Jewish World Review August 29, 2003 / 1 Elul 5763
By Mark Kellner
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com |
Motion Computing, an Austin, Texas firm founded, oddly enough, by
veterans of nearby Dell Computer, has come up with a brilliant new
addition to its Tablet PC implementation: a lid that doubles as a
keyboard and computer stand.
Those who recall my earlier review of the Motion tablet -- sold to
consumers and small businesses by Gateway -- will remember my praise
for the device. It's compact, lightweight (about 3 pounds), powerful
and perhaps the best implementation of the Tablet PC concept, which was
originated by Microsoft.
There was a keyboard available for the original product, but it was
external, it did require a docking station or easel to prop up the
tablet, and -- this is a personal prejudice -- the built-in touchpad
gave me fits. A casual strike of the touchpad sent the insertion cursor
to a random spot on a document and my typing went awry.
Scott Eckert, Motion's president/CEO, told me recently that most of the
firm's customers use the sylus for input on the device. But even he
admits that, at the end of the day, or on an airplane, it's nice to
have a keyboard available for major writing or e-mail wrangling.
Hence the new device, which sells for $129 or as a $99 upgrade when
purchasing a Motion tablet. It replaces the standard lid (which
protects the tablet screen when the computer is not in use and clips on
to the rear of the computer for use) with one that holds a full-travel
keyboard, two mouse click-buttons and a little "pencil eraser" style
joystick for moving the cursor around.
The keyboard connects to the Motion tablet via a small cable that
stores in the lid. If you want to work on the tablet in "landscape"
mode (the way most computer monitors appear, the cable connects
directly. Also included is an extender that lets you turn the tablet on
its side and have, in effect, something I've never seen before: a
portable computer whose screen is in "portrait" mode. That's the way a
letter-sized sheet of paper or a similar-sized portrait photo would
appear.
As a colleague remarked last week when I showed off the device,
computer monitors got "hooked" on landscape mode because the early CRT
displays aped television sets. (Although some of the earliest word
processors and similar devices had screens that resembled a sheet of
paper.) No one thought to change the view, as it were, and so we're
mostly stuck in landscape mode.
Truth be told, however, the portrait view of the Motion tablet can get
a little, shall we say, messy when other cables are connected. Plug in
the power supply and a network cable and the setup looks a bit tangled.
Of course, being a device made for 802.11b wireless networks, the
Motion tablet may not have to be tethered to a network all that often,
but perhaps something can be done to eliminate the keyboard-to-tablet
cable. (Did I hear someone say Bluetooth?)
This, however, is a minor quibble. The great plus of this setup is that
you can work with the Motion tablet in restricted spaces, such as a
coach airline seat, with greater ease and comfort. The keyboard's
"feel" is good enough for my ham hands, and I found myself making few
mistakes out of the box. There's no separate numeric keyboard, but
rather an "embedded" one that can be toggled on and off for dedicated
spreadsheet work.
The easel that holds the tablet in either position is not only sturdy,
but ingeniously constructed to fold into the lid for later use. And it
appears there's enough spacing between the keys and the display screen
to avoid the problem of finger oils (we all have them) and other dirt
marring the tablet.
This new option adds value and convenience to a great Tablet PC, of
which more information can be found at www.gateway.com or
www.motioncomputing.com.
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JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
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