Alienware Area-51 M9750

So a few months ago, Arsgeek called me up and said “Hey, want a new laptop?” Well, of course I do! The only catch was, I had to give it back after a month of use. “So let me get this straight,” I said ”I get to use an for a month, and all I have to do is write a crummy review for your website? Count me in!.” Of course, that was several months ago, and here I sit, no article written yet. Ahhh, the life of a family man, no time for fun stuff!

Back on track here, I got to spend 30 or so quality days 2GB RAM, dual SLI Nvidia 8700M GT video cards, Intel Core 2 Duo T7600, yadda yadda yadda. Oh yeah, and weight of about 42 stone. Or seemingly so. It’s actually 9lbs 8 oz. or so with the battery, but felt like I was lifting a two ton heavy thing.

This isn’t so much of a tech-review per-se. You can get that data at numerous other sites on the internet. I’m going to focus more on the usability aspects of the machine, how it feels, how the features work, and overall impressions.


I got this sucker home after picking it up at Arsgeek’s place. Of course, the huge box it came in barely fit in my car (Yes, I know, Miata’s are small). It wouldn’t fit in the trunk, so it got the passenger seat. Just barely. Pulling it out of the box, I was struck by how huge this notebook is. And the weight. This isn’t so much of a ‘notebook’ as a ‘portable desktop’ machine. The power brick is just that – larger than a brick and heavier too, I’d imagine. Alienware must have needed all the space and weight to cram in the performance and features they did into this machine.

Sitting down into my comfy chair, I opened the machine and powered it on. Then it hit me. No, not the notebook – I got ‘the stare’ from my wife. This isn’t just heavy and large, it’s also fairly loud, with two fans immediately coming on, causing my wife to turn the TV up a bit. Of course, the situation lightened up a bit when my daughter walked over, pointed to the back of the laptop, and said ‘EYES!!’. It turns out that on the back of the LCD cover there is a little alien head, and the eyes glow blue. Neat effect, actually. My daughter really got a kick out of it.
 The SLI video card performed admirably. I ran some 3dMark06 benchmarks on the system. With the default drivers from Alienware installed, it ran a respectable 7781. Some tweaking, and an updated driver later, I coaxed a score of 8068 out of the machine. Pretty impressive, actually.

I tend to use my laptops as just that – laptops. I don’t have a desk that I put the machine one. I keep them standing on edge next to my chair, and when I want to use it, I reach down, lift it up into my lap, open the lid and go to town. This works great with my current machine, a Lenovo T60p. With the Alienware, however, this did not work too well – the machine is just too heavy and unwieldy to do this maneuver with. The M9750 is really not a laptop (or even a notebook, if you are into semantics) in any sense of the word, it’s a desktop replacement. Period. I do have to say that heat efficiency is pretty good on the M9750 – it only gets about as warm as my T60p, even though it has two graphics cards and two hard drives in it.

HP Vivienne Tam

New York City fashion week may be a strange place to debut the average new laptop, but it's very fitting for HP's Vivienne Tam Special Edition machine. She was approached by HP to design them a new laptop, and she came up with something that's apparently a "true reflection of the needs of a modern woman who cares about fashion but is also passionate about her technology." Updated: More data has emerged on the machine  

To that end, it has a complimentary embroidered case/sleeve and is approximately clutch purse-sized... with what could be a 10-inch widescreen. It looks like a UMPC-style notebook, but there's just no word at all on the specs of the device. And that's something that'd amuse and annoy many modern tech-passionate women I know. It'll be out in October, price still to be announced hey've had a very short—restricted by a secretive HP—hands-on with the special notebook. HP is apparently labeling it a "Digital Clutch”-style product, but has declined to mention the device's name. It resembles the HP 2133 Mini-Note except that, as suspected, it has a 10-inch screen versus the 2133's 8.9-inches. The keyboard also appeared the same as the 92% Mini-Notes, as did the position of the trackpad and mouse keys.

MSI GX723

MSI have recetly announced GX723 gaming laptop. The MSI GX723 has been designed specifically for gaming. This new laptop sports a 17-inch WXSGA screen. the MSI GX723 gaming laptop comes with an Intel Core Duo processor, a NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M graphics, up to 4GB of RAM, a choice of either a 320GB or 500GB hard drive, a six/nine cell battery and Windows Vista Home Premium OS. The GX723 selects the brand new ECO Engine, the outstanding and unique power saving function by MSI Notebook, as the power management function to extend the battery running time while performing different tasks.  

