Fujitsu P1620 vs. the HP 2710p- my thoughts
I can’t believe how much I am getting asked how I compare the Fujitsu P1620 to the HP 2710p for every day usage. To me they are very different beasts but I can appreciate how someone wanting to buy one or the other might be agonizing over it. I’m not going to recommend one over the other as it really depends on how you work and what to typically do with your daily machine. Instead I am going to offer some observations about what I miss about the HP 2710p when I’m using the Fujitsu and vice versa.
What I miss about the HP 2710p when using the P1620:
- That nice flat rubber trackstick head. The Fuji nub is fine but not as precise for my fat finger.
- That hot swappable extended battery. Having to hibernate the Fuji to swap the battery is not as good.
- The hovering cursor. It’s not necessary but does make things easier at times.
- Being able to see the power (standby) indicator when the lid is closed.
- The full-sized keyboard. The Fuji’s is fine but not as good as a full one.
- The web cam! I miss it so much on the Fuji.
What I like better about the Fujitsu P1620 over the HP:
- Near instant docking and undocking.
- Lid swivels in both directions.
- Buttons on the bezel.
- I haven’t benchmarked it but the faster booting on the Fuji.
- Much better fingerprint sensor. It’s positioned better for usage in either notebook or slate mode.
- Middle mouse button for scrolling.
- Size, size, size!
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James, this is great stuff! I’m curious though to hear your comparison of the 2 screens. Obviously one is larger than the other. But how do they compare in terms of vividness and viewing angles? I had heard complaints that the P1610 (not P1620) screen was dim or washed out, as well as issues concerning viewing angles and sunlight. Thanks!
Oh no, you’re not getting off that easy! You have to have a winner! If you could only have one…..:)
I know you can’t pick our winner but I think you work a lot like me so picking your winner would mean a lot.
Given the weight, I don’t care about a winner so much as the quick release of further motion details. I know it looks like it won’t be a fit for professional use, like many of us want, but it would make me feel better to make a fully informed decision. Especially given the costs.
Question
What is the HD size and interface?
I would like to see what other drives could be used. Faster speeds and/or larger capacities. 4200RPM seems very slow.
The Fujitsu Shock Sensor is listed as on of the programs that is “blocked from starting after you install Windows Vista SP1″: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935796
Has anyone (who has access to to it already) tried installing Vista SP1 on the p1620? Any idea what the conflict is? The knowledge base article says info about this issue is posted on the vendor Web site—but I sure can’t find a thing about it on the fujitsu website.
Don’t have a p1620 {yet}, but do you really need/recommend The Fujitsu Shock Sensor program to be running? What exactly is it anyway?
Okay, it’s done. I just placed my order for the 1620. I ordered the 32 ssd and will use a SD card for other data. They gave me 15 day return terms and threw in a scanner/printer as well. My ship date is March 7. (we’ll see.:)
Al, the Shock Sensor utility is the one that parks the drive head if the unit gets shaken or dropped. To tell you the truth I still have it running on the 1620 but I did disable it on the 1610 with no problems.
AI, the latest version of the shock sensor utility for the P1610 (December 2007) works fine with SP1. I presume the P1620 uses the same version. I had the original utility when I upgraded to SP1 and Vista did block it so I just downloaded and installed the latest version and it worked straight away.
Two quick questions – is the 6 cell battery flush with the rest of the computer or does it stick out like a sore thumb – and what type of battery life have you been getting with the 3 and/or 6 cell?
Thanks!
Lee, 2.5 – 3 hours on the 3 cell and 5 – 6 on the 6 cell. The 6 cell sticks out about .75 in. which actually forms a nice handle for use in slate mode. You can see how much it sticks out in the video when I show the P1620 sideways. I would like to point out to everyone that the P1620 device is physically just like the P1610 so check out my thorough video review of the P1610 to see all of this stuff:
http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkotr_audio_edition/2006/11/jkontherun_audi_2.html
James, in your vast spare time :-), could you answer my very first post in this thread, about the screen vividness and viewing angles. This is a very important issue to me. Thanks!
Genghis, the screen is very nice and I have no issues with it. Viewing angles are OK, not as good as some laptops I’ve seen but not bad.
James, thanks so much. That removes my last concern about the P1620. Now I just need to find out about the new Motion about which Rob at GottaBeMobile and Mr. Alltp at TabletPCBuzz have been sadistically teasing those of us in the “out crowd.” Perhaps you can blog on the new Motion if you know something and can say it?
James, couldy you peak at the HD and tell us if its a 1.8″ or 2.5″ drive along with the interface type PATA, SATA etc…
Thanks,
1.8″ PATA.
Genghis, I have no inside info about the Motion that some have been hinting about. That also means I am not under NDA about it and from all I’ve heard I believe it will be slightly ruggedized, a variant of the medical C5 which I have played with, yet will be for a different vertical market. It will not be for consumers (style nor price) at all.
Thanks James. I suspect you’re right.
I just bought 2710p, and have been using for about a week. I love this one overall, but there’s a few things that really annoy me.
