Sporting a 5.6-inch rotatable touchscreen, it was and still is the smallest convertible tablet PC. However, the first-generation U1010 was painfully expensive, demanding a premium of almost S$2,000, which could score you a decent full-size laptop with much stronger features. The fact that its slow Intel A110 800MHz processor was underpowered for Windows Vista didn't help, either. The following HSDPA-enabled model was even more costly and added only mobile broadband to the mix and little else.

The latest LifeBook U2010 sought to address some of these issues. Upgrading the chipset to a faster 1.6GHz processor, the new edition is not only cheaper, but also has a couple of new features and upgrades. Though the U2010 is not a Netbook, it's unavoidable that this LifeBook will be compared with the low-cost laptops as both target those looking for a pocket-size machine. We take a look at whether the latest iteration has what it takes to demand a premium price.

Upside: One of the major upgrades to the U series is the jump to the Atom platform. Not only does it perform much faster than the previous 800MHz processor, it surprisingly uses less power at the same time. Thanks to the new chipset, the rated battery life has also been significantly improved from around 2 hours on the U1010 to up to 8 hours on the LifeBook U2010.

As an interesting aside, this LifeBook uses the Atom z530 chip instead of the newer Atom n270 processor. The main difference between them is that the former supports virtualization technology and generates less heat at 2W (compared with 2.5W for the Atom N270). However, since both models have the same clock cycle and 512KB L2 cache, it's unlikely that there will be any discernable performance difference during usage.

A feature of the LifeBook U2010, which has not appeared in any laptop, is an FM transmitter. Instead of receiving radio, this turns your petite LifeBook into a mini broadcast station which can stream audio on any FM frequency. Though we have yet to test this particular feature, just be aware that from previous experience we do not expect fantastic sound quality from the FM streams.

Besides maintaining its title as the smallest convertible tablet PC in the market, the LifeBook U2010 now comes in a range of five colors as to opposed only black or white in the previous iteration. We also like that the screen resolution has been upgraded to 1,280 x 800 pixels (the U1010 had a 1,024 x 768-pixel LCD). This provides much sharper images and text, though you might have to tweak the display settings to ensure that the text doesn't become an eye strain.

Downside: Despite a price drop to S$1,688, it is still very expensive compared with the crop of cheap Netbooks in the market. Even the larger Kohjinsha SR8 with an integrated optical drive is less expensive despite also being a convertible tablet PC. An HSDPA module is also absent in this edition, though you can probably expect a 3G-enabled LifeBook U2010 to be available in the future.

In our opinion, Windows Vista should be restricted to traditional laptops and not UMPCs. After all, for pocket-size laptop, features take a back seat to speed since one is unlikely to do serious work with such a small screen and keyboard. Windows XP Tablet Edition or a customized Linux distribution would have been preferred.

Outlook: Despite new features and a lower launch price, the LifeBook U2010 is unlikely to hit mainstream and remains a niche product. However, for those looking for an exceptionally mobile tablet PC, the extended battery life and sharper touchscreen make this LifeBook a worthy contender.