Are tablets the next best thing?

The Toshiba Tecra M4

It's a laptop that can be converted into an electronic slate for scribbling notes in digital ink and converting them automatically to text.

A clever trick no doubt, but four years on from its debut, the Microsoft-backed tablet PC hasn't set the computing world on fire.

In fact, according to research group IDC, a mere 1.2 million tablet PCs from a variety of computer makers will be sold this year, just two per cent of global "portable" laptop sales.

Most of the tablets in the market are employed in health and insurance companies, which use specialised software packages to take advantage of the tablet PC's note-taking features.

But Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates isn't perturbed at the tablet PC's slow adoption.

He's convinced tablets will eventually outsell regular laptops, which means they'll have to appeal to a wider audience.

"We need to keep investing, both in the hardware and software side, before it moves into the mainstream," he said. "I totally believe in the tablet," Gates said last month.

IDC agrees with Gates and suggests the release of the next Windows operating system, code-named Longhorn, and its tablet PC version may kick-start growth.

IDC is picking 2007 as a big year for the tablet PC with 4.9 million tablets expected to ship.

That is forecast to rise to 9.7 million units in 2008, a respectable 11-per-cent chunk of the portable laptop market.

A lingering price premium on tablets of $1000 or more is keeping the corporate world and intrigued consumers from making their new laptop purchase a tablet purchase.

And since the first tablet PCs appeared in 2001, that price differential hasn't decreased.

But the tablet PC market has had a second wind of sorts with the release this year of new models and the endorsement of Chinese computer maker Lenovo.

Better tablet design, wireless networking and improved battery life are boosting the tablet's fortunes.

IBM ThinkPad Tablet X41

Lenovo inherited the iconic ThinkPad laptop brand when it purchased IBM's computer division last year. The sturdy, black ThinkPad is a favourite of the corporate workforce. They're not the fastest or most stylish laptops available, but are considered good value for money and integrate well into company networks. The trend continues with the ThinkPad X41 Tablet.

The same angular design prevails. The tablet's case is coated in that familiar magnesium alloy. The classic ThinkPad keyboard layout remains and the X41's body has a tapered design where the front of the laptop is thinner than the rear.

When the 12.1-inch XGA screen is spun around, the X41 switches to tablet mode and the push of a button sets the screen to portrait or landscape mode. It's a clean design - the only annoyance being that the screen isn't quite flush with the laptop's frame as it is with other tablet brands.

The X41 uses the XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 software, which is a fairly stable platform now that a fix has been released for a bizarre bug that had memory "leak" from the system when the stylus was used. The problem affected some tablet users who didn't power off their laptops at night.

Windows Journal is the flagship application on the tablet and using it is comfortable on the solid X41. The screen has a tough coating and doesn't flex under the weight of your hand and the tap of the stylus.

The stylus does take some getting used to but is no harder to use than those of other tablets.

Scribbling pages of notes is a breeze on the X41, but converting those notes to text is still hit and miss, showing up the still considerable limitations of handwriting to text translation.

"Lenovo" came up as "Lenore" for me and several words had to be tweaked in the correction box that pops up after each translation. Make sure you proofread your documents after translation before sending them on.

Powering the X41 is an Intel Centrino 1.5-gigahertz processor, and a range of combinations of memory and hard-drive capacities starting at 256 megabytes and 40 gigabytes are available. But the X41 is usually fitted with 512MB of memory and a 60GB hard drive.

A fingerprint reader is built into the screen, a nice addition that removes the need to re-enter passwords to log on.

The X41 also contains a computer chip that holds password details and can cross-reference them with the biometric information for greater security.

There's no firewire or S-video connectors on the X41, but Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, two USB ports and a SD flash memory card slot are included.

Thrown in also are Bluetooth 802.11b/g wireless networking, making the X41 fairly well connected.

Most impressive is that all of this is packed into a portable laptop that weighs only 1.6kg.

Its lightness and the fact that you'll be able to squeeze over five hours of battery life out of the X41's standard battery make the tablet a versatile little machine.

Unfortunately at that size, the X41 can't accommodate a built-in CD/DVD combo drive, which will cut down on the tablet's multimedia use.

Lenovo doesn't revolutionise the tablet with the X41 but introduces a form factor that isn't well executed by other tablet makers. An impressive debut.

Toshiba Tecra M4

Further upmarket is the M4, a stylish tablet from Toshiba, which has been a devoted supporter of the tablet format. The M4 is a different beast to the X41, boasting a 14.1-inch screen and substantially more weight (2.8kg). There's a built-in CD and DVD burner, and the M4 has a separate Nvidia 6600 graphics chipset included. The graphics-hungry computer game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ran well on the M4, which has a bright high-resolution SVGA screen.

As a laptop, the M4 serves well as a desktop replacement or a device that can be used in the home or office. The toughened screen has a glossy, smooth surface that the stylus slides over easily. As a tablet the M4 does everything outlined above, but it is slightly too bulky to be practical as a portable slate for use around the office.

Twisting the screen around, you can watch DVDs on the M4 without having to hunch over its keyboard. You can surf the web over a wireless connection by using the stylus to navigate.

It's fantastic for home use, but I'm less convinced that the M4 is the ideal device for the boardroom, especially given that the power demands of its extra features limit battery life to three hours.

Toshiba does have other tablets such as the M200 ($4584) with a smaller profile that are better suited to business users.

An Intel 2.13GHz processor powers the M4, which sells in New Zealand with a gigabyte of memory and an 80GB hard drive. Toshiba pays great attention to wireless networking and wired connections.

The M4 is expensive, but it has everything needed in a laptop. As a tablet it's not as convenient as the M200 or the ThinkPad X41, but raises possibilities for tablets to be used as entertainment devices. That's where Bill Gates wants us to take them.

* IBM ThinkPad Tablet X41 Price: $4475 (pricespy.co.nz)

Pros: Sturdy and lightweight; good battery life and security functions.
Cons: Slightly under-powered; external optical drive.
Herald Rating: 8/10

* Toshiba Tecra M4 Price: $5726

Pros: Multimedia friendly; powerful; stylish.
Cons: Heavy; short battery life.
Herald Rating: 7/10