Tablet PCs have been around for the best part of a year and a half, so far the takeup has been at best lukewarm so does this second generation unit have something new to offer.
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Certainly using the ultra low power Centrino chip improves battery
life to the point where it can be used for a normal working day
providing you are willing to have slightly less contrast and brightness
on the display.
By providing a USB floppy and DVD/CD combo drive the size and weight
of the unit are within bounds. It is 26x22x3cm and weights only
1.45kilos. It has a slip case but while this is fine for transportation
what do you do with it while using the tablet?
Unlike some tablets it has a keyboard and you could use the unit as
a standard notebook as it also has a perfectly useable trackpad mouse.
Press two buttons at the base of the screen and this rotates 180
degrees to allow the unit to become a full fledged tablet. However you
can still use Journal for writing or drawing on the screen even when in
notebook mode.
The Centrino chip has 1024KB of on board cache and 400MHz front side
bus it comes with two 256MB ram modules. The 40GB hard disc is adequate
and I found it responsive during my tests. The 10.4inch TFT screen was
clear and bright when used on mains, however I would suggest that you
need to see if you are happy with the default settings when run on
batteries. You can of course make your own setting but this will
compromise battery life.
It has a built in wireless network and also a modem for the times
when you are not in a hot spot. It also has a 10/100 port for Ethernet
connection. All the normal ports as well as two USB2 and a FireWire
port.
Recharge from fully discharged takes 90 minutes or 150 minutes in
use. The stated continuous use is three hours, however by careful use
of suspend you probably will just about get a day of use out and
about. If you really need a full day then an additional battery
would be required.
To me this is a good improvement on original models on offer. The
ultra low power chip helps with battery life. The ability to use the
unit as a conventional notebook is to me a very big plus. Perhaps
because my hand writing is poor or maybe just my age but I do like a
keyboard. The trackpad is excellent and in notebook form the slightly
smaller 10.4inch screen does not really cause a problem. As a tablet it
also works well and the transformation between modes is easy. The Dabs
price is £1245.
Link : http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page4.do?dau22.oid=2956&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=17&ctx1=UK&crc=3029696742
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