The ECO quick launch touch sensor can be used to switch between different modes like Gaming mode, Movie mode, Presentation mode, Office mode, and Turbo Drive mode. With new Dolby® Theater Class 5 speakers and exclusive MSI vivid image enhancement technology – the MSI GX723 Laptop can create the most astonishingly realistic audio and visual effects.

This new MSI laptop uses something called as the Turbo Drive Engine Technology which is exclusive to MSI laptops. With this new technology, when the GX723 is in AC mode, just by touching the turbo button above the keyboard, you can simultaneously increase the speed of your CPU, also the computer may run smoother and to the best of its abilities

lenovo e laptop

Lenovo this week has put there newest laptop out on the market and it is impressive. The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is a sleek new laptop weighing only 2.4 pounds coming in the colors black and red and a cost of $1,899.00. This notebook looks amazing. The ultrasleek notebook comes with a distinct sense of style that is brand new in today's competitive laptop market. The laptop comes great features such as face recognition software, an Active Protection System tht will stop the hard drive in the event of a fall, and a battery management software to improve battery life.
The laptop screen is very impressive. the 11.1-inch screen comes in a frameless design that you cannot even feel the edges of the screen. The system also uses LED-backlit technology to help save battery life.

The new small sleek light laptops of today make for easy travel. No more need to worry about where to put your bulky laptop, new designs like these are so small you can fit them in any travel bag or brief case.

accer

I love design deeply, whatever new design has came up always took my attention. Great product design almost followed by great sales. Lets mention iPod, the unique design just make the product bloated in the market, as they break 100 million product sold out around the world.

New Acer laptop design concept, Gemstone, really impressing. Coming with rouded and opalesque contours, make the look even aerodynamic and classy. Others keys design achievment is the white keyboard with neon media flow, it’s very sleek elegance.

Acer apply the new design concept to the TravelMate and Aspire series with  but they didn’t tell much about the technical specification yet, but soon they will be out. Now they are just hyping the new Gemstone product design. We don’t know whether the new design will take serious affect, just wait and time will tell. What do you think?

Sony VGNAR51E

I was very impressed at how well Ubuntu 7.10 runs on the laptop. The webcam, memory card reader, headphone jack and hibernation doesn’t work but the wireless, battery indicator and everything else works fine. One of the reasons for getting my instead of a normal mobile phone was so I could write my journal whilst on the coach to work. But the keyboard that comes with it turned out to be inadequate. So I got a replacement:Make sure your Ameo is attached to your Windows PC and that ActiveSync is running. When you double-click “WM05SP.exe” it will install a progrm in C:\Program Files\Freedom Universal Keyboard. The install.bat file in this program didn’t work for me so I manually moved “bthkeyb.ARM.CAB” (a file that was included in the install) onto the Ameo via ActiveSync and installed the CAB directly from the Ameo.
After installation, a new icon will have appeared in “Programs” called “Bthkeyb”. The first time you click it, you will be given a “Device Code” and asked for a passcode The keyboard program shows a almost blank info screen except the bottom-right corner has a button labled “Main”. Select “Main”, then choose “General”.
On the keyboard, move the switch to “HID mode” so the LED flashes green, then press and hold the “B” button. On the Ameo, click the “Bluetooth keyboard” checkbox.
The connection is automatically made in a few seconds and a message “Keyboard was connected” pops up – it’s then safe to release the “B” button. Test the keyboard works in MS Word Mobile.

EeePc900

This laptop can be summed up in one word: “Cute”. It’s just perfect for traveling:

9 inch screen
Weights only 1KG
Solid-state disk drive (very bump/knock resistant)
Wi-Fi
Built in camera for Skyping
Card Reader so you can store holiday snaps.


I bought this laptop for two reasons, firstly to help plan our road trip as we went and secondly so I could write a journal without doing it on paper then spending ages typing it up like I did when we went to Europe. It worked very well for both these requirements and it also kept us entertained. One evening we watched a episode of TrueBlood in our tent whilst in quite a scary campsite in Canyon Du Chelly (with lots of stray dogs)! However, it definitely lacked performance. It was slow to boot into XP and felt sluggish to use, for example menus would have a delay before popping up and it couldn’t handle viewing photos from our camera at all quickly. Putting Linux on it might have improved it a lot but not enough for me to be impressed. I did want the 901 model (which has a 1.6GHz CPU instead of this 900MHz) but it wasn’t in any of the US shops (and we looked all round Los Angeles).

