Bought a new tablet

[asiafish]

I've been playing with an old Toshiba Portege 3505 tablet pc for about a month now and got seriously spoiled by the convenience. Spoiled enough that I wanted to migrate to a tablet as my primary PC.

As the owner of non-tablet X41, I wanted my tablet pc to be an upgrade, and I also wanted to get away from the slow 1.8" hard drive and more importantly, its 60GB maximum. Well, I waited and waited for an X60 tablet, and there still isn't one, so two-weeks-ago I bought a Toshiba Portege M400 for $1200 brand new. Its a Core Duo 1.66GHz (the E version without the instructions for virtual machines), 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hd that will be upgraded to a fast 100 or 120GB soon and a plain combo drive that will be upgraded to a DVDRW.

Compared to the X41 tablet, which I did not consider buying, it is about a pound heavier and half an inch thicker, most of which are on account of the optical drive. The 6-cell battery lasts a solid four hours in real use, splitting the difference between the 4 and 8 cell X41 batteries. There is a slice battery like the one for the X41T, but its a 6-cell and adds another 4 hours, which I will buy for my next AILA conference (3 days of constant seminars).

The X41T has a better viewable angle on the screen, but the Toshiba screen has better contrast, IMO. Both screens are outstanding, though I'd probably prefer the better angles on the X41T.

I HATE all touchpads, but the one on the Portege is better than most. Its very small and slightly sunk in, making it a bit less comfortable for heavy mousing (I use an external mouse at my desk or the pen on the road), but better for heavy typing. Its better for typing because being recessed, I don't accidentally brush it very often, meaning my cursor doesn't jump all over the window despite leaving the tapping functions enabled. Not too bad, but I really miss my TrackPoint.

The keyboard isn't as good as the X41's, but its far better than any non-ThinkPad has a right to be (about equal to Apple's aluminum PowerBook keyboard). The keys are softer than IBM, but there is zero flex and a decent amount of spring in the mechanisms. In short, my typing speed is just as high as on my X41 and accuracy hasn't suffered. Travel is a bit shallower and the keys do feel different, but its clearly a high-quality keyboard that really doesn't detract from the laptop.

Finally the case itself isn't quite up to X41T standards, buts its better than the consumer-grade machines at the local Best Buy. The pivot hinge is firm and tight, but smooth, and there is no flex anywhere in the case. The palmrest plastics feel a bit thin, but do not flex at all, so I doubt there will be any issues.

This model is still current on Toshiba's website at about $1700, but I found it refurbished for $1200. Another $200 bumped the warranty up to a full 3 years (from 90 days on a refurb), so whether I keep it or flip it when an X60T comes along, its well protected.

The weight is a bit higher than I'm used to, and it is also quite a bit bulkier than the X41 (non-tablet that it replaced. I'd put the size a bit under that of a 600-series and a bit over that of an X20-series, and about a pound lighter than the 600 and a pound heavier than the X20.

What I really like about these convertible tablets (at least the 12" models) is that there are absolutely no compromises compared to using a conventional laptop, especially with the optical drive built-in. As a slate, its a bit on the thick side, but well-shaped. The main reason I always insisted on tiny laptops was because of my twice-yearly 13 hour flight to Seoul and my desire to watch movies while squeezed into a seat in coach. Anything larger than the smallest ultralights becomes useless when the passenger in front of you decides to recline, as they always do. With a tablet, the passenger in front becomes a non-issue, so even the fairly thick Portege is usable in very tight confines.

Where I use the tablet mode most is in a parked car or in the conference room when talking to clients. Another place I've really come to love it is in the courtroom. I can't imagine a judge in immigration court tolerating an attorney using a conventional laptop to jot down little notes or check schedules for conflicts, but the tablet PC is no more intrusive than a plain yellow legal pad, and I've had two judges and three other lawyers make admiring remarks after hearings.

So far I'm quite impressed by this machine. They are selling the same thing with Core2Duo now, but its already quite fast so I should be satisfied for a while. We'll see how I feel when the X60 tablets come out. Either way, I should have no trouble selling this one should an upgrade be in the cards.

[NS]

Post the pics please!!!

[pianowizard]

Asiafish, what do you use the X22 for?

[pianowizard]

Post the pics please!!!

You can find lots of pix of the M400 on Google:

http://images.google.com/images?q=Toshi ... =N&ndsp=18

This site has some good photos:

http://www.mobinaute.com/mobinaute/arti ... 0919190324

I think it looks kind of ugly!

[christopher_wolf]

It's kinda sorta maybe OK, looks just a dash better in tablet mode.

[asiafish]

It is rather ugly, or rather just very boring. In laptop mode it looks any of the dozens (hundreds?) of ordinary generic laptops, only a bit smaller and a bit thicker.

The X22 serves as a backup machine if I break my laptop, but is in regular use by my 12-year-old daughter.

[sunkssss]

it's a shame you didn't wait to order the new x60t, it looks pretty impressive.... http://www.tabletpcreview.com/default.asp?newsID=632

[asiafish]

Looks very impressive, but its still not available except for preorder. I've ordered from Lenovo before and they aren't known for their speed. Just look at the X60s shipping thread to see how long people are waiting, and that is a current shipping model.

Lenovo promises mid-December availability, so January or even February is a possibility.



Here are the advantages of the X60T over the M400:

Longer battery life with the 8-cell and lighter weight with the 4 cell (M400 with 6-cell is about the same weight as X60T with 8-cell)

TrackPoint instead of touchpad

Multitouch outdoor screen (I'd get this over the SXGA+)

Better keyboard



And here are the advantages of the M400 over the X60T:

I have it now instead of who knows when

At least $500 cheaper

Built-in optical drive

Dual-point microphone for better speech recognition (not sure I'll use it)



I'm very excited about the X60 tablet and may upgrade to one when they are readily available from a forum member who doesn't like it (happened quick on the X60s and X41 tablet), but for now I'm very pleased with the Portege.

[draco2527]

Looks very impressive, but its still not available except for preorder. I've ordered from Lenovo before and they aren't known for their speed. Just look at the X60s shipping thread to see how long people are waiting, and that is a current shipping model

YEP...I talked to a rep today (vendor for the company I work for)..If I do the pre-order I should have the machine by early next year...MAYBE as soon as MID december "but highly unlikely" If I order after the "release" (Nov, 28 ) I should have it in February...so I am ticked...yet again...with this Lenovo *S.....