The only Tablet that's also a "proper" Laptop! (Toshiba Portege 3500)

Member Name: grovesjo

Product:	Toshiba Portege 3500
Date:	13/01/04 (156 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Connectivity - best I've seen, Slim, Not too heavy

Disadvantages: Not the fastest laptop - especially at the price, Only one speaker - unforgivable

I've had a Portégé for about six months now, after being stitched up to the tune of £1,200 on eBay buying one which never arrived. My wife felt so sorry for me that she sent me off to PC World to buy one.

What a machine!

It has two basic modes of operation - Laptop and Tablet. I'll describe each of them for you, Dear Reader...

Laptop Mode
This is using the machine like a normal laptop. One opens the case in the normal way and this reveals a normal LCD screen and a keyboard and "scratch card" touchpad. The Power swictch is mounted on the lower left of the screen, and there are a further four buttons along the lower right of the screen which allow one-touch access to the Task Manager, scroll up, enter and scroll down. The pen (more of this below) also works in Laptop mode.

Tablet Mode
This is the exciting bit...
You tilt the screen until it is upright, then twist (carefully) the whole screen 180 degrees clockwise, flip the catch round 180 degrees as well, then shut the case. As you close the case you now have the display on the top and it flips around from "landscape" to "portrait" format.
But now, of course, the keyboard is hidden behind the screen and all you can see is the four buttons and power switch. But at what is now the bottom of the screen is a pen in a slot in the case. You press the dimple on the right of the pen and it pops out. Now you're cooking!
Holding the pen like a normal pen (pointy end downwards!) you tap on the screen and double-click an icon like you would with a mouse. The details of what happens next are a function of the Operating System, not the computer, so I won't waste your time going deeper.

As laptops go, it's not the speediest on the block - but it's adequate for my purposes.

Battery life is fair (I've had 3 hours) and although it gets hot it's not unbearable on the knees!

It is quieter than m
ost laptops I've seen.

It is also quite slim and not too heavy.

I'd buy it again, quite happily.

Connectivity
Simple-to-use Bluetooth amd Wireless.
Infra Red (iRDA)
2x USB
SD Slot built-in
Compact Flash Slot built-in
PCMCIA Slot built-in
External CD-ROM drive (via PCMCIA Adaptor)
Mic Socket (3.5mm)
Headphones Socket (3.5mm)
10/100Mbps LAN
Video out to monitor
Kensington-style security slot
External volume control

Indications
Power ON
Wireless
Hard Drive
Charging
Battery Low

Summary: