In hopes of fostering a topic that will actually

[Railfanner]

In hopes of fostering a topic that will actually drive some lively discussion here (lets face it, this M275 board is a little slow)

What new features/functions/specs would you like to see in a new and improved M275? Or, what would you give up to make it lighter? See the list for other thoughts...

- Lighter weight? Target?
- New features? What?
- New looks (ID)?
- Smaller or larger screen?
- User buttons? KB or touchpad changes?
- Resolution? Audio?
- What else? (get creative!)

Maybe if you make a case for features, GW will build it... I'd like to see some rationale behind ideas input, its always more fun than just a list of specs.

Hope this generates some response, (and maybe some thoughtful arguments, rubarbs, discussion... [bday]!

-Rail

[eightyfiv]

Hmm...
My $0.02 would be a screen with a better viewing cone (things looks solarized and banded for practically any angle except ordinary laptop mode) and a few ergonomically placed buttons on the side for scrolling, enter key, and other such quick actions, without having to use the pen while in tablet mode. Also, better speakers would be nice; I think these speakers sound kinda tinny and soft, and lots of laptops these days do far better.

I don't think it makes sense to push the weight or the screen. I see the M275 as fitting the market niche of Big Tablet, and it does that very well. It would lose its identity and significance to me if it tried to compete with the lighter, smaller masses. On the other hand, any bigger and it would be practically impossible to carry around.

--eightyfiv

[kookiecan]

"M275 board is a little slow," and we can thank Gateway for that since they put out this great product!

I agree with 85 about the weight. Seems pretty difficult to come up with any significant upgrades since the M275 almost mirrors a non-tablet laptop both in price and in hardware. Improved resolution would be a plus barring you can handle the increase in price (I've found out you can never have enough pixels). The multi-memory card reader gives me the impression that a picture hobbyist may prefer this tablet for that feature alone, so it would be nice to have pixels that can handle the true color of a six magapixel camera.

Having used the M1200 for a year gave me a good idea of the big differences between a slate and a convertible. A slate is built with the understanding that tablet mode will be primary thus the programmable buttons are super, especially when reading long documents...it's better to use a button to scroll instead of continuous dragging. The M275 definitely needs better programmability for its buttons. Shortcuts are cut down considerably when going from a standard laptop to tablet mode.

Both my M275 tablets could use an overhauled design for the latch. The current design for the M275 latch reminds me of a refrigerator magnet holding up too many business cards and about to fall at any moment.

So many variables to consider when making a wish list to accommodate tablet technology so I'll end mine by wishing that gateway would allow for increased configuration decisions by the consumer. I'd sell all my laptops on Ebay (even my wife's) if it meant I could purchase an M275 with an outdoor, view any angle ultimate resolution LCD. If I could upgrade to premium speakers. If I could opt for a killer sound and video card. If all this was possible I'd be about 95% satisfied. The other 5% would only be fulfilled if a new breed of the M275 matched my Alienware desktop's power to process.

What is the big deal? Can't a laptop manufacturer just chop one line of their top laptops right down the center, slap a hinge on and drill a hole to hold a digitizer? XP Service Pack 2 takes care of the inking, so lets get it on! I'm tired of paying top dollar for tablets and having a classmate come in with a laptop equipped to replace a high powered desktop, yet they paid just about that same price for my snail paced M275.

[mattzeiler]

I think there should be more buttons that can be used in both tablet and laptop mode. They should be placed on the side of the screen or mainboard. These should definietly include the buttons already on the screen plus play, stop, pause, ffwd, rwd, etc buttons plus a scroll wheel that can be used to scroll page and has the push in for a button design to switch to a volume control. I think that would be nice. Otherwise I think the m275 is perfect for a student (my) needs.

[hizz]

more power? if its gonna fill the "Big Tablet" niche, might as well give it more power. a separate graphics chipset, the option to upgrade to sxga a lá Dell (i wish i had taken that upgrade.), better viewing angle and VA (though the last 2 go for all tablets barring of course the m1400va)
take for example the Dell Inspiron 600m. If you took that, and added tablet features to it, it would make almost the perfect student tablet.

EDIT: oh and they should make it available in ye olde europe :D

[Von Iobro]

I did A LOT of research before I purchased my first tablet pc. And in the end it was a close decision between the Gateway M275 and the Toshiba M200. My final decision was based upon the display. While the M200 only has a 12.1 inch display, it has a dedicated graphics processor that allows 1400x1050. No other tablet can match that. Although I was tempted by the Gateways built in DVD/CD-r drive and 14.1 inch screen. However, usability of the screen won me over.

So, my suggestion, for the next generation Gateway tablet pc, (at least teh convertable model) would be to be an early adopter of the new pci express standard to allow user a choice to a graphics card. At the least, include anything better than an integrated (RAM hogging) graphics solution in the next Gateway M275 incarnation.

[hizz]

that seems to be the #1 reason for people to pick the toshiba. the video subsystem is awesome. 1400x1050 powered by a GFFX5200 can't be beat by anything out there. Acer and Gateway really need to do something for their next model (acer obviously hasnt with its 303), it is costing them business.

[Mike-R]

I'm an architect / project manager on an Army base. I want a tablet pc (or laptop?) for cad, meeting notes, real estate investing on site, etc.

1) Would the Toshiba M200*, with its higher resolution and video card, be better, or the Gateway 275*, with its larger screen and interior cd/dvd? Note: after 35 years of hand drafting (and computers) my eyes don't focus very quick, and I'd rather not strain them too much.

2) I want Gateway to come out with a TPC with 14" min screen (preferably wide), with higher resolution and nice video card. Do you think Gateway will do this soon?

Thanks, Mike

[Railfanner]

Problem is, Gateway doesn't make Tablet PC LCD screens. They have to go to LCD suppliers like LG, or Samsung (or many others) to get a screen. And I think the reason they don't have higher resolution in the 14" M275 panel is because it doesn't exist. The LCD has to be special for a Tablet, it can't just be any available high-rez LCD that you slap a digitizer behind, and voila! Tablet! And I think that the numbers of folks demanding a 14" high rez tablet panel is just not enough to drive the manufacturers to create one. Kind of a chicken and egg deal - if they did make one, people would love it. I could be wrong, but I think that's why we are not seeing a 14" high resolution Tablet LCD panel.