Fujitsu LifeBook A3120

In laptop design, white is the new black. But the Fujitsu LifeBook A3120 is no mere knock-off of the Apple MacBook; its pleasing pearl-white finish has a distinctive look all its own. And its beauty is more than skin deep, as the Vista-Premium-powered A3120 delivers features to the home laptop buyer that are usually reserved for business-class portables.

 

For example, this six-pound machine's hard drive (a generous 120GB) has active data protection, which parks the heads should the unit be moved (or dropped) while the hard drive is reading or writing. Considering the A3120 will likely be shuttled around the house, this feature should come in handy, as should the spill-resistant keyboard. This system also demonstrates that a fingerprint reader isn't just for business anymore, as it eliminates the need for remembering passwords and lets parents prevent children from viewing inappropriate material. The notebook also has 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi (802.11a is used by corporate networks but also by many wireless video-streaming devices) and Bluetooth (ideal for making free VoIP calls with a Bluetooth phone or headset).
 
Other than its paint job, the A3120's main attraction is its 15.4-inch widescreen display. It delivers rich, vibrant colors and excellent motion video, and the comfortable 1280 x 800-pixel resolution means you won't have to lean in to read your Google results. Our biggest gripe: The viewing angle on our test unit was very narrow; when viewed from the side or above, there were distinct shifts in color and brightness. But the A3120s on sale now come with a 50 percent brighter display. The built-in stereo speakers produced anemic sound and those will not see an upgrade.
 
The A3120's keyboard and touchpad (dressed in the same pearlescent finish as the lid) are roomy and comfortable, though the keys were a bit loud for our taste. There are four dedicated buttons (to launch your browser and Web search engine of choice, and volume up/down) but no multimedia-control keys. The machine does offer plenty of ports, including both a Type II PC Card slot and an ExpressCard slot, a 4-in-1 memory card reader (Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, SD, and xD), and VGA and S-Video-out jacks in addition to the five USB ports and a FireWire connection.
 
Fujitsu includes a decent selection of software, including Quicken New User Edition 2007 and CyberLink CD/DVD creation apps for making use of the multiformat dual-layer DVD burner. Our tested configuration came with Windows XP Media Center Edition, which is no longer offered. The A3120 now comes with Vista Home Premium, which includes Media Center functionality. We're big fans of Media Center for home users, even for machines that won't be connected to a TV (Fujitsu offers an optional external USB tuner, as well as a remote). 
 
Don't expect a lot of endurance. The standard four-cell battery we tested lasted only 45 minutes with Wi-Fi on and died 54 minutes into a DVD movie with the wireless radio off. The good news is that the A3120 now comes standard with a larger six-cell battery, but that's rated for only two hours of endurance.
 
The poor battery life also kept our MobileMark 2005 test from registering a score. But the A3120's 1.8-GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 processor and 2GB of RAM should keep pace with any chore a home user might want to do (and run Windows Vista). The machine's score of 1,226 on 3DMark03 means you'll be relegated to low-res 3D gaming. On the plus side, the machine's wireless throughput (18.4 Mbps at 15 feet, and 17 Mbps at 50 feet) was excellent.
 
We wish it lasted a bit longer on a charge, but the Fujitsu A3120 is a good Vista notebook with plenty of style and durability. And it offers a lot of features for the price.