Fujitsu LifeBook MH380 - Better Than Its Predecessor But Not Quite Up to the Mark

The Fujitsu LifeBook MH380 is significantly better than its predecessor, the M2010. It offers a better keyboard, an HD display and respectable battery life. Still the $449 price tag seems a lot of money for a 10 inch netbook with a tiny touchpad. Laptop Magazine recently reviewed the netbook and they are happy with some, but not all, of its features.

Fujitsu LifeBook MH380Specifications

Display: 10.1 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels
Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Pine Trail Atom N450 Processor
Memory: 1GB of RAM
Storage: 250GB, 5400 rpm Hard drive
Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics

Design
One of the heaviest and chunkiest netbooks in the market, the MH380 weighs 3 pounds and measures 1.9 inches in thickness. With its glossy ruby red lid and deck, it sports an attractive design. There are, nevertheless, a few design elements that would displease most users. For instance, the MH380 has a 6-cell battery pack that juts out from the bottom of the system. Build quality appears satisfactory. The netbook does feel solid in the hand.

Keyboard, Scroll Wheel, and Touchpad
The best thing about MH380 is probably its keyboard which is one of the best netbook keyboards yet. All the keys are in the 'right' place and provide solid feedback with barely any flex. If keyboard is the best feature, the scroll wheel is the most distinctive feature of this netbook. It is located to the right of the touchpad and consists of a small divot. Trace a finger in a circular motion and you will be able to quickly move up and down web pages. The touchpad is very small. The buttons provide decent feedback, but they are also small. Still it is usable.

Display and Audio
The 10 inch LED backlit display features 1366 x 768 pixels, so you can view most web pages without having to scroll too much. The display is bright with great horizontal viewing angles. Speakers are good. They produce loud and clear sound.

Ports and Webcam
Port selection is average. There are 3 USB ports, a VGA port, Ethernet jack, an SD card reader, headphone and microphone jacks. There is also a 1.3 megapixel webcam.

Performance
Performance can't be said to be snappy. Boot times aren't very impressive either. That said, the LifeBook MH380 is still useful. The netbook has enough power to handle day to days without any difficulty. But it struggles with full-screen video playback. And even though it has an HD display, 3D gaming is out of question.

Battery life
We have seen several Pine Trail netbooks offering 10+ hours of uptime. The LifeBook MH380 is not one among them. Its 6-cell battery offers only around 7 hours of uptime.

Verdict
The LifeBook MH380 is much better than its predecessor the MH2010. It has several good features such as a bright display, a great keyboard and good speakers. On the flip side, the MH380 is too pricey for a 10 inch Pine Trail netbook.

Manjusha Nambiar is the editor of Notebooks Unlimited.Net, a tech blog giving laptop reviews. Visit Notebooks Unlimited for a more detailed review of Fujitsu LifeBook MH380.