Having reviewed almost a hundred notebooks, PDAs, and handhelds over the last few years, I seldom get excited about a product. However, Fujitsu's B-2131 mini-notebook and its 10.4-inch TFT color touch screen had me tapping and dragging my stylus with a glee I haven't felt in years. The reason? I was penning my way through full-blown Windows 2000, not the stunted Microsoft Windows CE that most pen-based computers offer. Alas, Fujitsu didn't take full advantage of its innovation, or the B-2131 would've contended for my product of the year.
Even discounting its touch screen, the $1,999 B-2131 is a top-notch mini-notebook. Its 400MHz Mobile Celeron processor isn't the fastest available, but coupled with 64MB of SDRAM and a 6.4GB hard drive, it handled my workaday tasks easily. The B-2131's 10.4-inch, 800 x 600 pixel, TFT active-matrix color touch screen provides a sharp, luscious picture. One caveat: the glass-like surface that protects the screen from the stylus makes it a bit difficult to read in high-glare environments.
I found the sound from the B-2131's internal speakers surprisingly lush for a notebook. My test unit came with Windows 2000, a $100 upgrade that I recommend because it's faster, easier to configure for networking, and less buggy than Windows 98 SE-the other OS that Fujitsu offers with the B-2131.
Thanks in large part to a magnesium alloy shell, the B-2131 is as sturdy a notebook as you'll find. The 1-inch-thick, 7.75-inch-deep, 9.84-inch-wide B-2131 also travels light. Including the AC adapter, detachable rear-mounted port replicator, and external floppy drive, it weighs a svelte 5 pounds.
The B-2131 is brimming with ports and input/output options. On the left side of the unit are an AC adapter jack, a v.90 modem port, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port, a 4Mbps infrared port, a miniserial port (requiring an optional adapter cable), and a single Type II PC Card slot that supports both CardBus and Zoom video. The front is home to the power switch, an LCD status display, the screen latch, and three programmable launch buttons. The right side of the B-2131 offers two USB ports, the audio controls and jacks, and a VGA port.
Unfortunately, the B-2131's copious hardware drains the unit's single lithium ion battery quickly. I managed less than two and a half hours with the screen running full blast. Additional batteries list for $229 each.
Battery life notwithstanding, thumping away at the B-2131 was a joy. My thicker-than-average fingers had no problems touch-typing on the 85-key, short-stroke, reduced-size keyboard. The QuickPoint IV pointing device (eraser head between the G, H, and B keys) required little pressure to operate and facilitated accurate cursor placement. The buttons were positioned off-center, below the keyboard-perfectly placed for thumb tapping.
But what sets the B-2131 apart from the pack is the touch screen; navigating full-blown Windows 2000 or 98 with a stylus was an epiphany for me. I had a ball sketching pictures in Paintbrush, and I found navigating the interface quicker and more precise with the stylus than with a mouse. But Fujitsu missed a chance at true stardom by not making the screen detachable or offering character or handwriting recognition and an onscreen virtual keyboard. I found that the more I used the stylus, the less I needed the keyboard or pointing device. Many times the body of the notebook was simply in the way. A two-foot cable to separate screen and body would work miracles.
Even if the B-2131 left shaking my head over a missed opportunity for greatness, I enjoyed computing with it. My only real gripe is the unit's less-than-stellar battery life-a possible purchase killer for those without a bankroll for extra batteries.
Contributing Editor Jon L. Jacobi writes from San Francisco, Calif.
