Fujitsu AH531 Review

2011-11-07T21:08:00.001-08:00

I bought a brand new laptop during Black Friday from Frys.com. LIFEBOOK AH531 15.6" Notebook - Core i5 i5-2410M 2.30 GHz
It was an awesome deal. For
just $450 I got an i5 processor, 500GB hard drive, 4GB RAM, Blu-Ray player, and WiDi and Bluetooth built-in. I am upgrading from a HP g71-343.

When I first set up the computer, It's asked my how I wanted to partition my hard drive during the initial setup process. Compared with my HP it has a lot less bloatware. The only non OS software I'm seeing is a antivirus and a CD burning tool. My HP came with hundreds of games and other software

So far the computer has been running pretty smoothly. It's really quiet and even if I touch the bottom of the laptop it feels relatively cool.
These are just initial reactions. I really haven't had time to really push the capabilities of this baby. The keyboard is also fairly quiet to type on.

The first thing I did was to use Windows Easy transfer It allows you to transfer files and settings from your old PC to the new one.

One thing I hated about my old HP were the user guides. They're built into the OS. There is no PDF version even on their website. Fujitsu has a simple PDF manual

This is the first time I've had the pleasure of owning a Blu-Ray drive. I got a couple of Blu-Ray action movies from Redbox. The quality was excellent especially when I hooked it up to my big screen TV using the HDMI port on my laptop.

I'm happy my new laptop shows the time remaining before you have to
recharge. My old laptop would only show the percent but not the time
remaining. I'm getting 4.5 hours on my computer with WiFi on. Of
course they claim that it can go up to 6 hours without a recharge but
that's a pretty typical claim from a manufacturer. My old laptop would
only get 2 hrs.

Fujitsu tech support is awesome! I had a minor problem with my
battery. It was stuck at 96% for some reason and wouldn't go up to
100% even though it was plugged in. I emailed them and they got back
to me within 1 to 2 hours. They told me this was normal in new laptops
and told me how to resolve the problem. They seem to be really
knowledgeable and fast.

My laptop comes with a useful utility called Windows Mobility Center.
It lets me adjust brightness, sound, and turn wireless on or off and
much more in one place. I've attached a screenshot. I know I can do
most of this stuff by using the keyboard but usually I prefer to use
the mouse.

It also comes with MS Office Starter edition. That means it comes with
only Word and Excel and some of the advanced features aren't included
but it is nice that it's pre-installed.

I finally had the chance to try the Anytime USB port. This is a special port for charging even when the laptop is off. I was able to charge my iPhone even though my system was completely turned off. It even works when running on battery. It transfers charge from the battery to the phone. You can disable this feature. It only works with
the front left USB port of the system which has been designated for
USB charging. This is going to come in handy when I travel. I've
attached a screenshot.

I will have a more detailed review of the built in Bluetooth and Widi and will upload some more pictures.

Spotify First Impressions

2011-07-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

Spotify is the music service that’s been sweeping Europe and is finally available in the US. I was lucky enough to get an invitation to Spotify the day it launched thanks to Britney Spears. I really have no clue about what kind of service Spotify is. I just have a vague idea that it’s supposed to be something like Pandora.

Once you put in the invitation code, you’ll be told to download the Spotify music player software. This is different from Pandora where I can stream stuff right from the web .

After you login, Spotify automatically adds local music files on your computer to its library. The biggest problem with Pandora is you can’t play individual tracks. You have to create a radio station first and it will play related tracks and artists. With Spotify you can listen to millions of tracks instantaneous All you have to do is search and hit play. I am currently using the free plan which means that I will have to deal with commercials. The basic plan also means I can’t listen to tracks on my iPhone.

I will do a more detailed review later.

The Geek Library

Fujitsu AH531 Review

Spotify First Impressions