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A preview of the future: Fujitsu's ultrathin 3200 x 1800 ultrabook

A preview of the future: Fujitsu's ultrathin 3200 x 1800 ultrabook

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Fujitsu’s UH90 is the company’s first Haswell ultrabook — the world’s thinnest, it says, at 15.5 millimeters, and with a new construction method that lets it support up to 440 pounds. But what really sets it apart is Sharp’s IGZO display, which, at 3200 x 1800 pixels and 262 ppi, is one of the brightest and sharpest we’ve ever seen.

The screen performs admirably next to a 321-ppi iPhone 5 display — colors look a touch washed out, but otherwise very impressive. It measures 14 inches, but thanks to the incredibly slim bezel (one of the benefits of IGZO), Fujitsu was able to cram it into a body that’s just a hair wider than Apple’s MacBook Air.

Fujitsu is claiming 11 hours of use on its 45 Wh battery

Another benefit of IGZO is reduced power consumption, and Fujitsu is claiming 11 hours of use on its 45Wh battery. The CPU is a 15-Watt, 1.6GHz Haswell Core i5–4200U, with Intel Turbo Boost pushing the clock speed up to 2.6GHz when necessary. On the graphics side, the mid-range HD Graphics 4400 integrated GPU will likely provide a modest performance increase over last year’s equivalent; the unit also features dual USB 3.0 ports, a 4K-capable HDMI port, an SD card reader, mini DisplayPort, and an interesting-looking ethernet jack. Fujitsu’s trademark fingerprint scanner makes an appearance below the arrow keys, and a hardware Eco Mode button makes it quick to conserve power when you need to.

Fujitsu UH90/L laptop hands-on photos

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We can't attest to its battle-readiness

The case is attractive, with a brushed aluminum lower half and composite lid that wrap neatly all the way around. Fujitsu says its "omnidirectional design" is evocative of a Japanese sword, thanks to its solid feel ("like a plank"), but unfortunately, the early prototype that we got a chance to look at today wasn’t finished with the same process, so we can’t attest to its battle-readiness. The same goes for keyboard and trackpad performance.

Fujitsu says that the UH90/L will be showing up at Japanese retailers on June 28th with a suggested price of ¥190,000, or just over $1,900. At that price, it’s firmly in premium territory, which you would expect with a 3,800-pixel IGZO display, but Fujitsu is skimping in a few places, including only 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hybrid HDD. So far, there’s no announcement to bring the machine stateside, but if its predecessor, the UH75, is any indication, we could see it outside Japan sometime in the coming months — if we don't see its display first.