What did this laptop cost? We bought it in “BestBuy” for $500 (£270) including tax and we sold it on Ebay 7 weeks later for £180 but we had Ebay fees of £16.33 (listing: £1.79, postage: £8.22, PayPal: £6.32) so the end result is that we rented this for the US trip for £106. It was worth every penny considering how convenient it was for planning our trip and for how much time and money we would have spent in Internet cafes if we didn’t have it.

hp mini 2140

You can now order the HP Mini 2140 netbook direct from the HP site for $499 to $779.

$499 get you a netbook with a 10.1" 1024x576 display, Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g and bluetooth 2.0. Asus has announced a new laptop designed for gaming that features a 18.4" 1080p HD screen.

The W90 gaming laptop won't be very portable but if you have to have the best gaming performance then you should check this out: ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics that delivers a #DMark 2006 score of 15,000, up to 6GB of DDR2-800 RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 1TB of hard disk space, and true 5.1 channel dulby sound pumped through 5 integrated speakers and a subwoofer.
A photo of Sony's tiny VAIO P netbook has appeared at CES confirming the rumors of a chiclet keyboardEveryone knew it was coming at Macworld but we all hoped one part of the rumor was untrue - the non-removable battery.

The new 17 inch Macbook Pro has just been announced and yes it comes with a fixed battery.

Everything else about the laptop sounds great - unibody design, slim and attractive, powerful processor, large hard drive, lots of memory, good graphics, 7 hour battery life, 17" 1920x1200 pixel screen, all in a 6.6lb package less than an inch thick.
 HP has announced their next netbook/ultra-portable PC - the Mini 2140, and we are really glad to see that HP has readopted the main differentiator that set their 2133 apart from the opposition - a higher resolution screen.

Just about every netbook out there comes with at most a 1024x600 pixel screen but the HP Mini 2140 has a "HD" option that comes with a 1366x768 pixel screen.

The rest of the specs are fairly standard (Atom 1.6GHz processor, one SODIMM RAM slot, 160GB hard drive (or 80GB SSD), wireless, (optional) bluetooth, 3 cell or 6 cell battery, 2 USB 1 SD and an expresscard slot, etc) but we think the great looks and high-res screen will make this product a winner.

ecs

This month's Cebit show will mark first new launch since its recent merger with Taiwanese manufacturer Uniwill Computer. ECS will bust out with 4 new laptop ranges, simply named the S, L, H, and G series. Each series is targeted towards a specific user and all four support both Windows XP and Windows Vista. Detailed specs are vague but we'll spit what we've got: The slim-design S series, with LCD displays ranging from 12.1-inches to 14.1-inches, sounds like ECS' standard fare for the everyday user. The 12.1-inch S20II packs in a Core 2 Duo processor, Bluetooth, and a built-in 1.3 Megapixel camera. For all you penny pinchers, L Series notebooks will be priced for the value shopper (so probably no monster performance or sweet innards here) and will sport screens from 14.1-inches up to 17-inches. Next, the mobile presentation crowd might fancy the adjustable swivel-necked G200 (pictured), which will kick off the G series. And finally, ECS will launch its new H series with the H70, boasting a 7-inch touch screen display (with stylus input), 4-in-1 card reader, and 1.3 Megapixel camera. Apparently, ECS' basket's been full with this new breed of lappies, so we certainly hope it isn't dropping the ball on its plans.

acerferrari 4000

Right now I’m writing from my laptop. I use it only when I’m not at my desk, but I hate it because makes me “available”.  

Every time something came up and I had to do change my schedule. This drives me nuts 

The Ferrari 4000 is based on the AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology. The AMD PowerNow! technology extends system battery life while HyperTransport technology improves overall performance.

Features include a 15.4″ TFT wide display supported by an ATI Mobility RADEON X700 graphics chipset with 128MB DDR memory on PCI Express architecture, 1GB DDR memory and 100GB HDD, as well as a DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive unit and a 5-in-1 card-reader, all managed by the powerful AMD processor.

I know a website Dealtime.co.uk which is helping tech-savvy shoppers to find the right product at the right price. Searches a range of goods from digital cameras, notebooks, LCD TVs, iPods, through laptops to notebooks. Includes product reviews.

