The Fujitsu U1010 Running Windows XP Tablet

Posted on 30 April 2008 by


Last night I decided to take another look in the box that the U1010 came in, just to see if there were any goodies I was missing out on. Unlike the Shift the U1010 came with reinstall DVDs, as opposed to having a backup partition. I like the way the Shift can completely reload itself without any outside help, but having DVDs is a good idea too.

Anyway, in the box I found install DVDs for both Vista Business (which came preloaded) and Windows XP Tablet Edition. Now the performance on the U1010 has been fine on Vista, but I was curious to see just how much slower Vista was than XP on the relatively slow processor.


I expected the DVD to do a full restore on the machine, drivers and all, but not so. The DVD only restored Windows XP, the drivers were on a separate disc. On the first boot it asked for the disc, and the drivers began installing. I didn’t time it, but it took AGES. I would say over an hour, which is absurd!!

The worst thing was that they don’t seem to have install properly. Most of the drivers seem to have loaded, but the sound doesn’t work, nor does “tapping” on the mouse nipple to simulate a click. Not impressed.

Getting back to using XP on this machine, the difference in speed is astonishing. While the U1010 was “fine” before, it is now quick!! Programs open fast, Windows boots fast, and resuming from standby doesn’t feel like a cold boot!

The difference between the speed can partly be attributed to only having 2GB of RAM, I’m pretty sure of that. Vista just never seems to run as well on a 1GB machine as it does when you feed it 2GB.

Will I be keeping it on XP? Not for long. Funnily enough Kevin Toffel over at JKontheRun posted today about his experience with XP Tablet being somewhat unrewarding because of it’s comparitively poor inking capabilities, and he is spot on the money. Vista’s support for the touchscreen is just fabulous, and doesn’t feel like the afterthought that it does (and is) on XP Tablet Edition.

For months I have wondered where Vista truely excels over XP, and I have found the answer. For inking, Vista is top of the game.

This post was written by:

- who has written 208 posts on Gear Diary.

Mitchell Oke is a 22 year old Bachelor of Creative Technology (Digital Video Production) from Sydney, Australia. He's previously worked for News Ltd as a Multimedia Producer, and currently works as a freelance editor and videographer. He has a great love for gadgets and cars, always wanting to have the latest and greatest phones, notebooks and other electronic toys. He is a huge fan of Star Trek, Top Gear and Seinfeld, citing them as his favourite TV shows. In December 2006 he became a Mac convert, having used Windows since he was 5.

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  • http://www.geardiary.com Mitchell Oke

    And yes, in what can only be described as the ultimate test of perseverance, I wrote that whole post on the U1010′s ridiculous keyboard.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Lipsett

    You get a gold star just for your perseverance during torture. ;-)

  • kevinnugent

    Mitchell, I’m really keen on hearing more about the u1010…. dunno why …. I have PC’s, laptops etc…..

    Do you *like* it?

    Kevin

  • http://www.geardiary.com Mitchell Oke

    I will be writing up my complete thoughts on the U1010 soon (as well as the HTC Shift), but basically I have a mixed response to it.

    I LOVE the size, it’s so incredibly small. The screen is really nice, excellent sensitivity, high res and bright. Speed is fine in Vista, amazing in XP. Running Vista, it’s a very good tablet, just like having a notepad. HSDPA is fast and integrated.

    Battery life is as advertised, about 3 hrs. Nothing great, but a bit better than the Shift (which lasts about 2.5hrs for me). It works with my BatteryGeek external battery so I can easily get a days heavy use out of it.

    I HATE the keyboard. Honestly, I wish they had made it a bit thinner and ditched the keyboard all together. It is such a pain to use, and the lack of commonly used keys like Tab and the arrows frustrates me even more.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Allen Hong

    This is one sweet looking computer. I would like one for myself. ;)

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Lipsett

    Mitchell, have you peeled off those huge stickers yet? ;-)

  • http://www.geardiary.com Mitchell Oke

    Indeed I have :D

  • TrvlngDrew

    You da’ man Mitchell! Looking forward to reading your full reviews.. I did sell the Shift and the guy I sold it to did require the WiFi driver as you did, so thanks for getting that out to me..

    Since I needed SOMETHING I got another TYTN II… I think right now the best WM6 device GA. I’m sure there are those that will argue.. :-)

  • http://www.geardiary.com Mitchell Oke

    No worries ;) Tis quite a puzzler as to why the restore doesn’t include the WiFi driver, will have to ask my HTC guy to get a response from HTC about it.

    Ah the Tytn II, I have wanted one of those for the longest time (ask Judie), but alas never acquired one. Probably never will, but nevermind :P

  • kevinnugent

    I am seriously thinking about one of these, unless someone can point me to a better device.

    I don’t think the extra $300 for the 3G version is worth it for me, though.

    Kevin

  • technogeekchris

    HI, I have a U810. Can I upgrade this with 3G and how about memory???

  • les

    Hi, can anybody help? Just recently loaded Windows XP Tablet in my U1010. It`s working fine but I`m having trouble to get black buttons on disply and white Fn + scrolling buttons work. Tapping function of mouse pad is not working either. Tried to get help from Fujitsu support but they`re hopeless. Never replaying to my calls, they totally ignoring me. Just recently I was told that no-one in Sydney is trained on U1010. I`ve got no replay from Singapore either. Any ideas?

  • Anonymous

    What a little piece of crap.