May 2007

Toshiba has ditched its Satellite and Tecra Tablet PCs, but the Portege R400 is a stunner. Ultra-light and ultra-elegant, this premium Tablet PC convertible runs Vista Ultimate on its 12.1-inch 1280 x 800 pixel wide-format screen. If the 43 watt-hour battery isn't enough, you just snap a second onto the bottom. Performance is right up there, but no optical drive and just a PC Card slot for expansion. On the other hand, Verizon EVDO is built-in! And if you haven't tried handwriting reco in a while, do! It works better than ever.[Read our review of the Toshiba Portege R400]

Report on outdoor-readable notebook screens
Outdoor readability is becoming ever more important. Our technology editor analyzes different approaches and highlights the best. Read Notebooks with Outdoor-Readable Screens in Mid-2007. -- Posted Sunday, May 20, 2007 by chb

Fujitsu announces U Series convertible UMPC
Adding to its long tradition of offering pen slates, Tablet PC convertibles, and mini notebooks with touchscreens, Fujitsu announced the U Series of convertible ultra-mobile PCs. Unlike most current UMPCs, the U Series offers full (albeit cramped) notebook functionality with a 74%-scale QWERTY keyboard as well as tablet operation. The little device measures just 6.75 � 5.25 inches, is barely over an inch thick, and weighs about 1.3 pounds. The U Series is powered by an 800 MHz Intel A110 chip, has 20-40GB of hard disk, 512MB or a gig of RAM, and a 5.6-inch wide screen with 1024x600 resolution. Either Windows XP Pro or Vista are available, and the starting price in Japan is US$1,199. [Read our description of the Fujitsu U-Series UMPC convertible] -- Posted Wednesday, May 16, 2007 by chb

Gigabyte to reveal slider UMPC
Gigabyte is joining the growing number of vendors offering an ultra-personal PC. The Taiwanese comapny's U60 UMPC sports a handsome "slider" design not unlike the OQO. It uses Windows Vista (Home Basic or Premium, or Business) on ViA C7-M processors running at 1.0 to 1.5GHz, has 512-768MB of DDR2-533 RAM, and a 800 x 480 pixel 6.5-inch LED-backlit LCD. Click on the small picture to peruse the keyboard: it is a split unit that may require a bit of getting used to. -- Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2007 by chb

Motion offers 32GB solid state drive for the LS800
In what may well become a rapidly ccelerating trend, Motion Computing is now offering a 1.8-inch 32GB solid state drive for its ultra-compact LS800 Tablet PC. Since Flash has no moving parts, reliability is improved, there is 10% more battery life, and data is accessed faster. The new SSD drive has the same formfactor as a 1.8-inch hard drive, and current LS800 owners can upgrade their devices to an SSD drive via one of Motion's Certified Maintainer partners. [see our review of the Motion LS800] -- Posted Tuesday, May 8, 2007 by chb