Two Toshiba M700 Reviews

Both Gotta Be Mobile and Tablet PC Review have recently published their reviews of the Toshiba M700 tablet PC:

Both are positive and both have reinforced my decision to buy the M700 as soon I can afford it. Things may, of course, change over the next few months but I doubt any manufacturer will come out with a machine that tops the power, versatility, and customisation options of the M700.

Twelve Days of InkSeine

Ken Hinckley (The Alpine Inker) works at Microsoft Research and, over the last couple of weeks, he's been running an awesome series of blog posts called Twelve Days of InkSeine.

InkSeine (pronounced ink-sane) is a really cool inking application that Hinckley is working on (which is not yet an official Microsoft product). It's one of the only products around that has been designed for inking and not just a keyboard-and-mouse based product that has inking support. For example, a lot of its commands (like cut, copy, paste, search, etc.) are all pen-flick based and not menu-based.

It's still in private beta but will released to the public in 15 February. To find out more about it, check GBM's InkShow on it. Better yet, once it is available, download and try it. Assuming you have a tablet PC, of course.

Want!

It costs as much as a high-end tablet PC (AU$3,890) but the 21.3" Wacom Cintiq is one heck of an LCD screen that also has on-screen pen input capabilities:

21" Cintiq LCD Screen

Of course, that model is designed specifically for creative uses. I'd probably end up getting the 17" PC-720 instead (AU$2,195):

17" PL-720 LCD Screen

Or, at the very least, the 15" DTI-520 (AU$1,760):

15" DTI-520 LCD Screen

Or maybe I'd compromise and get the 20" wide screen Cintiq 20WSX (US$1,999), though that's not available in Australia yet:

20" 20WSX LCD Screen

Ah, choices, choices.

Of course, all this has to wait till I've made my millions.

Soon, soon...

The Toshiba M700 Benchmark Scare

Like me, other power users are finding that the Toshiba M700 has most of they've been looking for in a tablet PC. It is:

  • Powerful -- more so than the Lenovo X61t or the Fujitsu T4220
  • Highly configurable -- like the X61t but unlike the T4220
  • Relatively inexpensive -- costing less than an equivalent X61t or T4220
  • Feature rich -- with more features than the X61t or 4220

And though it suffers a little in the weight department (but only by a couple of hundred grams or so) and its screen resolution isn't as high as some of us would like it to be (though that's offset by the wide screen), its has lots of bonus features -- like that wide screen, a touch screen, a webcam, and a built-in optical drive -- that more than make up for its shortcomings.

Because of all this, we were very surprised when Tiffany Boggs from Tablet PC Review posted its benchmark scores and, strangely, they came out very low. It's PCMark05 score, for example, was 3,399 while an equally spec-ed t4220 scored 4,171 and a lower spec-ed X61t scored 3,473. Most of us had expected the M700 to score somewhere in the mid-4,000s. Curious and concerned, a number of M700 owners ran the same test and came up with similar, low-3,000 PCMark scores.

Quickly the Tablet PC Review forum participants realized that this wasn't a hardware issue but a software one. That, fortunately, was when GBM's Matt Faulkner stepped in. First, he did a clean install of Vista and, lo and behold, the M700's PCMark05 score jumped to a whopping 4,528. Then, he went a step further and installed each system driver in turn, re-running the PCMark test after each reboot. After doing this for about four hours -- and working late into the night since he had to return his review unit the next morning -- he found the main culprit.

It turns out that the Intel Robson Technology Driver for Windows Vista -- a driver used to run the Turbo Memory that wasn't even in that machine to begin with -- was messing the system up. In fact, with the cleanest possible working install, one of the forum participants managed to get a PCMark05 score of 4,737!

What does all this mean? It means that the Toshiba M700 rocks and that, if you want to squeeze the most out of your machine, it is best to do a clean install. Importantly, it reinforces the fact that we have an awesome tablet PC community. If any of you read this post: thanks a million!

Mathematically, Waiting Better than Walking

As reported by IT Wire:

According to three U.S. mathematicians, if you are waiting for something, like a ride on a bus, and its late, keep on waiting rather than walk to the next bus stop.

[...]

They developed a mathematical formula that tells you how long you should wait before trying something different. They found that when both options seem reasonable, you should stay where you are and do nothing but continue waiting.

And with the exception of extreme cases:

[Even] if it is frustrating to continue waiting, you are better off doing so.

You learn something new every day, huh?

Toshiba M700 Live Un-boxing

Earlier today, GBM's Matt Faulkner did a live un-boxing of the Toshiba M700 tablet PC (via Ustream). What was really cool, though, was that I took part in it by asking Matt some questions which he then answered. And though that's not quite as cool as having access to the M700 myself, it was certainly better than nothing. (Matt: if you read this, thanks a million.)

I'm now almost a hundred percent certain that this'll be the tablet PC that I buy for myself a few months from now. The question I now need to answer is: what hardware configuration do I go for? Unfortunately, that doesn't have an easy answer.

