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Old 02-15-2005, 01:27 PM   #1
klas
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Fujitsu S6231 Review

Just got the laptop these are my initial thoughts about it... will be comparing to Acer 3201XCi that's being returned...

Build Quality & Design
Of all the laptops I've owned (Compal, Asus or even Acer) this one definetely feels like a high quality notebook. Lid and area around small LCD display is made out of magnesium alloy. Palm wrest seems to be high quality smooth plastic. Bottom is rough plastic and some parts of it have soft material (?). Everything is nice and neat. The only downside is bright blue light that you can see through keyboard.

Screen
No dead pixels. No need for mirror because I see my reflection when the screen is black. Beautiful screen! After looking for a few mins at it, Acer's screen doesn't look impressive at all.

Keyboard & Touchpad
Love the keyboard. Does not feel cheap like Acer and does not make springing sound. Very silent and no missing keystrokes. (can't believe Acer would make such a crappy keyboard on Travelmate 3201XCi)

Noise
I am very critical when it come to noise, so I'll probably spend most of the time testing the noise levels of this notebook.
The DVD/CD-RW sounds loud when in use, but I won't be using it that much, only need it to install software. There is a fan on this laptop and it is located also on the left hand side. It turns on when computer boots and also when I install new software, but it's not as loud as Acer's fan. So far it has not turned on while surfing the net or idling. Perfect!

Heat
It does get warm at the bottom, but it does not make you uncomfortable

Battery life
4 hours of battery life for normal use with low brightness.
3 hours at high brightness (you will use this only during a sunny day)
2.5 hours for playing DVDs

Size & Weight
It's amazing how light this thing is. I believe there is one pound difference between 3201XCi & S6231, but it feels much lighter. I am glad that Fujitsu also included weight saver unlike Acer, so it will make it even lighter.


Sorry No pics for now.


Pros
  • Great build quality, feels like a high quality notebook and no flex whatsoever
  • Keyboard is very resposive (world of difference from Acer's keyboard)
  • Laptop is silent for normal use, but even if the fan turns on under heavy use it's still not loud
  • Amazing screen. Very bright and you will be able to use it outdoors! Resolution is perfect for 13.3 and personally, I wouldn't want it to be higher. Horizontal angles are good, vertical is still ok.
  • Does not get nearly as warm as the notebooks I've owned, probably due to lack of dedicated graphics card.
  • Good battery life (normal use low brightness 4.15 hours; normal use high brightness about 3 hours)

Neutral
  • The power blue light is a little too bright that you can even see it through keyboard.
  • Useless LCD status panel, you have to lean forward to be able to look at it and in the dark forget that it even exist because you won't see anything
  • Speakers are pretty weak, worse then the ones that most laptops have

Cons
  • 4200 RPM Hard Drive as configured is slow
  • No bluetooth

Conclusion:
I was reading review about this laptop from a guy in notebookreviews and at first I thought he was too biased about it, but now I have it myself and it's really hard to find anything wrong with this laptop besides lack of dedicated graphics card & bluetooth. Despite that it is a keeper for me until I see the similar laptop with widescreen and better graphics card inside. This one I would give 9/10 stars!
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Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned


Last edited by qhn; 10-14-2009 at 04:21 PM.
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Old 02-15-2005, 01:35 PM   #2
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Ill be waiting for it...

The larger sibling of the P7010D is a real nice notebook.
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Old 02-15-2005, 07:38 PM   #3
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the pics are up
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Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned

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Old 02-16-2005, 09:42 AM   #4
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Thank you!

I'm also on the look out for a silent laptop and this is at the top of my list, unless I can find another one that is equally silent, but has better (discrete) graphics.
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Old 02-16-2005, 02:07 PM   #5
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just discovered an odd thing, will do more testing. When I was sitting next to the wireless router (1 feet away) I was getting 48 mbps, but the signal is stronger through 2 walls peaking at 54 mbps...
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Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned

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Old 02-16-2005, 02:10 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halcy
Thank you!

