Hands on with Fujitsu's LifeBook U820

Almost exactly one year ago, Fujitsu released the world's smallest tablet, the LifeBook U810. Since then it's been learning and refining, and its new U820 (released today) proves itself to be an upgraded version of that nifty little PC in an ultra-pint-sized package.

The form factor of the U820 is nearly identical to the U810: A 5.6-inch LCD with a tablet screen, plus a pointing stick located above the keyboard with mouse buttons on the opposite size -- for browsing with two thumbs.

But just about everything under the hood's been upgraded and improved: Weight drops from 1.6 to 1.5 pounds while battery life jumps nearly an hour to 4 hours, 20 minutes. The CPU is upgraded to a 1.6GHz Atom. Hard drive goes to 60GB from 40GB. There's even a pair of lights that you can use to illuminate the keyboard, which features an extra row of keys that give you the full function-key experience. The 1GB of RAM is about the only constant.

Perhaps the most killer new addition here: Built-in GPS, a rarity in laptops of any size and unheard of in a mini like this. The U820 includes a built-in Garmin receiver and is preloaded with maps of the U.S. and Canada. It works well, and if you find you need a better signal, you can plug an external antenna into the standard microphone jack -- ingenious!

The U820 isn't without a few snags: The Atom CPU just isn't built to handle Vista, and sure enough the U820 gets terrible benchmarks. In fact, it's the worst performing system I've seen that could actually complete a benchmark suite -- but most Atom-powered machines can't complete them at all, so that's sort of a compliment. That said, you'll spend a lot of time sitting around and waiting for Vista to do its thing while you use this lil' laptop. With XP, this would've been a far cooler experience. The screen, while featuring better resolution, is also slightly dimmer than the U810's.

Of course, at a $1,049 base price, the U820 is now going to have to contend with a dozen or so netbooks on the market, which do a lot of the same things for a lot less money. Hard sell? To be sure. But if you're looking for the absolute smallest and lightest full-featured laptop on the market -- and that GPS feature is categorically awesome -- perhaps you'll find the extra cash is worth the price.