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The Tablet PCs are Turning
US News & World Report · April 25, 2004

Late last year, Cox Communications in Omaha, Neb., needed new computers for its field technicians. In the past, the telecommunications company had chosen laptops over newfan­gled tablet PCs, the so-called next generation of portable computing. But after inspecting the new Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 ($3,200) computer, a durable shock- and water-resistant gadget that resmbles an oversized personal digital assistant, the company had a change of heart. “As far as we’re concerned, the tablet represents the future of computing,” says spokeswoman Lisa Turner.

Times change - and so have the tablets. The newest crop of these fledgling devices capitalize on the best portability features of their finicky predecessors while adding on wireless functions that make them more practical. And, although most of them are priced for business use, a U.S. News test of four models found there’s plenty of appeal to the home user even if the devices haven’t quite cleared every hurdle.

Tablets still haven’t tackled their chief obstacle, the stylus vs. keyboard trade-off. Through tapping on the screen with a stylus — the way one does with a PDA — tablets could eliminate the keyboard altogether, mak­ing the device even easier to use than a laptop while you’re on the go. But writing a long e-mail or report with a just a stylus can be tiresome.

Thus some tablets, such as Viewsonic’s V1250S ($1,895), have a convertible key­ board that flips onto the screen’s backside when not in use. Others like Motion Comput­ing’s M1400 ($2,000) offer a detachable key­board that plugs in through a USB port.

But now that wire­less computing is more common, tablets are becom­ing a more appeal­ing option for Web-surfing, read­ing e-mail, or other situations when you want to check a few things quickly. Unlike laptops, you can use tablets with­out sitting down and folding them outand tablets screens are easier to read than those on PDAs and cellphones. The models from Panasonic, Viewsonic, Mo­tion Computing, and HP’s Rugged Tablet PC tr3000 ($3,450) all have integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi standard commu­nications, so you don’t have to bother hooking up to a printer or storage device if you’re in range of compatible devices.

Although each of the four models had clear, bright screens and reasonably long battery lives (up to five hours with the Toughbook), they still have a way to go before they’re ready for prime time. The Viewsonic, for example, tended to get uncomfortably warm after a few hours of use - too hot to rest on the lap. The HP Rugged Tablet ran a little slow, and its screen edges didn’t always respond well to the stylus. The Motion Computing’s USB keyboard, which snapped on as a peripheral, proved awkward to use. The Toughbook? It just looked more like a Hummer - and was almost as expensive as one.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.