Fujitsu Outfits Two Laptops With Solid-State Drives

Their heyday hasn't quite arrived, but solid-state drives (SSDs) are no doubt the next big thing in laptop storage. And that's something to get psyched about. Unlike traditional hard drives, NAND flash-based drives have no moving parts, which makes them more rugged and less likely to break or fail. Plus, they generate less heat and noise. Perhaps the biggest plus, though, is the pumped-up performance. Since SSDs don't require seek time or rotational latency, read, write, and boot-up times are significantly quicker; plus, since the drives require less power, laptops' battery life last longer.

There's still that age-old catch, though: price. SSDs are still on the super-expensive side. But that hasn't stopped Fujitsu from teaming up with SSD-maker Samsung to offer solid-state options on two of its touch-screen notebooks: the 2.2-pound convertible LifeBook P1610 and the 3.2-pound LifeBook B6210. Both notebooks can be outifitted with either a $700 16GB drive or a $1,300 32GB drive, but you won't find them as options on Fujitsu's online configurator. Interested corporate customers and agencies have to contact Fujitsu directly at computers@us.fujitsu.com or 800-831-3183 to add these costly components to their systems.

To up the rugged factor even further, Fujitsu also introduced a rugged case for the LifeBook P1610 and its predecessor, the LifeBook P1510 (pictured above). Made of flexible, ¾-inch thick Santoprene, the $139 case isn't Milspec-rated or anything (and despite its bright yellow lifejacket look, it's not buoyant), but it does help protect the tablet against accidental drops, bumps, and bruises on the road, while keeping access to all ports open. You can pick up one today from Fujitsu's Web site.