The good: ExpressCard and media card slots; choice of lid designs; responsive keyboard; three-year warranty

The bad: Sideways mouse buttons; average battery life; not that competitively priced.

The bottom line: Fujitsu's Netbook offering doesn't really differ much in performance, but redeems itself in design. We still wish it was a touch cheaper, though.

Read full review of the Fujitsu M1010 »

By Alex Kidman, CNET.com.au
Dec 22, 2008

At a certain level, the physical dimensions of a Netbook don't give designers much to work with. Once you slap an 8.9-inch screen onto the same old components, you don't have a big canvas to work with, although that hasn't stopped some more interesting designs from coming forth, such as the HP Mini 1000 whirly pattern.

And then there's the Fujitsu M1010. On the surface, the basic M1010 looks much like any other white Netbook. Honestly, it's tough not to look at it and think "tiny older-style Macbook with Fujitsu logo inexplicably on it".

Editors' note : This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com.au. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.

Design

Where the M1010 attempts to differentiate is by offering snap-on covers. The basic unit comes with a transparent cover, which you could snap over a photo, illustration or any other image you'd care to name, while Fujitsu will also offer a variety of colored covers for an as-yet-undisclosed additional price.

We've got to talk about these things in a purely theoretical sense, however, as our review sample came sans covers at all--not even the transparent one that comes by default. In theory it's an interesting idea at least, but we can't speak to how well it fits or whether it looks good or not. It does make us think, given the white style, that you could put Apple fanboys into fits by using the transparent cover and an Apple logo carefully printed to give the illusion of the long-rumored Apple Netbook. Just a thought, mind you.

In style terms, the M1010 belongs to the same family as HP's Mini Notes and Acer's Aspire One models, in that the touchpad is flanked by the mouse buttons, rather than resting above them. It's very much a personal thing as to whether that's a workable arrangement; we find it annoying as it's non-standard, but tastes vary.

Features

Fujitsu's gone for a radical rethinking of what constitutes a Netbook, offering previously unseen combinations of dazzling new CPUs and memory... no, we're lying, and not very well at that.

Underneath the hood you'll find what could practically be called the recipe for a 2008 Netbook, arranged in a mostly predictable order. 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor? Check. 1GB RAM, in line with Microsoft's strict XP licensing terms? Double check. 8.9-inch display screen with a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 600? Triple check. The M1010 comes with a 4,200rpm 60GB hard drive, which gets past the pesky SSD-equipped Netbook problem of not having enough space to actually do anything with Windows XP once it's installed and patched, though 60GB isn't the largest internal drive we've seen in a Netbook. The M1010 only has two USB ports--one on each side of the case--as well as a single ExpressCard slot, VGA port, Ethernet, audio input and output, and a multi-format card reader. It's a decent combination, but again, not exactly an earth-shattering one.

On the software front, Fujitsu has opted to bundle ThinkFree Office, an online-centric office suite. It's certainly in stark contrast to the approach that's seen either OpenOffice.Org or Microsoft Works offered in Netbooks to date, but not one that's particularly exciting, either.

Tags: Netbook, Fujitsu Ltd., Expresscard, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows XP

Rate It Now

Rating guidelines

Fujitsu M1010 (Intel Atom N270 Processor 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM)

Rate this product:
1 - Abysmal 2 - Terrible 3 - Poor 4 - Mediocre 5 - Average 6 - Good 7 - Very good 8 - Excellent 9 - Spectacular 10 - Perfect

Need help? Read our guidelines for what each number rating represents.

Submit your opinion

User Discussion

 

• Most Popular

• Upcoming

Latest Downloads

 

What's Hot