workloads through your system” – Toms Hardware – Efficiency Analysis: Core i3 Trumps Atom On The Desktop

In most cases our advice is: If you want a good Tablet PC experience for yourself and your staff, stick to the Intel Core i7 or i5 processor.

For a real simple explanation, check out this video discussion on Intel Core i7 Vs Atom at Tekzilla @27 mins.

Jamie Balfour of Fort William in Scotland has a good explanation for you:

One point to bear in mind is that Jamie is talking about the desktop version of the i7 and i5 processors which have four processing cores. The ultra mobile versions of the Intel Core processors that are found in Tablet PCs currently are designed to conserve power and have 2 cores, but the principle is still the same.

Price is always a factor when choosing a processor for your Tablet PC. The price on the Motion Computing J3500 varies only about $200 between the Core i7 and Core i5 models. Our general recommendation (like Jamie’s) is to go for the i7 models. There are two reasons for that:

1. Nobody wants a slow computer! It’s worth going for a higher spec when the price is right.
2. Rugged Tablets like the Motion J3500 and F5v are an investment that you expect to be with you for at least 3 years, so it is worth ensuring that they will still be performing well in 3 years time. Going with the i7 now will future proof your investment.

That said, the performance difference between the Intel Core i7 and Core i5 pales into insignificance when you compare it to an Intel Atom processor – like you would find in most netbooks and UMPCs. Our next post will address the difference between the Intel Atom and the Intel Core i7.

Sure, multi-touch features are pretty cool and nice to have, but what does a swipe or a pinch really offer that is going to help you to become more productive?

Many of the people that call us insist that their Tablet PCs must have touch, but not many of them have a clear idea of why it should. There are a couple of reasons for that:

1. There is a lack of awareness of the difference between an Active Digitizer Pen and a Stylus.
2. Touch is the talk of the town
3. There is an anti-stylus agenda run by folks such as Steve Jobs from Apple.

Currently, touch offers some basic convenience for doing things like

• Clicking on links
• Typing short text on a virtual keyboard (too slow to write a paragraph without frustration though)
• Playing touch games
• Using programs specifically designed for touch

As many people have now noted, a touch screen only device does not offer you much in the way of input.

Most people don’t realize that an Active Digitizer pen is a lot smarter than a stylus. It offers you the ability to:

1. Use handwriting recognition that is accurate and fast – up to 40wpm
2. Take notes in your own handwriting – no need for text recognition or conversion, just keep your notes as handwriting
3. Annotate documents like word and PDF files in an easy and natural way.

Currently touch adds a little bit of convenience, but as Xavier Lanier noted over at Gottabemobile.com, even the die hard Apple fan boys don’t take notes on their brand new iPads – because it is not practical with only a touch screen to work with.

However, touch is destined to become much more than just a sideshow thanks to the tireless work of Microsoft Research. Touch has the ability to significantly augment the already powerful input features of the Tablet PC.

Watch the video from Microsoft Research’s Ken Hinckley here to see what we mean:

Combining natural input methods like this gets us seriously excited. As Ken points out on his accompanying blog post, this is the future of natural interface. Not just pen or touch, but both working together!

What we really loved is how zippy and responsive the multi-touch screen is. So we took a video of a number of Windows 7 multi-touch goodies including:

• Microsoft Collage – This really shows how smooth and slick Multi-Touch applications can be under Windows 7
• Microsoft Virtual Earth – Another touch goody from the Microsoft Surface team, included in the Windows 7 Touch Pack – Very fast app as you’ll see
• Multi-Touch typing on the virtual keyboard of the Tablet PC Input Panel
• Handwriting Recognition – The best kept secret of Windows
• Touch web browsing.

The Fujitsu T4310 is an absolute pleasure to use. It has a very fast Intel Core 2 Duo processor, but it also has a great 5+ hour battery life.

Take a look at the video here:

Take a look at the following video from a long time Tablet PC user in Malaysia who compares the resistive touch screen on the Fujitsu UH900 to the capacitive touch screen on the Lenovo S10. During the video he shows:

• Writing with a stylus pen on the resistive touch screen – good experience on the fast and small UH900, although not quite as good as active digitizer
• Writing with finger on the the capacitive touch screen – no leverage, very hard to sustain for longer than a few seconds
• Writing with a pogo stick on a capacitive touch screen – like using a crayon.

Fast forward to about 6:30 to see the pogo stick (crayon) in action.

From this video you will see that a capacitive touch screen is fairly useless for pen-like or fine input – think sketching, drawing, note taking  and handwriting. To resolve that problem, Windows Tablet PC manufacturers include an active digitizer on their capacitive touch screen Tablets.

The key feature for really useful and functional touch Tablet PCs is the inclusion of both the Wacom Active Digitizer Pen and the capacitive touch screen. The T4310 is one of the many new Windows Tablet PCs that include both!

