Fujitsu LIFEBOOK T904

Would someone mind clarifying what they mean by "user replaceable battery"? Do they mean you can easily remove it and pop another one in like a regular laptop battery without having to open a panel on the bottom of the laptop with a screwdriver? Do they even sell battery replacements? (One of the reason why I'll never get an ultrabook is b/c they don't sell battery replacements. The lithium polymer batteries used in these notebooks maybe lighter than lithium ion, but they are just too dangerous to handle for the unawares...)

Perfect laptop for me would have all of the following features: 1. Lightweight and compact 2. Exchangeable battery 3. Physical wireless switch (not hot key) 4. Native support for DDR4 RAM

 

I think there is a cover on the bottom that you open using a simple latch. It's shown on one of the YouTube videos available. Also I noticed that Fujitsu has spare batteries listed which also indicates that they are user replaceable.

 

I ordered in Italy on december and delivery initially was end of january, now moved to end february. I think not before march. At the moment is the only ultrabook that meet my requirement (convertible monitor rotation, port replicator, battery replacement, weight and thickness).

 

I just saw the video. They removed the battery but underneath it was plastic. I was hoping removing teh battery would expose the HDD, RAM. So, current T904 (and future) owners, are you able to replace the HDD, add more RAM?

 

There are no current owners of the T904 cause it isn't available yet.

 

Might be some bad news. On ultrabooknews' hands on video, there was some fan noise on a relatively idle device.

At 1:10 for the vid.
http://ultrabooknews.com/2013/11/08/fujitsu-lifebook-t904-hands-on-convertible-with-digitizer/

 

Well, I was under the impression that the T904 would be available in some parts of the world by now...

Anyways, I can live with a hot-keyed wireless radio switch if the laptop's HDD compartment is user-accessible. It seems like the T904 is almost a perfect laptop (if not for the lower resolution than the U904!) What impresses me the most is the single point hinge can rotate 360 degrees (or more?) in any direction. Such an engineering feat! (How do you even manage to get the wires inside to twist that much?) It's something I will always admire about Fujitsu (doing seemingly impossible things), just like their 2 year-old E752, which the trackpad is not a separate device but part of the chassis itself (incredible!)

Btw, does anyone know if the T904's screen uses IGZO techology?

 

The hinge can turn 180 degrees from its starting position to either direction, unlike most swivel screens that can only turn from their starting position to one direction.

Yes, the specs say it's IGZO, it should be the same panel as the S904 and it should have the same color gamut as Sharp's other IGZO displays, which is 65%, 69%, or 77% Adobe RGB according to different reviews.

 

that is still pre-production model, wait for final production model reviews...

 

I can't hold my excitement at all!

This thing looks so perfect.

Why do you prefer a swivel style to say a transformer/detachable style? People have said well with swivel style you can put it in movie watching mode or show a picture to your friend- well you could do both of those with a transformer style but in a transformer style you have a more mobile device and it lies flatter on your desk when you are notetaking.

I guess that was where the q704 was supposed to be the savior but evidently the device has alot of problems especially with fan noise.

 

I have a Thinkpad Yoga and while in theory it can do the same things as T904 in practice I've found it to be much less convenient compared to my older laptops with a swivel hinge. On my older laptops if you wanted to quickly show something to a friend sitting next/opposite to you you's just turn the display around and that's it, but on Yoga you have to pick it up fiddle with the power/usb cables connected to it and then flip it. You might as well just have a regular laptop and turn it around. As for the tablet mode - my old Dell convertible can lie flat on the desk just like the Yoga does.Out of the 4 available form factors (swivel hinge, XPS 12 style flipping screen, Yoga style hinge and detachable keyboard - Thinkpad Helix style) I'd definitely go for the swivel type. XPS 12 is less convenient, Yoga is the worse of them, imho, and I haven't tried detachable Helix-type laptops so I cannot comment on that.

 

It looks like some place in Japan is selling it for the equivalent of $1549.
‰¿Ši.com - •xŽm’Ê FMV LIFEBOOK TH90/P FMVT90P ‰¿Ši”äŠr

I'm assuming that the TH90/P is the same as the T904 though

 

Yes nice find !
I wonder if there is some sort of VAT tax or not in Japan for retail ?

The config seems to be :
Core i5 4200U(Haswell) 1.6GHz
interesting IGZO " display 13.3" WQHD (2560x1440)
8GB DDR3L PC3L-12800
HDD 500GB + NAND ?? (why not full SSD)
Wacom digitizer

They claim a crazy good "battery life is approximately 12.5 hours" !!!
1.59kg ~ 19.3mm ( thickness)

Looking forward to seeing at what prices they will sell these in US & Europe...
This should not last long before we find them here around

 

With regards to the benefits over a completely detachable screen (@kneehowguys), the CPU/Storage/battery adds weight that goes best into the keyboard, giving a nice stable balance. Putting those into a removable screen can make these a bit top-heavy when typing.

