This Week in Mobile Tech Manor #80: Tale of Two Laptops

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The end of another week is here so time to share my world with you. My home office, Mobile Tech Manor, was the scene of the arrival of two laptops this week. Most of my time was spent with my head down writing for the site, and I didn’t muck around with my software tools as usual. I must admit the week was not hectic without all the software tweaking. It let me focus my attention on the two new toys.

Touch and Don’t Touch

Both of the new laptops were sent by Lenovo for evaluation purposes. The two notebooks are very different and will appeal to different audiences. The IdeaPad S10-3t is the third generation of Lenovo’s netbook line, and has a swivel display with a multitouch screen. It is a nice netbook that is one of the smallest units with a 10-inch screen you will find, although the swivel screen adds a little thickness to the notebook when the lid is closed.

The S10-3t makes a good tablet in slate configuration, but the capacitive digitizer used for the multitouch precludes writing on the screen unless a special stylus is used. Inking will not be precise even with this method, so if handwriting on the screen is important you’d better look at another solution. With very few exceptions, for a notebook to have both good touch control and ink handling a dual digitizer configuration is required. That is rarely found on a device less than $1 – 2k, unfortunately.

There are no mouse buttons on the touchpad, as they are incorporated into the pad itself. This is well implemented and works surprisingly well. The lack of buttons makes it possible for the unit to be as small as possible which is a good trade-off in this case.

The other laptop that arrived in Mobile Tech Manor doesn’t have a touchscreen, but it’s unusual in its own right. The ThinkPad X100e is the first budget device in the ThinkPad line, and Lenovo has produced a good compromise in features and ThinkPad benefits for a reasonable price.

The biggest compromise taken to build this 11.6-inch ThinkPad is using an AMD Neo processor instead of the usual Intel solution. The Neo processor is more powerful than the Intel Atom processor used in netbooks, but at a cost of poorer battery life. I am getting between 4.5 and 5 hours per charge on the 6-cell battery the loaner system is using. The AMD processor runs warmer than Intel processors, but not problematically so.

The best feature of the X100e is the chiclet keyboard; it is one of the best I’ve used on an ultra-portable. The keys feel very natural and give a great typing experience without compromises.  This coupled with having both a trackstick and trackpad provide a versatile control interface. It is amazing that so much was crammed into such a small package weighing barely over 3 pounds.

iPad reservation

A lot of folks have indicated they preordered an iPad for delivery on April 3, which makes sense given the big sales numbers that are being thrown around. I didn’t preorder one, I insist on handling one first before I pull out my credit card. I did reserve one online, so on April 3 I will head to the Apple store near me and play with it. I suspect I’ll be buying one, but this way I can be sure first.

I am a fanatic about the slate form and can’t wait to try an iPad. I believe a device that is so thin and light will revolutionize the slate form. There will be compromises in the iPad due to the iPhone OS being used, but I believe the usefulness will far outweigh any shortcomings. It’s definitely a new phase in the evolution of the tablet, and I’m excited about that. I can’t wait to see the Android-based tablets that will start to appear this year, as well as the HP Slate. I love tablets, if you haven’t figured that out.

The iPad I have reserved is the 32 GB Wi-Fi model. That amount of memory is more than enough for my needs, and I don’t want the 3G capability at all. I will use my Verizon MiFi with the iPad, just as I do with other devices, so no 3G for me.

e-Book of the week

I read a novel by one of my favorite novelists, and I enjoyed it. The Thomas Berryman Number is a different type of mystery by James Patterson, that tells the tale of an assassination in the south from the viewpoint of several of the characters in the story. It bounces around the event after the fact and is a good mystery.

Wrap-up

That’s my week, I hope you enjoyed sharing it with me. Next week looks to be a busy one, so until then take care of yourself.

Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

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