Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Preview: Fujitsu LifeBook NH751

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Fujitsu's laptops are usually associated with business-type users. Hence, it was a surprise when we learnt earlier this year that the Japanese manufacturer had debuted a desktop replacement that's aimed at gamers. This is the 17-inch LifeBook NH751, which packs the requisite high-end specs, including a second-generation quad-core Intel Core-i processor. Can this Fujitsu laptop distinguish itself from the more popular gaming-oriented brands in the market? Unlike the over-the-top designs that pass for gaming laptops, the Fujitsu LifeBook NH751 simply looks like a typical Fujitsu laptop, enlarged to a 17-inch form factor. Its only embellishment is Fujitsu's logo in silver on the glossy black lid, along with chrome trim at the edges. Inside, the 17-inch full-HD reflective screen has a thin bezel that just about lives up to Fujitsu's "borderless" claim.

Due to its size, there's sufficient space for a numpad on the keyboard, which is matte like the rest of the interior and are hence resistant to unsightly fingerprint smudges. A minor flaw here is the size of the arrow keys, which are the tiny versions that you'll find on smaller laptops.

However, we doubt that users will notice this immediately. Instead, your eyes are likely to be attracted to the two large speakers just above the keyboard, which are outlined prominently in silver. In fact, these two speakers come with a pair of tweeters that together with the subwoofer, make for a 5.1 audio system that supports DTS Surround. This is complemented by the presence of a Blu-ray drive that makes this laptop suitable as a home entertainment machine.

Fujitsu has also outfitted this laptop with an eight-cell battery sufficient to give it a claimed uptime of 5.5 hours. As usual, we have our reservations about such manufacturer-provided data. In its case, we estimate that it should be good for at least three hours. This is due to the presence of the energy saving feature in Nvidia's discrete graphics chip, which will automatically switch to the integrated graphics on the Intel Core-i processor when required.

While the Fujitsu NH751 comes with the latest quad-core processors from Intel, we're not too confident about the manufacturer's choice of an Nvidia GeForce GT 525M graphics chip. This is only marginally better than the GT 520M found on a midrange machine such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Z470 and pales in comparison with the more powerful graphics chips found on gaming laptops such as the Alienware M14x, which has a GT 555M. Given the large 1,920 x 1,080-pixel display on the NH751, we aren't sure that it's up to the task when it comes to playing the latest 3D games.

Fujitsu has included a slow 5,400rpm hard drive on the NH751. This won't help the performance of this laptop, though according to its Web site, the company also offers a faster 7,200rpm option that has slightly less storage space.

Although the NH751 comes with a good mix of ports and connectors, including an eSATA port as well as both HDMI and VGA outputs, we were slightly disappointed by the omission of USB 3.0 ports. This seems like quite the oversight when even midrange notebooks have this feature.

Despite the gaming slant suggested by Fujitsu's press materials, the LifeBook NH751 appears to be rather lightweight in the graphics department. The audio system seems fairly capable and, coupled with that large full-HD display, should ensure a top-notch multimedia experience. At S$2,988, it's more expensive than some of its competitors, such as the Asus G73SW, though its 3.7kg weight makes it fairly svelte for its category.

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