LG Electronics launches its 2.5-inch portable hard disk drive called XD1 in Korea market. Coming in Red Wine and Black Pearl colors, the XD1 features a stylish design with sunrise gradation. Equipped with a SATA II interface, it is available either USB 2.0 type or USB + e-SATA combo type. For now, we’ll have to live without a price or release date, but you can look forward to units arriving in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB sizes sometime in the future.
Although its tablet PC lineup may not be as impressive as Fujitsu ’s, Toshiba has put together a solid and diverse array of convertible tablets over the past several years. The Toshiba Portégé M700-S7002 ($1,799 direct) is a convertible tablet that competes with the Fujitsu LifeBook T4000 Series and the ASUS R1, offering a wide selection of bred-for-performance, standard-voltage processors. Although not the lightest model by tablet standards, the M700 has a built-in optical drive to soothe some of the grumbling over its weight.
The M700-S7002 measures 9.5 by 11.8 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.5 pounds. You can’t tell at first glance, but the system has received a considerable makeover from its predecessor, the Portégé M400-S4032. It retains a boxy look, absent any visual eye-candy that might make it look less like a business machine and more like its prettier sibling, the Portégé R400-S4931. But it adds a new hinge design, a widescreen, and a webcam. The optical drive is essentially the reason why tablets like the Fujitsu LifeBook T4210 and the ASUS R1 are thicker and less attractive than those that forgo the drive. It doesn’t help either that the Wacom-enabled screens—the technology that drives handwriting recognition—have sensors beneath the tablet’s surface that thicken the screen and thus increase the tablet’s overall dimensions. So even though the M700 now has a widescreen format and an LED backlight, usually signaling a thinner screen, the Wacom technology counteracts that effect.
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The M700’s built-in optical drive, a rarity in the tablet space, gives you the ability to burn DVDs, watch DVD flicks, and install software. In shopping for a tablet, you have to ask yourself how important these capabilities are to you. If you decide to opt out of a built-in optical drive, there is a wealth of other options. The Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet and the Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 start at 3.5 pounds and 3.9 pounds, respectively. Devices like the HTC Shift and the OQO model 02 bring an alternative method of tablet computing, with their ultra-mobile platforms.
The best part about convertible tablets is their ability to expose a keyboard with one swivel of the screen. In the M700’s case, the full-size keyboard is very pleasant to type on. As for other not-so-conspicuous enhancements, the Portégé R400’s latchless design is carried over to the M700. The rotating screen is locked into position by two pegs near the hinge, in place of a locking mechanism in the front bezel. According to Toshiba, this design will beef up the hinge by 35 percent, holding the screen steady at multiple angles.
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