10. Using The Fujitsu Lifebook P1510D

The Lifebook P1510D is housed in a sturdy plastic case. Neither half of the case can be easily flexed laterally or compressed. Display distortion is thus not a problem, and it's highly unlikely that the device's interior components will be damaged in normal use. Though, as usual, we caution against dropping the computer from more than a couple of feet if you want to keep its case intact.

The mechanism in the middle of the photo immediately below acts as the hinge for opening and closing the clamshell. It also swivels the display so you can set the screen in the traditional open clamshell orientation or in tablet orientation by turning the display 180 degrees and then folding it over the keyboard.

I've mentioned this before, but it never hurts to say it again. I am most happy to see that this laptop has a lockless clamshell. When you open the computer for use you don't have to slide a locking switch. The P1510D is held closed by a tensioned hinge. To open it you just separate the two parts of the clamshell. It's a little thing, but it eliminates an annoying step in the process of getting started with a portable computer.

Now I need to say a little about heat. When running at top speed on AC power this little baby gets hot; hot enough to feel uncomfortable, around 110 degrees, if you're holding it with your hand near the heat exhaust port. The P1510D's fan does a great job of removing hot air from the innards of the laptop and the fan's noise level is fairly low when it's operating. Operating on battery power, at about half speed the P1510D never got hot enough for its fan to cycle on. If you like to hold your Tablet PC in your hand while it's running on AC power, the P1510D is probably not for you. My guess is that most people will use the laptop on a desk or table top when it's plugged into the wall and won't have to worry about all that heat.