New Fujitsu Laptop

How was the heat and noise? Was temperature an issue when using the 6410 on a mattress? (We have a BenQ which gets starved of input air if the base is cloth material - ie. temps soar)

 

Heat is not a problem on the palm rests. It rarely get warm. As for using it on your lap, when you use it on battery, the fan does not come on as often, and it feels warm on ur lap, but not burning hot like my old W3J. I have used it on my bed for an hour or so, and there is no issue with heat, provided you dont block the air vent on the left side.

 

As for noise, on battery, the fan doesnt ramp up as much as when its plugged into the AC. Like my previous notebook, if I am gonna leave it on for the whole night to download, ill take it outside of my room and let it do its stuff, so noise is not an issue for me when I sleep. But if you want to leave it on at night while you sleep, you at first get distracted by the fan... then youll suddenly fall asleep and not hear it anymore. Hope this helps!

 

Is the screen really that bad? Im considering this machine since the Vaio SZ6 wont be available in Sweden for a while, and the s6410 will be in the end of this month.

 

Hi DTX, first of all, thanks a lot for your posts, especially the weight readings. You have provided a lot of useful information.

I have not completely removed the S6410 from my list yet, but I am leaning towards the Acer travelmate 6292, the Dell 1330 or the Toshiba M600. But the Dell and Toshiba are a few hundred $$ more expensive compared to the killer deal I can get on a S6410 from my university computer store and the Acer is too heavy (2.1 kg) but with solid build quality. I might decide to live with the Fujitsu's screen after all, but I wish the colors were richer and the screen a bit brighter. The Acer's and Toshiba's screens were so much better.

As for the Dell 2407's viewing angles and color, it will definitely be much better than any laptop since the 2407 uses a P-MVA panel ( better colors/viewing angles) while the S6410 (as do other laptops) use TN panels if I am not wrong. TN panels are only 6 bit and have poor viewing angles, but are cheaper and have lower response times compared to the 8-bit P-MVA panels.

 

So when plugged into AC (and no ambient noise) how would you rate the fan noise?

Passive
Low whir
Medium whir
Loud whir

I take it it's not Passive.

And thanks for all the really useful info DTX!

I saw some Fujitsu laptops at IT-Store on Elizabeth st yesterday (no 6410p), and build quality still seems every bit as good as the N6010 I have (love the keyboard/screen on that - however VERY loud fan).

 

Well its nearly 12 am here, so its a quiet environment. I have the notebook hooked up to the dock, without the battery, and connect to AC power. I am just doing normal web browsing, as well as chatting, and the noise is a low whir. With this low whir, you can slightly hear the hard disk clicking... just once every few mins. When I start to load PCMark/3DMark, the fan ramps up to Loud Whir.

Do you mean passive as having no fan, but just an air vent? If so, its not passive.

 

It would have been nicer if the dock included line in, and a power button!

 

I meant passive as in if the fan is barely notceable. If you rate it as a low soft (?) whir I think that's more than ok to leave on at night. Been reading a bit more on quiet notebooks and it seem the new IBM T61p is one of the quietest out there. Not cheap though!

And nice setup you have there. Very clean and simple. I also have the Dell but connected to my desktop and a heap of devices.

Thanks again
Andrew

 

Definitely low whir, even on battery.

 

Well, I could not wait forever for them to release it since school started so I went ahead and came home with a new A3130.

I like to change notebooks often, so who knows, maybe I will get one still.

 

Hi, I have the S6410H and can hear a high pitched noise whenever I'm running my laptop on battery, there is no noise when plugged in. With all the talk of cpu whine on other forums, I'm interested to know if anyone else here has noticed this with the S6410?

 

I cannot hear any noice like that, even if I put my ear close. Maybe it depends on CPU frequency? Mine is running 789MHz on battery, 2.19Ghz power connected, no noise in any case.

 

No CPU wine from my one.

 

Thanks for the quick responses and glad to hear you're not experiencing this same issue.

One more question, are you running Vista or XP or something else? Some posts on other forums are questioning whether it might be caused by the power management in Vista. I've read posts by people with a dual-boot setup saying they can hear this high pitched noise in Vista but not in XP.

In any case I might give Fujitsu support a call and see if they've heard of anything like this.

 

Another question for owners . Is there an indicator that lights up when the webcam is in use? I played with a friends new Dell M1330 and noticed there's a light next to the webcam which lights up briefly when booting up. I assume that's also to let you know when it's switched on.

The M1330 is a very quiet machine as well. A very low whir when it's on. Plus heat is only barely noticeable on the palm rests. Wouldn't mind getting one of those since the Salary Sacrifice company I can go through says the Fujitsu distributor is having supply issues with the S6410P. Plus the Dell has HDMI and a much better LED screen (from reports of the Fuji).

