Fujitsu LifeBook E Series

WHAT'S HOT: Fujitsu's E Series LifeBooks sport a modular bay that can hold any one of six interchangeable devices (the 8X DVD-ROM drive included with our test unit, the included floppy drive, or an optional second battery, CD-RW drive, SuperDisk drive, or second hard drive up to 10GB). The laptop also includes a couple of unique features: A set of dual-purpose buttons on the front of the case, numbered one through four, can be programmed to launch any application, file, or Web site when the notebook is running. When you first turn the notebook on or it is emerging from a sleep state, you can use the buttons to punch in a passcode. And the E Series LifeBooks include an infrared port in the lower right corner of the lid that enables you to use an included wireless mouse.

WHAT'S NOT: Though the E Series isn't especially lightweight or small, it has only one internal bay, so you must attach the floppy drive externally to use it alongside the 8X DVD-ROM drive or another internal device. To pop devices out of the internal bay, Fujitsu built in a small, PC Card-like lever on the bottom instead of a sliding switch. Unfortunately, we found it as difficult to use as a standard PC Card lever.

WHAT ELSE: The E Series is a fairly thin, silver notebook that slopes from 1.5 inches in thickness at the back to 1 inch at the front. With a weight-saver in its internal bay and no floppy drive attached, the laptop weighs only 5.8 pounds--light for a notebook with a 14.1-inch screen. A handy LCD status panel sits above the easy-to-use keyboard, and Fujitsu placed audio connections on the front where it's a snap to plug in headphones. The laptop is easy to upgrade, including a removable hard drive that you can slide out of the left side sans tools. Our review unit, equipped with a Pentium III-850/700 processor and 128MB of RAM, turned in a PC WorldBench 2000 score of 149--a hair above average for similarly configured laptops--and a slightly below-par battery life of 2.8 hours.

BEST USE: Professionals and consumers alike looking for a fast notebook with plenty of expansion possibilities, an extra layer of security, and the convenience of wireless mousing should take a close look at the E Series.

SUMMARY

Fujitsu LifeBook E Series PC WorldBench 2000 score of 149, Pentium III-850/700 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows 98 SE, 14.1-inch active-matrix screen, ATI Mobility 128 graphics with 16MB of video memory, 20GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in V.90 modem, touchpad pointing device, 7.8 pounds (including floppy drive, DVD-ROM drive, AC adapter, and phone cord), one-year parts and labor warranty, free unlimited 24-hour toll-free tech support. $2299 877/372-3473 www.fujitsupc.com