A Tablet PC Gets Small...Really Small

As a fan of really tiny , really light computers, I'm intrigued by Motion Computing's new LS800--an $1899 slate-style Tablet PC that's the size of a paperback book. It's got an 8.4-inch screen and weighs in at about 2.2 pounds. It could never be my only PC (memory capacity maxes out at 512MB, for one thing), but I bet I could slip it into my briefcase and almost forget it was there. Which is how I like to travel.

Strangely enough, the Tablet PC I just bought is a sort of anti-LS800--I ordered Toshiba's Satellite R15, a zaftig six-pounder with a big 14-inch screen, a built-in optical drive, and lots of extras. How come I went with one of the least portable of pen-based portables? Because I want to use it as a drawing tool, and for that particular application, I figured I could use as much screen real estate as possible. (Despite not having not exactly caught on with the masses, tablets have found a following with PC-based artists who love the ability to draw right on the screen.) I expect to use the R15 mostly around the house, as sort of a transportable desktop, so I'm okay with its heft.

Anyhow, here's a picture of Motion's little new machine. (Thanks to Scobleizer for the link.)