*lack of middle mouse button (and middle mouse button emulation capability) – two mouse button is fine, but the mouse driver usually gives you middle mouse emulation by pressing both button. I can’t believe it doesn’t have that capability. This to me is very serious problem!
*volume slider – I thought at first it was cool, but it is not implemented very well. It’s not too accurate, and there’s lack in response time. I much rather have physical buttons.
*slow hd! – It’s one of those special small size HD that is really slow (4200 rpm i think) It shows when i run multiple applications at the same time…
*palm rest – I heard some horror story that the metal coated palm rest peel off in several month of use. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but I am very very afraid this may happen one day especially with my sweaty palm.
Other then these issues, this is probably one of the best tablet out there.
I hate to bring another tablet into the mix (not really) but I discovered (though you already may know about it) the LG P100, which is a refresh of the LG C1 that I also didn’t know about. I’ve posted a brief (though perhaps not 100% accurate) comparison of the P100 to the Fujitsu 1620 at http://blogs.genghiskhent.com/?p=19. James (or anyone), do you have any feedback on the P100 (or C1)?
These choices among tablets are killing me. Glad I don’t have to go through this with women (if I did my wife would kill me and I couldn’t post anymore).
As you know, I got my P1620 the same day you got yours. I REALLY like it, but I’m pretty unhappy with the screen. I actually own and returned a HP 2710P because I couldn’t stand the matte screen “sparkle” on the model I had (I had the outdoor view one). But the sparkle on this P1620 is just as bad. On a white page like this one, it looks grainy and in bright colors it looks washed out by the sparkle. And if I’m in a moving vehicle it’s like the sparkle is dancing.
I’m surprised I haven’t heard much mention of this in reviews and forums. Maybe you get used to it, but right now, I’m dying for my Fujitsu T4020. James, could you speak specifically to that? Genghis, I would think seriously about the screen if that’s something that’s important to you.
Genghis, I don’t have any info on the LG, as you pointed out it’s not available over here in the US. I can tell you that if it’s a touch screen only Tablet then vectoring will almost certainly be a big issue as Fujitsu is the only OEM I’ve seen yet to solve that problem.
TonyP, what you are describing is typical of anti-glare screens and the P1620 is definitely anti-glare. I don’t find it washed out or bothersome although that can be a personal thing. I’m sorry you don’t like it but I have no problems with the screen at all, I find it vivid and bright and appreciate the fact that it doesn’t glare in direct light.
Genghis, the most common complaints about LG C1 are battery life and price. It costs over $2000 in Korea, and certainly will cost more if imported by dynamism or others. I think it is positioned somewhere between Fujitsu P1610 and P7230 with its 10.6″ touch screen. Also LG tries to attract game players as well by including a dedicated video card. Nevertheless, it is very interesting model and I sure wish LG sells it in the States, and the price of C1 drops with the introduction of P100.
If you haven’t seen it, there are comparison shots of P1610 and C1.(see page 3 and 4)
http://www.notegear.com/Content/content_view.asp?spage=3&gotopage=2&TNum=469&kind=2
TonyP, add me to the list of 2710P users who are not happy with the screen quality. I also considered returning 2710p for its washed out screen, and I am surprised that there are not as many comments about the poor screen by 2710p users as I expected. Some reported that applying a screen protector can improve the screen quality, so that’s what I plan to try soon.
Since the F5 has not been released, we can all stop thinking about it as it is a full show stopper for what we would want.
Motion seems to be striving for differentiation and vertical markets and wants to keep away from the commercial fray so it doesn’t have to compete with Fujitsu, Toshiba, HP etc.. It’s unfortunate, since an updated LS900 would have most likely given the Fujitsu 1620 a strong competitor.
their only commercial saving grace would be to come out with a 12″ slate that was thin like apple and light to fit in a normal portfolio case that we would carry around instead of paper. that would shake up the market a bit.
For now, It seems its the P1620 or nothing….
Thanks ignar for the link on the C1. The P100 apparently lacks a PC Card slot. That’s a show stopper for me since I plan to switch a data card between tablets much as James probably does between his P1620 and 2710p.
Rockville, like you I’ve more or less given up on Motion’s upcoming tablet we’ve dubbed the F5 on GBM. Though if it had capacitive touch functionality I might go for it nevertheless. That’s what I’m waiting for in a 12″ tablet, the X71 being priced out of the ballpark (and I’d rather buy from someone with more of a Tablet PC track record than Dell). Perhaps Motion’s next refresh of the LE1700, which originally was going to be multi-touch. Unfortunately, I think we have a wait.
BTW, the F5 is official! The product page is http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc_f5.asp. James was right. First impression is that it’s an C5 clone for mobile field workers. No multi-touch, though it has WWAN.
The middle mouse was too sticky for me
James one small question.
Did You install Sp1 for vista on P1620 via Windows update?
If Yes give Us more information what drivers stopp install Sp1 to Vista.
And where we find correct drivers ?
Thanks