Dealtime.co.uk is a comprehensive comparison shopping service that helps you use the power of information to make the best shopping decisions

silver amazed

The solution is a PCMCIA or Express Serial Card. This card will provide a standard DB9 serial port for any laptop. Most laptops today come with a USB Serial Port and there is no reliable solution on the market to connect your CNC machine via a laptop using this USB technology. We have researched for years now looking for an USB to Serial adapter to reliably work under Windows 2000 and XP. Most have problems sending data to and from the CNC and working with 32 bit applications. Why take a chance?

RS-232 serial PCMCIA and Express cards are an ideal solution for any laptop adding additional ports to a wide variety of portable systems. Because they share electronic fundamentals with native bus architectures such as PCI and ISA, they function exactly like standard COM ports and can be addressed as such by most application software. In addition, their small size and the fact that the card itself can be left inside the computer at all times, make them practical choices for the most ported portable systems. Once added, it shows up in Windows Device Manager as COMM 1 or any desire port you choose.

RS-232 serial PCMCIA cards are designed to provide maximum performance while taking up minimal system resources. For high performance is heavy multitasking environments, the cards are implemented with 16750 UARTs containing 64-byte FIFOs. This along with special clock-multiplying features enables data transfer rates as high as 921.6 kbps. (4-port cards still use 16550 UARTs for standard 115.2 kbps speeds, but are due for an upgrade soon.) The cards also conserve system resources with their low power requirements that maximized battery life. They also have selectable and shareable interrupts, further extending a portable or handheld system's limited resources. And their multi-platform operating support makes them the single practical choice for a diverse fleet of portable systems.

Purchase a PCMCIA or Express card from us today to connect your laptop to any CNC! We can also supply you with an RS232 cable to communicate to your CNC Control. Free technical support is included with every purchase! Visit our "ORDERING" page to process your order today.  

New laptops do not include PCMCIA ports, but are including a new standard called "Express Card". The following picture shows both types of cards. Note there are two Express Card formats - 54 and 34. An Express Card/34 will fit into an Express Card/54 slot, but not visa versa.

Most laptops will also include some sort of blank plastic piece that fits into the Express Card or PCMCIA slot. The plastic piece should roughly match the same and dimensions of the image below.

Intel mobile Metro

Fancy a notebook which is almost as thin as the Motorola Razr phone? Then feast your eyes on the new Intel mobile Metro laptop Intel has been showing off a new laptop that by all accounts is the thinnest in the world. Codenamed the Intel mobile Metro, it's apparently less than 18mm thick--about 6mm thicker than a 

It's the result of a collaboration between Intel and US firm Ziba Design. Judging by these pictures, it's absolutely stunning. The working model will probably use Intel Centrino technology, although we're yet to discover what sort of chipset, processor, memory and storage will be employed. One of the few tech certainties is the inclusion of Wi-Fi.

The chassis, which weighs a mere 1kg, will be a champagne-coloured magnesium alloy and dotted with subtle gold accents. Intel has also confirmed a clip-on folder for the laptop, which will feature a secondary display. This will use E-Ink technology, of the sort used in Sony's Reader, to prolong battery life.

We've no idea if or when it'll reach the market. Intel doesn't actually make laptops (just the bits that go inside them), so we reckon a company such as Asus will take charge of building and selling it, as it did with Intel's Classmate PC.

Power package

Improved workflow with the ultrasound laptop P50 from Siemens At the Medica 39th World Forum for Medicine in Düsseldorf, Germany, Siemens Medical Solutions presents a new laptop-based ultrasound system, the Acuson P50, with integrated echocardiography software. The system is especially designed for mobile applications in cardiology as well as vascular applications and use in the operating room and anesthesiology departments. In addition to these functions, the P50 can be used as a standard Internet-enabled PC that also runs common office applications. With an array of transducers, the system lets physicians bring ultrasound anywhere it is needed.

Lenovo ThinkPad

Lenovo will launch its new laptop “ThinkPad Premium Edition” in Korea. This Windows Vista ready laptop comes jam packed with Intel Core2Duo Processor T7600, 256MB ATI M66GL graphic chipset, and 160GB 5400rpmh HDD. It also has 14.1-inch SXGA+ display with 1400×1050 resolution.

iMac, mini, Pro .