As Faulkner mentioned in his video, for example, going from the 2.4Ghz to the 2.6Ghz processor actually increases the price of the tablet by about US$300. On the other hand, when you went from the 2.2Ghz to the 2.4Ghz, that was only a US$100 price increase. I wonder, then, how much of a difference that additional 0.2GHz (to get to 2.6GHz) actually makes. This is something I need to investigate.

I also need to investigate Turbo Memory some more (the current consensus seems to be that it's not worth it) and I wonder whether it's worth it to get 4GB or RAM (or 3GB, or should I just stick with 3GB?). Fortunately, those questions -- and their answers -- don't need to be addressed for another six months or so. And by then, things might be different (and someone may already have answered them).

Meanwhile, Aaron Hall just got his hands on the M700 and he's posted a review of it on his blog.

The Police - Live in Concert!

So yesterday (Australia Day 2008), Nadia and I watched The Police live in concert at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG).

The Police at MCG - Tickets

Nadia's already written one blog post about it -- and I suspect she's going to write one or two more -- so go there for most of the concert information. I'm just here to upload a few photographs. Oh, and for completeness' sake, to document the complete set list:

  1. Message in a Bottle
  2. Synchronicity II
  3. Walking On The Moon
  4. Voices Inside My Head
  5. When The World Is Running Down
  6. Don't Stand So Close To Me
  7. Driven To Tears
  8. Hole In My Life
  9. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
  10. Wrapped Around Your Finger
  11. De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
  12. Invisible Sun
  13. Walking In Your Footsteps
  14. Can't Stand Losing You
  15. Roxanne
  16. King Of Pain
  17. Encore 1: So Lonely
  18. Every Breath You Take
  19. Encore 2: Next To You

Coming back to the photographs, here's a photo of one the opening acts, Fiction Plane, performing (not that you can see the band clearly, but still). This is a couple of hours before The Police started their set, by the way, which is why it's still light out. I took a photo of Fergie's performance as well, but that came out all blurry.

The Police at MCG - Fiction Plane

Impressive stage, isn't it? And it's not even lit up yet! Here's what it looked like from the side. Note the threatening rain clouds.

The Police at MCG - Stage

The Met Office had predicted thunderstorms for that evening but fortunately, other than it being a humid night, there wasn't any rain in that part of the city.

Finally, here's a photo taken during the first song (Message in a Bottle).

The Police at MCG - Message in a Bottle

I didn't take too many photographs after that, and the few that I did take aren't all that good. That's okay, though: I was there to watch and enjoy the show, not document it!

All in all, it was a fabulous concert. And, once it's up, I'll post a link to the concert review that The Age will inevitable publish.

Geeky Home Cinemas

Deputy Dog has a list of 10 Stunning Ultra-Geeky Home Cinemas. Being a geek myself, I fully intend to build me one of those as soon as I can afford it -- though I probably won't go as far as these people have. Mine will based on the bridge of the Enterprise D, of course -- a bit like #5 on the list -- but it'll be a lot simpler and a lot more practical. Something like this, maybe:

Ameel's Home Cinema

Check back with me in about five years and I'll let you know how it turned out :)

Toshiba M700 Now Available in Australia

The Toshiba M700 -- currently my first choice tablet PC -- is now available in Australia from various Toshiba Resellers. Unfortunately, that's an off-the-shelf unit that is less powerful, non-configurable (except for a RAM upgrade), and higher priced than the models available in the US.

Fortunately, you don't have to order it from there. Thanks to the good folk at Tablet PC Review forums, I've discovered that you can order a higher spec-ed machine from the US and have it shipped to Australia for a considerably lower price from Portable One.

Also on those forums is a good hands-on comparison between the Fujitsu T4220 and the Toshiba M700 -- one in which the Toshiba comes out in front. Mostly covered in that comparison are the five reasons why the Toshiba has recently trumped the Fujitsu as my first choice tablet PC: the M700 has (1) a faster processor, (2) a wide-screen display, (3) a backlit LCD display, (4) a touch screen, and (5) the option to upgrade to a 7,200 RPM hard drive. The inclusion of a webcam is a bonus.

Wolfgang's Vault, Police Tour

Next Saturday Nadia and I will watch The Police live in concert at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). While looking for news, information, set lists, and videos of the current tour I found two interesting things:

Tracking Tours

First, the place to go to for the low down on The Police's 2007-2008 tour is this blog. It contains set lists, reviews, and videos and is, basically, the perfect way for us to get all psyched-up for the upcoming concert.

While I was there, by the way, I discovered that other bands' tours have been documented in a similar fashion. And after going through those sites, I now really want to go to a Bruce Springsteen concert as well.