A touch screen on its own makes for a very limited Tablet PC experience.

Navigating web pages and opening programs is a dream with touch under Windows 7. On the other hand handwriting recognition, sketching and note taking are completely impractical with touch.

So the inclusion of the pen gives you both the convenience of touch and the note taking and sketching functionality of the accurate digitizer pen.

Take a look at the Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 in this video below:

The first Fujitsu tablet to come out with multi-touch was the T4310, and it has now been followed up by the T900, the replacement for the beefy T5010 Tablet PC. Fujitsu continue to innovate with pen and touch computing and are one of the clear leaders in the Tablet PC field.

The following user give a good demonstration of the T4310. Although this user points out a couple of the shortfalls of the product, he still gives it a big thumbs up… And so do we.

Part 2 in particular shows how the capacitive touch screen works with OneNote 2010. It makes navigating your workspace super easy!

You won’t find a better demonstration of the combination of digitiser pen and touch. As you will see in this video, touch nicely augments the functionality of the pen.

Touch does not eliminate the need for the pen however, and as you’ll see a digitizer pen is pretty essential for serious Windows based tablets.

Call us on 03 9012 6602 for more info on Fujitsu Tablet PCs.

• Have a low weight to energy ratio
• Can be made in a variety of shapes and sizes
• Do not exhibit a memory effect (you don’t need to discharge them or run them down before charging again)

However, there are some disadvantages to having all this power…

What you should be aware of with Lithium Ion batteries:

• They have a minimum charge threshold - usually protected by the electronic controller on the battery-  and if they go below it they may be unrecoverable (i.e. dead).
• They lose capacity over time - A full battery will lose about 20% of its total capacity every year if stored at 25 degrees C. If fully charged it will lose 35% per year at 40 degrees C (laptops often get hotter than this!).
• They have a limited number of charge cycles* – usually between 500 – 1000.
• You should expect to replace them at some stage.

Tips for saving your Tablet PC or UMPC battery

The following tips will help you to keep your Lithium Ion battery running as long as possible. You might find that some of these tips are not that practical, but being aware of them will help you.

1. Store it at 30% – 40% charge (I.e. not full) - For example, if you’re heading away for a month and your not going to take your tablet, charge it to about half and put it somewhere cool.
2. Never leave your Tablet PC in your car, especially on a hot day – As detailed above, heat will greatly diminish the capacity of your lithium ion battery to hold a charge. Keep them cool as much as practically possible.
3. Remove the battery from the Tablet PC when you’re running on power constantly (I.e. if you’re mainly deskbound).
4. Unplug it! Let your Tablet PC run on battery as much as possible rather than keeping the battery in the unit fully charged.
5. Don’t leave a battery flat for long periods of time – If you do, it may discharge below the voltage threshold, and they don’t come back from that. The typical storage loss is 10% per month, so if you left a battery flat for a month or two or three, it may not recover.

Battery power is a critical component of your Tablet PC. Without your Lithium Ion you simply won’t be mobile anymore! So when choosing a Tablet PC you want to consider a couple of things about it’s batteries:

• How much do they cost? – Any decent Tablet PC or UMPC will outlive its battery! You absolutely will need to replace them at some stage
• How fast do they charge? – Some charge much faster than others
• How many will I need to keep? – If they charge faster you will probably need fewer batteries
• Will they continue to make the batteries? – Lithium Ion batteries do not store well as outlined above, so it is not a good idea to buy some for now with the intent of using them in future. You will want to be able to buy fresh new batteries in future.

* Charge cycle = 100% full discharge and recharge. So, if you discharge and recharge to say 60%, then back to full, then another 40%, then back to full you have reached 1 cycle.

As you can see, the weak point of this phone is its glass screen. We find that the glass screen is the weak point on many of the Tablet PCs on the market too – even the rugged ones. Even though standard screens are made from chemically hardened glass, they are still prone to break when a little force is applied.

Corning turned this problem on its head when they released Gorilla Glass last year – Gorilla Glass is strengthened with a process that achieves a much deeper level of strengthening. You can see a demonstration of Gorilla Glass by Andrew Moore-Crispin of butterscotch.com here at CES in Las Vegas last week.

Motion Computing were the first Tablet PC manufacturer with Corning Gorilla Glass on the rugged F5 and C5 tablets last year. Gorilla Glass is up to four times stronger than other glass used in Tablet PCs and as yet, Motion are still the only Tablet manufacturer using the technology.

Having used Tablet PCs for nearly 10 years (and broken at least 4 screens), I can attest to the value of this glass. It should be an essential component on all Tablet PCs along with a low power Hydis AFFS+ outdoor viewable display – another Motion Computing first.

Sonim should plan a visit to Corning to make their rugged phone even tougher (so that this doesn’t happen in future)!