We'd heard rumblings about computer upgrades from everyone's favorite Cupertino-based company, but we didn't expect anything this soon. This morning, Apple announced new updates across its desktop computer and router lines. Although there aren't any significant aesthetic changes or redesigns to the models, the Mac Pro, Mac mini, and iMac all received spec upgrades (e.g. faster chips, improved graphics cards, and more storage), and there are even some welcome price downgrades. Click after the break to get the quick rundown of the new items will deliver better graphics thanks to the NVIDIA GeForce 9400m, increased storage, and lower prices. In perhaps the most significant news to consumers, the friendly-on-the-eyes 24-inch model will now be available for the starter price $1,499, the same price as the previous generation 20-incher. Only need a 20-inch iMac? Prices start at $1,199. (starting price: $2,499) will feature the latest graphic technology and a faster processor than the previous model (for $300 less), enabling it to "deliver up to twice the performance of the previous generation system," according to If you're a power user (heavy video editing, graphic work, number crunching) who hasn't upgraded in a few years, the new Mac Pros look to be a worthwhile -- and relatively budget-friendly -- upgrade.

msi-gt627

MSI introduced today a new gaming laptop which is its first to feature the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS graphics processing unit. It is known as the MSI GT627.

The MSI GT627 makes use of the NVIDIA GPU to deliver what MSI says is well accelerated game physics and video conversion. This laptop runs at its heart, besides the GPU, an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor which can be overclocked. Screen size is 15.4-inches, while the hard drive is 320 GB. A new Sony docking station being made available for VAIOs makes use of DisplayLink technology for USB-enabled displays. It is called the Sony VAIO Docking Station (model number VGP-UPR1) and you’ll find it available now for around $200.

The VGP-UPR1, according to DisplayLink, allows Sony notebook users to connect an analog or DVI display to a laptop using USB 2.0. It supports a resolution up to 1600 x 1200 and works with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit, including support for the Windows Vista Aero interface.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X301 offers what Lenovo says is, on average, nearly 20 percent better performance over the ThinkPad X300 notebook due to the latest DDR3 memory and the latest Intel Core 2 Duo ultra low volt processor. The X301 also offers choices of either 64 GB or new 128 GB solid state drive storage as well as support for both DisplayPort and VGA.

droll_500x439

Ask anyone what a laptop, a notebook, or a netbook looks like and the chances are they’ll tell you it has a screen and a keypad and is sort of square shaped but maybe with rounded corners.

Ask them to elaborate on differences between the various models and you are likely to hear about differences in thickness, whether it’s light or heavy, and the sizes of the screens. Some may come out and speak about fancy features like raised keyboards or multi card slots, data security maybe.

Then you have those who would focus on the different colours and trims, whether it’s glossy or matt what they are made of and so on.

The point I’m getting at here is that basically all laptops, no matter what you call them, follow the same basic bookish design with maybe a few added touches, features or specifications that differentiate them from the rest.

You would be pretty shocked if someone came out and said that a laptop is cylindrical or tube shaped and that it rolls up like a scroll. It might even cross your mind that they were completely mad or some alien creature from another planet.

That just isn’t an image the masses are likely to have in mind at all when you mention a laptop and yet that is exactly the design that computer scientist and designer Hao Hua has come up with.

Ok so it’s still at the conceptual stage and not a reality yet but what an exciting idea.

According to Hao Hua the digital roll as he calls it is “the next generation laptop design”. Personally, I can’t wait.

The laptop would have a flexible OLED screen, a roll-able keyboard and the straps double up as USB outlets.

It even has a mouse and a webcam that you can attach to your wrist. This really is computing on the go at its best.

Hao has even put a lot of thought into the cooling system which is equally as innovative as the rest of the design.

AlphaSmart NEO

RLI have today announced a new laptop range called the AlphaSmart NEO 2 Laptop's at the 28th annual National Educational Computing Conference it includes all of the features of the
original NEO -- distraction-free writing, keyboarding and quizzing -- and adds exciting new features. The laptop also offers two-way communication through the use of RF technology which will maximize classroom participation, enable instantaneous formative assessment, and provide wireless printing from anywhere in the room. NEO 2 also runsseveral RL software programs, which includes the companies flagship product Accelerated Reader. The NEO 2 laptops are very competitively priced. Ordering information and details about the NEO 2 capabilities can be found by visiting http://www.alphasmart.com/K12 and will be available March 2008 with the AR Renaissance Place Version 7.5 at a very competitive price.

laptop latest vershion

Rugged models tend to run a couple pounds heavier than normal laptops, but you can leave that protective carrying case at home. They resist shocks, water and dust and offer all the features a normal user would need.