Build quality on the Dell is iffy though.

 

No, I don't think there's an indicator or at least I haven't noticed one in my very limited use of the webcam.

I can't comment on contrast, brightness, viewing angle etc of the two screens without viewing them side by side but I'm happy with the LED on the S6410. I had a chance to look at the M1330 at a kiosk and I noticed a fair amount of light leakage from the bottom of the screen? The M1330 is definitely a nice little machine however I went with the Fujitsu as I have no need at the moment for a dedicated vid card or HDMI.

Overall I'm quite happy with the S6410.

 

Yeah I did notice light leakage at both the top and bottom of the M1330. Normally I find you only get it from the bottom... But at least the light leakage doesn't extend very far up or down.

Dedicated Nvidia card has the advantage of purevideo. Makes a big difference if you're watching anything MPEG2 (ie dvd's). Also with the Dell (in Aus) it comes configured with 4gb ram and 250gb hdd. Works out a bit cheaper too. Although I'm still gonna chase up about the Fuji to keep my options open.

 

The larger hdd would definitely be nice. When I purchased my S6410H it was $400 cheaper than the S6410P and had a free upgrade to 2gb ram. That meant the $400 extra would only get me an additional 40gb hdd space and an extra .2Ghz processor speed. I opted to save the money and use it to buy a wireless router.

Both of these are great little machines so either way I think you'd be happy.

 

There are 2 versions of the S6410.

S6410H, S6410P.

The H version has T7300, and weighs 1.9kg.
The P version has T7500, and weighs 1.6kg.

And IIRC, the H version doesnt have LED, while the P does.

There is no light indicator to tell when the webcam is on.

 

Well, I'm hoping that you're not right about the LED screens.

According to the sales guys from both affordable laptops and pc market, the P model and the H model are exactly the same except for the following 3 things:

1. P has T7500, H has T7300
2. P has 160gb hdd, H has 120gb hdd
3. P has 2gb ram, H has 1gb ram

One of the sales guy actually phoned his Fujitsu rep to verify those details. Apparently a lot of people have been getting confused because the Australian Lifebook site is currently being redirected to the Singapore site. He said that the 2 models listed on the Singapore site are not the 2 models that are being imported into Australia.

Anyway, is there a way I can verify which screen I have?

Also, is there a way to verify that the notebook has Intel Turbo Memory?

 

Based on this link:

Lifebook S6410 Detailed Specifications

What you have said:

True, from that page.

True again, from that page.

Mine came with 2GB, the page says 1GB.

My LCD Device ID is: FUJ5112, which can be found in Device Manager, under Monitors.

Yes, click here.

 

DTX, thanks for the info regarding the LCD and Intel Turbo Memory, I'll check mine tonight - though I don't have any Intel Turbo Memory programs listed in my "All Programs" menu so I assume I'll need to install something.

Mine also came with 2GB RAM but it was advertised as a free upgrade so the standard config for the H is actually only 1GB.

The link that you've posted is to the Fujitsu Singapore site and the models listed on that page are different to those sold in Australia.

I'm confident that the H model has the LED screen as the physical dimensions of my machine are exactly the same as those listed on the Singapore site for the model with the LED screen. The screen is only 6mm thick.

Another thing I noticed was that the lower spec machine on that Singapore site doesn't have a webcam, whereas the H model does.

Anyway, thanks again for your help.

 

Yeah, youll need to install an application to open that.

Click here to download application.

I think the only real way to determine if yours has the LED or standard screen is to weigh your notebook. While I didnt have the weight saver, my S6410 came in at around 1.6kg. Weight saver should be around 10g extra. That is 300g less than the 1.9kg with standard screen.

 

Excellent, thanks for the link.

 

I just looked at the height of the two models on that Singapore site and figured the difference is due to the screen being normal or LED. Mine was the same as the model with the LED so I'm happy.

I'm not overly concerned with the extra size or weight but was hoping the LED screen would be more energy efficient and might give a little longer battery life.

 

I like the s6410 and is considering it it not the SZ6 will be available in my area within the next month. One thing I do think about is the odd placement of ports? Is it just me or isnt it quite odd to have the USB-ports on the right where you are supposed (in some cases) to have your mouse?

And the power cord, isnt it better to have it on the back? I also think that having audio out at the front is a wierd move. Anyone agree or is it just me that have stared myself blind on other models?

 

I thought the same about the usb ports but in reality it hasn't been a problem. One of the usb ports is right at the back of the right hand side and that's the one I use for my mouse and I have no problem with the mouse cable getting in the way. For me the other two hardly get any use, my printer, external hdds etc are all hooked up to the docking station so I usually only use those for thumbdrives which don't get in the way.

