Working in the cloud for a week – On a Fujitsu Q550 tablet
Back in April I’ve published a post about VMware View on a brand new Fujitsu Q550 tablet PC. At this time the device was a prototype and I had the chance to test it. It was great to work with it event if it was a prototype. In the last few month was a lot of buzz going on about tablet computers. Almost every vendor released a device but there are a lot of differences between the tablets. First of all the platform and the operating systems. Most of the hardware vendors developed their devices on a ARM based platform but there are also ATOM based computers. One of those is the Fujitsu Q550. It’s not running Android, no there is a standard Windows operating system installed. Yes, that’s true – a standard Windows OS what gives you loads of advantages but also a few challenges. As I’m really interested in how a user can work with a tablet and the cloud only I’ll try this for a week. As the tablet is Windows 7 based I’ve an advantage because I can run my email software Zimbra Desktops as I would run it on my laptop. Good for me as this gives me offline access. Additionally I want to use the VMware View 4.6 client to access my work desktop whenever I’ve a network connection. Let’s see how this all works. 
To clarify one point up front – The Fujitsu Q550 is not a consumer device, it was released to match the needs of enterprises.
The Q550 includes some great features which are necessary for using a tablet in the business.
- Dual digitizer – Touch screen but also a digitizer pen to make notes with Microsoft OneNote for example.
- Fingerprint reader for authentication
- SmartCard reader for authentication
- Changeable battery
- USB port
- 2 Cameras for collaboration (Front View and Webcam)
- Integrated microphone and loudspeaker, earphone plug
- SD Card reader
From my view this device can easily be handled by IT departments as it is a standard Windows device which can be integrated in the companies Active Directory. You could even use Group Policy Objects or a software deployment software with it.
Disadvantages? Sure! Windows is not optimized for touch tablets! It’s great to have the dual digitizer with the pen as this helps a lot. I’ll also check how a bluetooth mouse and keyboard or a USB replicator will help me when working on the desk.
We’ll see! Let’s get started with testing. You’ll see some posts about my experiences in the next days.
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