In fact, they are practically indestructible: Depending on the make & model, think 30 minutes of heavy rain, 40,000 feet of altitude, 40G shocks, dust storms, saltwater mist, 70 degrees centigrade, 95% condensing humidity and enough vibration to shake a truck apart.

They even have nuclear battlefield models for the military designed to withstand the EMP – ElectroMagnetic Pulse – created by nuclear explosions. This pulse destroys unprotected electronics The SUV of notebooks is as heavy in the hands as on your pocketbook, however – models start around $3,000. Also, you should be prepared to accept last year’s technology at least – many still come standard with Pentium III processors and Windows 98SE.


Manufacturing prices are dropping, however, and shipments of convertible, ruggedized and slate PCs may hit over 9 million units by 2008. That's up 700 percent from the 1.2 million units expected to ship this year, according to a forecast by market researchers. Convertible notebooks are expected to make up the majority of those shipments.

The projected number of convertibles and tablets is small compared with the overall number of notebooks - 62.5 million notebooks ship yearly, a number that is forecast by market analysts IDC to climb to 100.3 million in 2008.

Microsoft, a major backer of tablets, is making the rounds with educators and developers to promote the benefits of tablet-based computing.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 is currently available with the purchase of a tablet-style PC. Users can also get free upgrades at the Microsoft’s web site. The next Tablet OS version is slated to be part of the upcoming Windows Vista Home Premium Edition.

The Premium version, which is based on Vista Home Basic, is similar to the Windows XP Media Center Edition (XP MCE) but adds features designed for tablet PCs such as improved handwriting recognition and ability to use a tablet's stylus to pan through documents.

Only time will tell if these new laptops will flourish like wireless networking or fade away like floppy disks. But in an increasingly tight high-tech market were margins are low and profits are down, expect PC makers to pull out all the stops. They will introduce new and interesting additions to their offerings in a bid to rise above the competition. Who knows? Maybe one day we will all own a rugged, convertible notebook.

Before tossing your desktop to get a sexy, new convertible, remember: you will have to make some sacrifices: Greater expense, shorter useful life – the technology tends to be several months behind the most advanced desktops, virtually no upgrade path apart from more memory and lower overall performance – especially when it comes to games.

slim laptop

Laptop computer screens that flip around to become tablet PCs could be an increasingly common sight near future. Convertibles, as they are called, are the newest and hottest – but not the only - offering in the increasingly diverse laptop market.

A convertible is more than just a laptop with a swiveling screen. The screen also accepts input from a pen just like a PDA – Personal Digital Assistant – or dedicated tablet PC.

Convertibles have given laptops a dual personality – use it normally or flip the screen around and snap it down on top of the keyboard to make a full-fledged table PC. Another cool feature: if you’re trying to show somebody what’s on the screen, you simply swivel it towards them – great for presentations.

With all these cool features, why doesn’t everyone own a convertible? Price mostly – they can cost several hundred dollars more than a standard laptop. Experts predict this will change as more people buy them – economy of scale. On top of that, laptop prices have literally crashed in the last 5 years making them affordable replacements for desktops.

Slate-style tablet laptops – the screen is fixed on top of the unit – are less popular, but widely praised by a select group of die hard scribblers. These units are akin to a PDA, only larger - the dimensions of a standard pad letter-sized of paper - and work in much the same manner.

Table PCs have been around for about 15 years, but sales have always been just a few percent of the total laptop market. To type, you need an external keyboard. Most people prefer typing to writing and – even today – handwriting recognition software leaves something to be desired. Most require a new writing style or a “learning” process.   

Unlike underpowered PDAs, tablet PCs are full-fledged computers capable of running any Windows program. They also cost several hundred dollars less than convertibles and have been on the market longer. Lack of a swiveling screen makes them more robust and lighter, as well, according to proponents.


Another segment in growth is that of the ruggedized laptops. They are attractive to anybody who’s ever dropped or banged an expensive laptop causing permanent damage. Ouch, and get out that wallet: just the screen alone could cost $1000 to replace