Fujitsu touts the versatility of the U1010 in how it is handled. It can be used like a traditional laptop when placed on a flat surface and operated with two hands. Or you could hold it similar to a handheld device or evn tablet-style with the included stylus, discreetly hidden in the top right hand corner behind the screen.

Since there is no room for a the style of trackpad that everyone is familiar with, Fujitsu have instead re-located the it to the top right hand corner of the unit and shrunken it to be less than 1cm by 1cm. Two buttons located at the top left hand corner of the act as the left and right mouse buttons.

The trackpad required a great deal of concentration and a steady finger so that you are able to accurately move the cursor to point and click. This doesn’t bode well for those that have to endure bumpy rides on public transport.

Using the U1010 3.5G as you would a traditional keyboard was a bit of a challenge since touch typing is rather hard on the small-sized keyboard. You instead need to pretend that you've forgotten all your typing skills and have to start bashing keys with two fingers. Another slight inconvenience is the need to use the Function key to use the directional keys as well as the multitude of other keys.

Handheld usage was also fraught with similar challenges. Sometimes it felt like my thumbs had declared a Thumb War on each other whilst typing. Considering this method of entry was meant to be used while on-the-go, we'd recommend against doing this as too much concentration is required which may distract you from other more important tasks, such as being careful not to walk into oncoming traffic.

As a tablet, the cursor had trouble reaching the outer edges of the screen and required some coaxing with the stylus. However, handwriting recognition was good and managed to pick up words with little trouble.

The battery life of the U1010 3.5G is rated at a paltry two hours with the standard two-cell battery at maximum power setting, according to Windows Vista. Two hours isn’t really long enough for a mobile product, especially considering the drain wireless connectivity will create. That said a four-cell 5200mAH battery is also available for longer trips away from a wall socket, which should provide a more respectable battery life. 

In terms of processor, the U1010 3.5G is based on Intel's Ultra Mobile Platform 2007 and features an Intel A110 800MHz ultra-low voltage CPU and 945GU chipset. Storage-wise, there’s a 40GB hard drive, plus 1GB of DDR2 RAM with an integrated graphics card.

Working with the whole small form factor is a 5.6-inch (1024x600) LCD touch screen plus an integrated 0.3 megapixel camera, fingerprint sensor and a two cell 2600mAH battery.


Connectivity is provided by a lonely little USB port with CompactFlash and SD card slot, and the standard microphone/headphones ports. In addition, there’s Bluetooth v2.0 support, 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN connectivity, as well as the previously mentioned HSDPA support and a LAN port – take that Macbook Air!

The U1010 is rather strangely bundled with Windows Vista Business, despite only just scraping through the minimum requirements according to Microsoft. A wiser choice would have been to bundle XP Pro to improve performance and battery life. Sure you could do it yourself, but it would be an inconvenience due to the lack of optical drive. Another option is to install Linux for a snappier U1010, if you're so inclined (and that kind of person).

For those looking at upgrading the system memory will be disappointed as the 945GU chipset only supports a maximum of 1GB of RAM, plus micro DIMMs aren't exactly the easiest type of module to track down.

Overall, the U1010 3.5G is a product with a major contradiction. It’s an ultra mobile PC with a short battery life, which doesn’t make it very mobile at all. Sure, you could get the extended battery, but you’d probably still be recovering from the initial outlay of $1999.

The U1010 3.5G does require a lot of getting used to because of the way in which it has been designed. It’s a case of trying before you buy so that you know what you’re getting yourself into before laying down your hard earned. Some may get used to it, while others may find it a constant pain. This is one of those products where user experience will vary.