On a separate note, anyone thinking of replacing the drive with a Samsung 840 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5-Inch SATA III SSD?

 

more and more I look at the specs above, more I think it's quite expensive...

 

Actually, Fujitsu, on the whole, has always been quite expensive. My last Fujitsu laptop, which was an ultrabook, had I purchased it from the Fujitsu webstore (instead of getting a deal from a local dealer), would have cost me about $400 more... Let's not even get to Japan. Same crap they're selling will likely cost 1.5-2X more there...

 

How many 13.3" Wacom tablet PCs are on the market right now?

How many Windows tablet PCs have a display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 or greater?

How many tablet PCs on the market are business class machines?

How many tablet PCs are made in Japan?

 

Any recommendations for retailers to get this notebook from in the United States? Places that typically carry Fujitsu?

 

Newegg.com

Remember to use coupons and see if you can get the business discount as well

 

Thanks, Zero. Heh, you and I both seem to be moving towards the Lifebook then, huh? I recognize you from the thinkpad yoga thread. I'm starting to feel a lot more confident about the quality of this Fujitsu notebook, namely with the screen.

Any downsides to NOT buying direct from Fujitsu? Or should other retailers have the same quality machines?

 

Were there any actual reviews of this device? I wonder when they are gonna show up in Europe.

 

I haven't seen any. I suppose I shouldn't be talking about the build quality as I don't believe it's been released yet (though someone said the release in Japan was right around now), but I've been watching the Lifebook T904 closely along with the Thinkpad Yoga, trying to make my decision between the two. Both are convertibles with digitizer pens, but some people have unfortunately seen image retention with their Yogas. So I was just giving my opinion that I think the Lifebook might prove to be of higher quality, but who knows.

 

Just FYI from the tablet PC forum threads. Sadly I don't think the T904 is valid:

Receive a free 2-year warranty extension ($175 value), and free shipping ($32 value) with purchase of LIFEBOOK® T734 (SKU: Starting Configuration and customizable SKUs only), LIFEBOOK T902 (SKU: FPCM12243 and customizable SKUs only), LIFEBOOK U904 (SKU: Starting Configuration and customizable SKUs only), and STYLISTIC® Q584 (SKU: Starting Configuration and customizable SKUs only). 2-year warranty extension will be added to cart. Offer is not combinable with any other offers or discounts and is not applicable to past purchases. Offer is not applicable to Express Buy SKUs or Special Priced SKUs. Offer valid while supplies last from 2/20/2014 through 3/7/2014.

 

What are some clever ways to find/get coupons for newegg?

On Newegg,
I got some coupons that "worked" but really even after it "worked" I realized the "discounts" were already present before I entered the coupons.

Why does newegg seem to have nice stuff. I could not find a portable gechic monitor anywhere but newegg and I got it from newegg and it was AWESOME.

 

Does the Yoga use Wacom digitizer? T904 is from Japan. The Japanese will never release a product with such "defect" since obviously they've learnt from the old days that making crap doesn't sell...

 

Yep it has a Wacom digitizer.

 

Want a sneak peak of the price for a T904? Well, I "discovered" the shopping link. Enjoy. (Changed T734 to T904 in the link and it worked!)

Fujitsu America -

 

The link that In4mer2 posted has a $2194 charge for the base system plus $299 for no apparent reason. This is quite a bit more than I had expected for the T904. Does anyone know what the $299 is for? I checked the store pages for the U904 and the T734 and I noticed that when you open the customization page the minimum price is a few hundred dollars more than the "starting price" advertised on the main page. Does anyone know why that is? Is there really a giant fee just for customizing the device?

 

Eh. Usually customized devices have a premium, but normally its applied to the parts you select. My guess would be that it simply isn't ready yet. That said, the consumer version in Japan retails for only $1500 or something and loses the smart card reader, fingerprint reader, etc. I wish they sold it here...

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

Yeah the $299 doesn't seem to be for anything at all, it just jacks up the price. With this added cost the base model starts off at $2,493. That's SUPER high! Really? And I noticed that, too, with their other models once you click to customize them the base price shoots up a couple hundred dollars. Configuring the system I'd want to get (8gb memory, 256gb SSD) it works out to be just under $3,000. That's stupid expensive.

I forget if it was this thread or another, but I read that buying through retailers like newegg will save you some money. Sure enough, comparing a Lifebook T902 with the same specs both at newegg and at Fujitsu's site, newegg offered the system for about $400 less.

So maybe retailers will soon get the T904, though what if they only offer the base model, and you want more memory and a better hard drive? Are you stuck paying the higher price directly through Fujitsu? Anyone have experience buying a customized Fujitsu at a better deal than they're offering? Thanks to any replies.

 

The price & options isn't finalised yet, many other options is still missing...

 

The $299 is for Microsoft office and the port replicator. if you change those options to "none" then the $299 goes down to $0.

