Fujitsu Lifebook MH380: Stylish and Sexy, but Performance Is Mediocre

There is no denying that the Fujitsu LifeBook MH380 ($449 as of March 24, 2010) is actually a trendy small devil. Dressed in deep red and black, furthermore, it incorporates a significantly far more pronounced curvature to its front edges than your common netbook. And if you open the program, it looks--okay, I actually are not able to come up which has a much better word than fashionable. Regrettably, the MH380 is just a good performer, and its 7-hour, 22-minute battery life--while excellent for any 1GB netbook with a 250GB challenging drive--falls brief from the greatest of its rivals. Also, though the 1366-by-768-pixel, ten.1-inch exhibit is impressive to start with, it produces some ergonomic and functionality troubles.

The LifeBook MH380's larger display screen resolution theoretically tends to make for sharper video clip. But in attempting to generate the 1366-by-768 show, the system's Intel N450/3150 CPU/GPU combo functions like a mule burdened by one particular sack a lot of. Dragging windows leaves trails, and I used to be unable to get 720p video to play smoothly--even the QuickTime edition of Microsoft's WMV Hd Fighter Pilot video, which will usually play good, stuttered. In addition, customers with vision problems may well have to increase the text size ahead of they are comfy with it.

An additional minimal ergonomic problem will be the keyboard. Apparently the designers at Fujitsu spend much more time with the scroll keys than typing, as they lower down the oft-used comma and time period keys to about two-thirds their normal width to accommodate the cursor keys. That may sound trivial, but consider touch-typing about the unit before you purchase it (or just before your return time period has expired).

The touchpad around the LifeBook MH380 can be a bit around the modest aspect, however the response is good. A big circular dimple to its proper serves as an unusual but successful scroll wheel. Two separate buttons sit immediately under the touchpad; nonetheless, whilst they function okay, both appear to flex once you press only one, which is a tad worrisome. This habits is occasionally indicative of a low cost mechanism along with a failure position.

The LifeBook MH380 has 3 USB ports: two within the left aspect in the vicinity of the front and one particular within the correct near the front. Not like numerous netbooks, the MH380 has its audio input/output jacks mounted in front next for the SDHC slot, by far the handiest area for all a few. The AC, ethernet, and VGA ports are within the left facet of the machine, though for some purpose the previous port is upside down. Providing the complete unit an ergonomic typing angle could be the battery, which hangs down approximately three-quarters of an inch through the back from the unit. Naturally, mentioned obtrusive battery helps make sliding the netbook into a bag or backpack somewhat more challenging, and may well create an uncomfortable lump also.

Tipping the scales at just below 3 lbs, the LifeBook MH380 is somewhat heavier compared to regular netbook, partly because of the battery and partly owing to the rugged building. Besides the touchpad buttons, the unit does possess a strong experience.

Fujitsu ships the MH380 with Microsoft Works, the My Recovery backup imaging method, and CyberLink's YouCam application. The very first provides you with the capability to execute fundamental office duties, and the very last is type of cool in the event you want to muck about while you're Skype-ing. YouCam enables you to utilize quite a few results to the video, this kind of as cartoon bubbles, embossing, and particle effects. Regrettably, CyberLink is merciless about getting you to register the software--only editing the Registry will eliminate the nag.

Even though the LifeBook MH380 earned an above-average mark of 36 on our common WorldBench 6 exams, it didn't impress us with its video functionality, as noted above. And though no netbook feels especially snappy with Windows 7 Starter as its running method, this unit appeared especially sluggish in my hands-on tests.

Audio was a combined bag. With the speakers, volume was greater than adequate but endured a unique spike within the midrange, which speedily grew irritating. Nearly all of this disappeared by way of headphones--but you could desire to play together with the EQ on your own playback software program somewhat to avoid ear tiredness.

Inside the stop, Fujitsu is perhaps a tad guilty of placing specs above real-world issues with all the LifeBook MH380--the Intel N450/3150 combination merely does not hold the horsepower to generate higher-resolution displays satisfactorily. You may desire to go for some thing with fewer pixels and snappier performance