Feedback from E8020 users ?

I bought N3510 but just not happy with it, I had a string of problems right of the bat.
30 days and it has already been to repair shop twice.
I'm planning to return this one and get a E8020D, There is just one review by Goren here and not much discussion about this model when compared to N3510. Any feedback from 8020 users ?

thanks

 

Co-worker just bought 2 E8020's with the integrated graphics and 1.6GHZ cpu. We've noticed the following:

1. Machine is fast - probably because of the 5400rpm HDD
2. Battery Life for "normal" use is around 4 hours
3. Both laptops exhibit a large amount of flex on the right side of the keyboard when typing.
4. Called Fujitsu, easy to get hold of them. They are to send out 2 replacement keyboards next week to be installed onsite (he purchased the 3 year onsite warranty). Hopefully, this will fix the problem.
5. Displays are nice (SXGA+)

Harvey

 

Thanks for the reply Harvey , interesting to know that both of your friends machines had the exact same problem. I'm wondering how does these simple things pass the QA after they are built at Fujitsu ?
Did you find any heat issues with E8020 ?

and Also I'm wondering when I return my N3510 will I be getting a new machine or a refurbished one.

thanks

 

Well, it will be interesting to see if they can actually fix the keyboard problem - one would think so. The heat from the unit was minimal - machine was mildly warm on the bottom. In fact, I have a year old R40 Thinkpad with a 1.4GHZ cpu which may actually run a little hotter.

As for the new vs. refurbished, I would demand a new one if they try to give you a refurbished one. This will calibrate Fujitsu as a company. Although, so far, their support does seem to be good.

Harvey

 

HI Czar, glad you read the review .

I haven't tried out the N3510 extensively, but did get to play with it a little at Fry's. Compared to the E8020D, I found the palm rests and keyboard to be sturdier. the E8020D has some flex on the palm rest, and some on the keyboard. The E8020D had the x600 card, thus it got a shorter battery life than one with integrated graphics as mentioned above. The screen is great, but I did get kind of annoyed by the heat being blown by the right side vent.. because of this, I'm a bit wary of getting laptops with vents on the right side. I had no other problems with build other than that.. Lid is very sturdy.. but to be quite honest, IBM is still my #1 choice if gaming is not a priority :buyIBM:

 

Goren, do you happen to know if the integrated graphics would perform satisfactorily with videos, DVD movies as well as typical graphic applications - I do not intend to use it for games.

FWIW, the reason we're interested in the E8020 machines is that Fujitsu appears to be about the only quality vendor whose machine has, among others, a 1394 port and a parallel port and an infra-red port. To my knowledge, all other "quality" vendors (including IBM) do not offer a laptop that has all of those ports.

Harvey

 

dvd movies, videos and when you talk about graphic applications, I assume you're talking about photoshop.. those require every little graphics processing. integrated graphics will be fine. it'll probably lower the heat and raise the battery life compared to the model I had. btw I thought the IBM T series had a parallel port?

 

Thanks. From what I saw, the T series has the parallel and infra-red ports but not the 1394 port. The E8000 series machines had all three as well as the other ports. Have I missed something?

Thanks,
Harvey

 

Today I returned my N3510 to Fujitsu ( in Memphis TN ) . I'm flying out of USA on a biz trip on Saturday, they promised my the notebook back in my hand by thurdsday. I requested them to just send me another new one but they insist on trying to see if they can fix it. I have heard a lot of good things about Fujitsu service and I hope they send me new one or give me some other options rather than fixing this and returning . The main reason I bought N3510 was the screen and it would help me in making good presentations to the clients, last thing I want is worrying about my notebook going dead on me. I will post my experince with them soon.

 

ah, you are right, went to take another look at the ports again.. no fire wire.. you could always get one of these.

 

Just another piece to hang from the laptop - that's what I was trying to avoid. BTW, is that a pc card device that you show?

Harvey

 

I requested them to send me a new one instead of just repairing the one I sent in, they replaced the CPU and some other stuff and sending it back with expedited shipping. They refused to send me a new one. I'm travelling next week and will be using this notebook for making presentations to clients, the main reason I bough this notebook was that the beautiful screen will make my presentations look better. I'm worried that this notebook will have more issues later and if it dies while making presentations in front of the client my boss will be very upset !
my company buys only thinkpads, I made a case for this notebook with my boss, he agreed to make an exception. I'm buying a thinkpad in next hour and leave this one for my kid because my boss is not going to pay for 2 notebooks. Im just not comfortable using N3510 anymore for mission critical tasks.