 

Ahhh okay, thanks. Makes sense... I noticed how MS Office was included. I still think the price is a little high, though. But... I want it! I think it's one of the best convertible options right now with a stylus.

So is the port replicator the docking station, or something else?

 

Is the i7-4600U worth an additional $150 over the i5-4300U?
Is the real world performance difference between the two noticeable?

 

Yes,
The link I stumbled upon appears to be the customized link. I couldn't find any other links. I would expect the preconfigured models to be slightly cheaper which we will hopefully find out soon.

I'm in Hong Kong and I've asked about this model at the shops. They've estimated for me mid March. If you had gone through with the customized model, the estimated ship date is March 10.

I'm on the fence between the Fujitsu vs Thinkpad Yoga, which I need to wait until mid-march to get my hands on either. Stupid HP is decided to use ATMEL for their stylus, a ridiculous choice seeing how they are the only ones using it AND the accuracy of the pen is comparable to a two year old.

 

Port replicator is indeed the docking station.

I agree it looks like the best convertible right now. I sent my TPY back due to image retention problems on the LG screen. The Sharp screen on this should be good. BUT Fujitsu has a history of noisy fans, so I'm worried about that.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

I got my hands on a T904 this past week at a computer conference. SWEET! Screen is beautiful. I did not hear the fan, although there was a fair amount of ambient noise in the room.

 

I also considered the ThinkPad Yoga. I eventually eliminated is though after I discovered the color gamut was rather poor, only 50 something percent. I'm expecting the T904 to be at least 70 something.

I had also considered the Wacom Cintiq Companion until I found out the cpu and graphics card are last generation. For the price it really should be the newer stuff.

I really need this T904 to be less than $2000 or I may not be able to get anything for a while.

 

Just signed up to this board to share this link I found to a German website listing the T904 (with a notice saying that it's not yet available):

They are charging € 1700 for the version with the Core i5-4200U. It's not clear to me whether VAT Is included (I think it's 20%), but I'm assuming it is.

When looking at notebooks from other brands, euro prices usually translate into dollar prices around 1:1.

I'm also waiting with anticipating for the release of the T904 (and see how it holds up to the Thinkpad Yoga, both price and quality/feature wise).

 

T904 up on American Fujitsu site
Fujitsu America - LIFEBOOK&reg T904 Tablet PC

I don't recommend buying directly from Fujitsu since places like Newegg.com could have the same config for a few hundred dollars less.

 

Would it be available you think near March 10th or would I have to wait a while?

 

It should be after that, Newegg seems to get stuff like that weeks later.

 

and... it's out!
now available on the Fujitsu website in the US

 

Any reviews up?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Has anyone heard if the 904 has NFC capabilities?

 

Apparently the Fujitsu website has two versions up for sale. The customizable version is $200 more at $2,199 than the fixed spec version ($1,999) despite that the fixed version starts out with 500GB hybrid HD as opposed to the 320GB hybrid HD and has 8GBs as opposed to 4GBs of RAM. That is awesome since it is the exact specs i would have chosen and saves you $200! One little minor annoyance I noticed though is that currently the US version doesn't have mobile broadband yet as opposed to international versions, according to a sales rep I talked to. The sales rep said that a lot of people were asking about this and that they are waiting for a response from the engineers on the issue. They said it will probably be a week before they hear anything, but believed that mobile broadband was going to be added, but how long that could be might be as short as a week or two to a few months. I really hope this gets added sooner than latter, because it's the only thing keeping me from dropping a wad of cash on this thing. The thing to me that really sets a laptop/ultrabook/tablet apart from a desktop is it's ability to use the internet anywhere you want. In the current state you are limited to only WiFi locations, which to me is kind of a big deal. Other than that, this ultrabook/convertible literally blows everything else out of the water. I really hope this is added soon.

 

Sure it's nice the preconfigured model works out to be cheaper, but it's frustrating that to configure a model to your liking you have to pay $200 just for the luxary of changing the specs. Say the base model is what you'd like but you want to upgrade the hard drive... well not only do you pay more for the drive, but the total cost also jumps an additional $200 AND your memory is downgraded by 4gb.

Anyone else find this a little excessive? Is this just how they do it for all of their models if you want one customized?

 

I do agree it is a bit steep to just change specs, but I imagine the reasoning behind the price hike is probably standardization. If I were to guess they most likely have the cheaper version set up for mass production, so they are ready to go right away and could apply economies of scale. The ones that are customized probably have to go through a little more lengthy and complex process since it's tailored to individuals and can only be built after the consumer has made the order. This is just speculation, but that's what I assume is most likely the case.

 

That's not entirely true. Panasonic could be better. But, nothing else comes close to the T904, not even the crap Sony (used to) make. Fujitsu is like the 2nd best laptop maker in the world behind Panasonic.

 

Fujitsu Italy inform me that my T904 arrive on 19th of March. I hope before.