I want to get a 12.1 in screen SXGA+ slate PC wi

[slatedreamer]

I want to get a 12.1 in screen SXGA+ slate PC with dual digitiser and touch input. The Motion LE1700WT looks to have the best set of available features for my purposes, including a Core 2 processor, WAN card, the ability to go between touch and digitiser input without pressing a button (double tap for touch) – and I have been told that a solid-state (32GB) alternative to hard drive will be available next month. However I also really want good screen appearance/viewing-angles in both orientations and outdoor viewability. Re the last quality, it seems that the dual input WT (WriteTouch) model uses a non-Wacom screen overlay (capacitative, N-Trig) that rules out the Motion ViewAnywhere option. Maybe I could live with that, but I don’t know if the LE1700WT has a BOE Hydis screen. If not, viewing angles etc may not be great? I have looked at the M1300 non- ViewAnywhere vs. M1400 ViewAnywhere post (thanks ChrisParis!) although, after reading the comments also, I am still rather confused, and the technologies may have changes a bit over the last 3 years(?) The TabletKiosk Sahara Slate i440D seems to have a button-toggled (not so desirable, but perhaps OK) dual input which I think can be got with outdoor screen option(?), but no SXGA+, internal WAN or SSD in the near future. Fujitsu Stylistic and Electrovaya Scribbler do not seem to fit the bill either. Sorry for the length of this post, but I feel I am really working “in the dark” as I have never even seen a tablet/slate “in the flesh”, and seem to have little prospects of doing so until I actually buy one (without extensive travel – living in Ireland at the moment; UK Motion distributors were helpful by phone/email, but said they could not even show me one)! Can anyone give me insight re the LE1700WT screen performance, or suggest an alternative product on the market or upcoming that would combine all the bits I want?

[Steve S]

slate: You ask many questions and some of them require lengthy answers. At least some of what you want to know can be found by searching here and at other forums like:

http://www.gottabemobile.com
http://www.tabletpcreview.com
http://www.studenttabletpc.com/
http://www.tabletpc2.com/
http://pencomputing.com/index.html

In particular, Geoff Walker at PenComputing has written an interesting article about LCD screens that you should read:

http://ruggedpcreview.com/3_technolo...notebooks.html

It will give you some useful background information.

Regarding the specific tablets that you ask about, very few have actually seen the LE1700wt, and for that reason, you likely won't get too many comments about it. Both LE 1700 models use the Toshiba SXGA+ screen (I believe). According to the BOE Hydis website, their SXGA+ screen is not yet in production. The Toshiba screen features wide viewing angles (120°?), not quite the ultra-wide viewing angles that BH gets, but probably adequate. Rob Bushway at GBM has seen a WT, but didn't do any rigorous comparisons between the VA screen and the WT screen:

http://www.gottabemobile.com/GottaBe...0TabletPC.aspx

Regarding the N-Trig overlay, common sense would lead one to expect that the ITO coating on the overlay would make the underlying LCD screen a bit less bright. However, it's all relative, and the degree of attenuation may not be very noticeable. Again, when the WT starts to hit the streets, we'll all know more.

The TK i440D is only just now hitting the streets. I had an hour to inspect one at the TK offices in Torrance, CA. If you have not seen it, I wrote about my impressions, in particular the screen, here:

http://alltp.com/content.aspx/c/tabl...in_Sahara-i440

and I addressed a specific question about view-ability here (see the 10th posting):

http://www.gottabemobile.com/forum/f...s.asp?TID=1759

I hope that these various links will help to answer some of your questions.

[slatedreamer]

Many thanks Steve S – very helpful. I have actually spent quite a while looking at all the various tablet forums and had read your main i440 review, although it’s hard to be exhaustive in finding the right combination of search words to use etc., and I couldn’t find a search feature within this site. Hadn’t come across the ruggedpcreview article – very useful also. Although it doesn’t concentrate on tablets, I get the impression that outdoor viewability is compromised with all present screen input overlays; perhaps I should just forget about this aspect for a few years and just get a model with the best combo of other features for present use, although if I thought there would be an SXGA+ Hydis soon I would wait for that. (Forgot to mention that TabletKiosk got back to me yesterday re an email query and said that they are working on an automatic pen-touch switch which they might put into future versions of the i4xx series.)

[Steve S]

<<...I get the impression that outdoor viewability is compromised with all present screen input overlays...>>

slate: That is probably correct, but again, it's all relative. I used the i440D right next to a large picture window on a sunny day, and I had no difficulty reading the screen. Of course, the colors were a bit washed out, but it would be unrealistic to not expect any effects.

<<...if I thought there would be an SXGA+ Hydis soon I would wait for that...>>

...I have heard a story that BH was recently in bankruptcy and is only just emerging now. That would readily explain why their SXGA+ screen hasn't yet reached the market; the higher resolution screen has been on their roadmap plan for quite some time...

See:

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20060913A6040.html

[slatedreamer]

Thanks again Steve S

[slatedreamer]

quote:Originally posted by Steve S

&lt;&lt;...I have heard a story that BH was recently in bankruptcy and is only just emerging now. That would readily explain why their SXGA+ screen hasn't yet reached the market; the higher resolution screen has been on their roadmap plan for quite some time...

so the 12.1in SXGA+ listed on http://www.boehydis.com/eng/03_produ...1&openSubBox=0
has not been used in anything yet?

[Steve S]

<<...the 12.1in SXGA+...has not been used in anything yet?...>>

...Note the second line from the bottom in the spec table: Production - TBD...

[slatedreamer]

quote:Originally posted by Steve S

&lt;&lt;...Note the second line from the bottom in the spec table: Production - TBD...

Aaah...

[Steve S]

PS: Don't feel bad about missing that "little" detail... I completely overlooked it, myself, the first time I navigated to that page. Someone else had to point it out to me!

[slatedreamer]

Yes, the small print


But maybe there is hope for Hydis, in the longer term
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=8721

I’ll have to put myself into suspended animation for this
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=7558