I'm also on the look out for a silent laptop and this is at the top of my list, unless I can find another one that is equally silent, but has better (discrete) graphics.
if you don't care about the looks, build quality that much and weight then I recommend Asus M6N
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Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned

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Old 02-16-2005, 11:08 PM   #7
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Was working for 2 hours using Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator creating a logo and the fan turned on only once. Also it got barely warm.

Wireless seems to be working just fine.
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Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned

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Old 02-22-2005, 01:11 PM   #8
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After using the laptop extensively for a week I am still loving it. Battery lasts about 4 hours for general use at low brightness, but for indoors it's more then enough, I didn't get a chance to use it at full brightness yet... hurts my eyes. Too bad that brightness levels are more limitted on both laptops I tried Acer & Fujitsu, you cannot go as low as on Asus.

Things I don't like is the HD, that I can't wait to upgrade, it's noisy and makes really loud clicking noises and bright blue power light!
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Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned

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Old 02-22-2005, 01:15 PM   #9
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As far as the keyboard on the Acer is concerned, I have a 4001WLMi and it indeed missed keystrokes. A few days later I found hat typing a lot on it made the keys to be responsive, just like in every other laptop but my Compaq (which is professional series). Now it doesn't usually miss keystrokes. It needs kinda burn-in, you know. I am happier now than I was when I got it...
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*# Acer TravelMate 4001WLMi #*
Intel Pentium M 715 1.5Ghz 2MB Cache (Dothan)
512MB PC2700 DDR333
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (64MB)
15.4' WXGA wide (16:10) TFT
60GB Hitachi HDD
DVD-DUAL (DVD+-RW)
802.11b/g Wireless LAN
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Old 02-22-2005, 03:48 PM   #10
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first time I heard about "keyboard burn-in", but maybe it's true only for Acer laptops. I've used Acer for a week and didn't see any changes. Fujitsu (or even Asus) on the other hand worked great out of the box, no "keyboard burn-in" required.
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Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned

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Old 02-23-2005, 02:06 PM   #11
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Does the 6231 have access doors on the bottom for hard drive, memory, and wireless card?
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Fujitsu S6231,- Intel M 725 1.6GHz (Dothan)
512MB (PC2700, 333Mhz) Memory|40GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive|13.3" CV (Crystal View) XGA Display|Combo DVD & CDRW Drive|Dedicated MS/SD card slot|Hot-swap Ultra Bay|4.07Lbs W/Optical Drive, 3.63Lbs W/Weightsaver
Images from Fujitsu's Website

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Old 02-23-2005, 04:57 PM   #12
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yes, it has 3 plastic things that you can remove, I will post picture later on.
__________________


Sony SZ110
Compal CL56-1m(review)
Asus M6NBe-7m (review)
Acer 3201XCi-2w (review)
Fujitsu S6231-5m(review

V2000Z - 2 month - so far so good )
Custom Made Sleeve from SFBAGS.com(review)
Dell 9300 - returned


Last edited by klas; 02-23-2005 at 08:30 PM.
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Old 02-23-2005, 07:17 PM   #13
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Thanks Klas
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Fujitsu S6231,- Intel M 725 1.6GHz (Dothan)
512MB (PC2700, 333Mhz) Memory|40GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive|13.3" CV (Crystal View) XGA Display|Combo DVD & CDRW Drive|Dedicated MS/SD card slot|Hot-swap Ultra Bay|4.07Lbs W/Optical Drive, 3.63Lbs W/Weightsaver
Images from Fujitsu's Website

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Old 03-28-2005, 12:00 AM   #14
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you don't find there to be any creakiness in the plastic?
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Old 03-28-2005, 12:34 PM   #15
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I have the same notebook and there are no creaks. I can pick it up with one hand and rotate it and there are no creaks, and little to no flex. The scree also stays nicely in place; it doesn't wobble like some other LCDs do (I'm comparing it to the HP dv1000's with the 14" widescreens...those things even wobble in the commercials!)
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Current lappy: Fujitsu S 6231
13.3" XGA Crystal View, 1.6 Dothan, 512 MB, 40 GB 5400 rpm, ~4 hrs of battery life, ~4 lbs (with combo drive), 3 yr Fujitsu warranty
Sleevecase from WaterField designs
Grand Total ~$1500 shipped

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