If you wanted to get picky you could argue that they should have switched the placement of the ethernet port and the power as with an ethernet cable connected the power cord doesn't sit nicely if you have the power cord running to the back of the notebook. Again, only a problem if you're a perfectionist, and if you have the power running to the front it's not a problem anyway.

I think there's always going to be some quirky port placements with all models so I don't worry too much about it. I don't mind the audio being at the front when I'm listening to headphones but when I want to hook it up to my tv and hi-fi I feel it would be better on the side or back.

One thing that is odd for me is the lack of audio out through the docking station? Everything else seems to have been catered for but you still have to run the cable from your speakers around to the front of the notebook.

 

DTX, I installed the app that you linked to but that was for some Intel Matrix Storage - I couldn't find anything in there that referenced Turbo Memory. I then tried to install the latest Turbo Mem driver from Fuji support site and all I got was a message stating that I did not need to install it on my machine? Would you have any idea as to why that would be? Perhaps the H model doesn't come with the turbo memory?

Thanks.

 

I did install this software too and saw the same thing - Intel Matrix Storage - this was before I realized that Turbo memory is not supported under XP. How about this link:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2813

Out if interest, is there any way I can make use of this Turbo Memory in XP? It is a 1GB of flash memory if I understand correctly, could have used it as built-in USB stick for backups.

 

As far as I know it's only supported under Vista and I haven't heard of anyone finding a way to use it under XP.

I think I'll have a good look at the readme document on the Intel site and see if there's something in there that I'm missing.

 

Sorry to bug on about this issue (again), but with the fan noise, would you say it's a low 'whir' or a low 'whoosh' sound? Whir is kinda like my Toshiba which is more higher pitched. The M1330 is more of a whoosh sound which you can also notice but is much less offensive. (The question just suddenly popped up in my head).

 

I would consider it more of a low 'whoosh' sound.

 

Something that may interest you guys:

When I looked into one of the config files for the Turbo Memory driver install there was a list of items, one of which was for "NOROBSON" which had a value something like "You do not need to install this driver on this machine". This is the exact same message that I get when I try to run the install so it looks like my machine (S6410H) doesn't have Turbo Memory?

Can anyone confirm that the "P" model does have Turbo Memory? Ie - can you install the drivers and then verify it through the Intel Turbo Memory Console?

 

Cheers! Though unfortunately it's looking more likely that I'll only have a choice between a MacBookPro or a IBM. My employer only allows me to go through 1 company and they don't mention Fujitsu in the list of companies they have 'good relations' with. grrrr

 

I had an idea to connect my S6410 to Three mobile broadband (HSDPA). There is an upgraded 3G version on Fujitsu website but my laptop, bought 3 month ago, does not have it. So I called Fujitsu techical support asking whether it is possible to install 3G module into my laptop. The answer was: "it is not possible because you will have to replace the motherboard".
So I unscrewed 10 screws, opened the bottom lid and peeked inside. I saw one vacant miniPCI slot, next to Intel WLAN module, which I think could be used for 3G card. But there were no antenna wires coming to it. From this I conclude that it is may be not possible to install 3G module, but not because "motherboard has to be replaced" but because antenna is not installed.
What do you guys think? If possible I'd much prefer to have 3G module inside rather than its sticking out of PC Card slot.

 

Update, just got the Three card and although it does stick out, it works great! I am currently connected to Internet via Three HSDPA.

 

Sounds good, how do you find the speed of the Three HSDPA as well as the signal strength? I was looking into the option of using my 3 mobile as a modem.

 

Hi Crevocho, I guess this depends on your coverage. I use it primarily at my work and I get 3 out of 5 signal strength there - so far its been excellent, at least as good as adsl I have at home.
At home I only get 1/5 signal and HSDPA does not work, it connects on lower speed (UMTS?) and sometimes cannot connect at all. But I don't really need it there and if I needed I could buy external antenna.
Three drivers/software managed to crash my laptop twice in 2 days, I do hope this won't continue like this. Overall - I am pretty happy.

 

does anyone know which driver is for using the fingerprint reader as scroll?
just got this laptop and im loving it
did a clean install straight away though

[edit] it actually works, just not very sensitive, dw [/edit]

 

I find the scroll useless. Sometime it works, sometime it doesnt. I regard the scanner as a gimmick. At first its "WOW", "WEE", "WAAHOO", then after a while, you just get bored of it. I removed the software, that saved me like 5 seconds on bootup.

 

I must be still in the "WAAHOO" phase. ;-)

Out of interest I'm wondering which of the included Fujitsu utilities do people actually use? I.e. Vista (or XP) power saving settings vs. the Fujitsu utility? How about the HotKeys or AppPanel utilities?

 

I do not use the following for my setup:

- HDD Shake Sensor
- Fingerprint Software (Driver is installed)
- Security Panel
- TMP

 

damn cant get the fingerprint reader and application panel to work in ubuntu =(