Wolfgang's Vault

Second I discovered...well, a gold mine of live music in the form of Wolfgang's Vault, the largest online collection of historical concert recordings (and musician interviews). Ranging from concerts performed between 1960 and the late 1980s (so far), the Vault lets you stream thousands of hours of audio for free over the Internet (though you need to register with the site first) and the number of artists up there is immense. I've just spent the last couple of hours listening to Bruce Springsteen, U2, The Police, Peter Gabriel, and Tracy Chapman to name just a few. This site is awesome! :)

FYI: Bill Graham (originally, Wolfgang Grajonca, hence the nickname which then became the site's name) was a music promoter who virtually invented the modern concert business in the 1960s [1]. Graham died in 1991 and, in 2003, an entrepreneur by the name of Bill Sagan bought Graham's entire archive of music and memorabilia for over $5m. He's since starting putting all of the audio bits online (legally, of course) where anyone can access it. You can read more about it on Wikipedia.

If there's only one website you visit this week -- and assuming you're a big music fan -- make sure it's this one.

Bummer: tx2000 Out of the Running

Tablet PC Review's Tiffany Boggs has reviewed the HP tx2000 tablet PC and she likes it:

The tx2000 is going to be a hit with all the mainstream users. HP gave this model just what it needed. The active digitizer and touchscreen make this a true Tablet PC now, but it still maintains the entertainment notebook status unlike any other model on the market at this time.

I would agree with her completely: it sounds like a really cool machine. And yet...and yet, it is out of the running as the tablet PC that I will buy [1]. Why? Because it meets one of my deal-breaker conditions: no Page Up and Page Down keys on the bottom right hand side of the keyboard:

 Photo from Tablet PC Review

(Picture from the Tablet PC Review, er, review mentioned above)

And this from a wide screen laptop!

Why is this a deal-breaker for me? Because working with text documents (i.e. doing lots of typing) is one of my primary activities on my laptop and I simply cannot work without the Page Up and Page Down keys on the bottom right hand side of the keyboard (or even in a vertical line along right hand side). I know I can't because I tried, with little success, for about a year on a laptop that I got from work. And so there it is: one more tablet PC eliminated from the running.

By the way, the other keyboard problem that has always irritated me, but I've found that I can adjust to, is having the Function key as the bottom leftmost key. I much prefer having the Control key in that corner, with the Function key immediately to its right -- the way it is in the tx2000 keyboard, in fact -- but I can live with it not being that way.

I'm also worried about having to use a track stick (like in the Lenovo X61t) instead of a track pad -- since I've never used a track stick for an extended period of time before -- but I'm sure I'll get used to it. As it is, I generally use a separate optical mouse most of the time anyway. The issue only comes up now because I expect to be a lot more mobile with my tablet PC and so I won't have space to use the separate mouse (and I can't use my finger or the pen all the time either).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[1] I'm nearing the end of my MBA (I graduate exactly four months from today) and, assuming I get a job within a month of graduating, it is highly likely that I will be seriously researching and preparing to purchase a tablet PC for myself about six months from now! :)

Blogging Sites Banned in Pakistan...Again

The Emergency Times is reporting that popular free blogging sites like Blogspot/Blogger and WordPress have been banned in Pakistan. That means those URLs have been blocked at the Pakistan Internet Exchange (PIE), which is the only point of contact that almost all Pakistanis have with the 'net since all ISPs are required to route their traffic through it. For more on this, check out the Wikipedia article: Internet Censorship in Pakistan.

Of course, as anyone who is familiar with the Internet knows, blocking (or filtering) URLs in that way is pretty much useless. There are always workarounds. In fact, The Emergency Times lists two:

And there are many, many more. Just search for "anonymizer" on any search engine.

More on the HP TX2000

Finally, there's some more information on the web about HP's new TX2000 tablet PC (i.e. not just specs). Again, it's thanks to the GottaBeMobile.com crew at CES 2008 and, as with the Toshiba M700 (which I wrote about earlier), they've done a quick hands-on video review of it.

Stuff learnt from this video: (1) it's a multimedia tablet aimed squarely at the consumer market; (2) it is a little heavy, though; (3) the multi-touch features seem to work well and the wide screen display seems really nice; (4) it has some nifty multimedia features like a TV tuner, S-video output, Altec Lansing speakers, and a video camera; and (5) it has a 64-bit, dual-core AMD Turion processor. Other than that, it's a pretty standard tablet PC. Oh, and it's pretty decent on the pricing too, coming to about US$2,500 for a maxed-out version (while a maxed-out Toshiba is for about US$2,600).

However, as with the Toshiba, I can't wait for GBM to do full hardware Inkshow on this machine. I'm also looking forward to GBM's Dell XT Inkshow. Once all three go up, I'll do a side-by-side comparison of my current top-five -- the Lenovo ThinkPad X61T, Fujitsu LifeBook T4220, Toshiba Portege M700, HP Pavilion Tx2000z, and Dell Latitude XT -- and see how they stack up against each other. That should be fun.