Fujitsu's LifeBook, Heavy With Promise

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Not enough for getting through most full-length films, but then again, you'll generally want to use this machine within reach of an AC power outlet.

iPOD-LIKE BUTTON.

You might even be watching TV. This is another one of those notebooks that has a TV tuner, and runs Microsoft's ("MSFT") Media Center Edition of Windows. It comes with a remote control and an integrated TV tuner. That means you can run a cord from your cable or satellite TV box, watch programs directly on the laptop screen, and record them to the hard drive for watching later.

Another interesting feature is a curious multimedia controller—a big round metallic button placed at the top of the keyboard, something like the dial pad on an iPod. Pressing one side of the button launches your chosen e-mail application, the other a Web browser. The top and bottom are programmable to launch applications you use regularly. To its left is a button labeled "mode." When pressed, it lights up that bigger button, revealing control symbols for watching DVDs or playing music.

This computer has plenty of ports— five USB for any number of attachments such as printers, mice, and music players. It has one IEEE 1394 for video cameras. There's also a slot for flash cards (it supports Sony's Memory Stick, SD Memory cards, and xD Pictures cards). The machine is also wireless-ready, supporting both the B and G variants of Wi-Fi wireless networking technology, but also Wi-Fi's sibling technology, known best by the arcane name IEEE 802.11a, which you don't see very often.

GOOD AT GAMES.

Gamers will be pleased to learn the LifeBook N6410 is also pretty good at gaming. I installed Activision's ("ATVI") Doom 3, and I had an excellent gaming experience so long as I didn't crank up all the graphics settings to maximum. When I did that, the machine slowed down. That illustrates at least one drawback of using a notebook in place of a full-fledged desktop machine—desktops tend to come with more powerful graphics cards. Then again, you're not likely to max out all your graphics settings at the same time either.

The machine I tried was priced at $2,399, which is about the starting price for Dell's gaming notebook, the XPS M1710. We'll be taking a look at that machine soon. Dell may be the biggest PC vendor in the world, but lesser-known competitors like Fujitsu are clearly showing their competitive muscle.

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.