Toshiba Portégé R400-S4931

I've always envisioned Apple implementing a rotating hinge and a digitizer screen on the Apple MacBook 13-inch (White). Needless to say, such an announcement won't be coming any time soon. But with its Portégé R400-S4931, Toshiba offers a sweet alternative. The R400-S4931 looks very similar to the MacBook 13-inch, complete with a piano-white finish and a gorgeous 12-inch widescreen. Toshiba goes the extra step by adding a rotating screen and tablet capabilities, courtesy of the new Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate operating system.

Toshiba knew that, because of its looks, people would immediately associate the R400-S4931 with a MacBook 13-inch. That's why it made sure to emblazon the "Toshiba" logo in bold letters across the lid. The piano-white finish is undeniably sexy and doesn't draw as many fingerprints as would a black finish like the one found on the HP Pavilion tx1000. Brace the system on your forearms and you'll realize how light it is. With long dimensions (12" by 9.5" by 1.25") and a 12-inch widescreen, the system still weighs a mere 3.7 pounds, about the same as the Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet. It's also at least a pound lighter than the Portégé M400-S4032 (Toshiba's other convertible tablet) and the tx1000.

The R400-S4391 doesn't overwhelm you with a ton of features. It follows the same philosophy as the X60 Tablet: Keep the machine as light as possible and still deliver a great tablet experience. For instance, it doesn't have a built-in optical drive, unlike the HP tx1000 and the Toshiba M400-S4032. (There is an optional external dual-layer USB DVD drive for $149.) You get two USB ports, both of which are located in the back. A wireless on/off switch comes in handy for flights. There is also a fingerprint reader located on the screen, alongside the navigation dial, and several other quick-launch keys. The unit has a Trusted Platform Module built in, and you can use it to take advantage of Vista Ultimate's Bitlocker feature (which lets you encrypt a folder or an entire partition, preventing intruders from accessing private information), but getting it configured is no easy task. You'll have to repartition your drives (NTFS format) and make sure you have an updated BIOS.

Unlike the Portégé M400 Series, the R400 has a widescreen format. Its finish is similar to the glossy type found on the tx1000 and perfect for media mavens who devote their time watching movies and videos (on sites such as YouTube and MovieLink or from the iTunes store) and tinkering with photos and videos. The system's extended width also means you get a full-size keyboard, though I did find it a little springy. The touchpad and mouse buttons are well designed, and I found them more responsive than the ones on the HP tx1000.

Like all convertible tablets, the R400-S4931 has a rotating screen that lies flat against the base. The digitizer pen (in matching white) can be pulled out from the front bezel. Although it has a comfortable feel, I would have liked to have seen a thicker middle and material that has traction for a better grip, as on the ThinkPad X60 Tablet's pen. Interestingly, the top of the lid doesn't latch onto the base. Instead, it has a locking mechanism involving two linchpin-like modules on each side of the rotating hinge. This configuration still felt fairly secure, anchoring the bottom corners of the screen, and it minimized the "wobbling" effect when you flip the screen back to laptop mode.

Much of the excitement over this tablet centers on Vista. The R400-S4931 launches with Windows Vista Ultimate, which includes the Tablet PC Edition and a host of other features. Tablet functionality is arguably one of the most improved features in Vista. I tried out several applications, including Windows Journal, Microsoft Office 2007, and StickyNotes, and the overall experience was enjoyable. The notion of using pen gestures, or "flicks," to navigate text pages is smart, but hard to grasp. You'll have to create near-perfect strokes to make use of this feature. I was actually impressed with the operating system's ability to recognize my borderline-legible handwriting. It does a great job with script and error corrections. Furthermore, there's a built-in training program that teaches the system how to improve its reading of my chicken scratches, er, handwriting.

The R400-S4391 takes advantage of Vista in other ways. Along the front bezel, you can find an LCD panel that displays text using a feature in Vista called SideShow. The idea here is to relay e-mail messages, RSS feeds, and text messages over to a secondary display. The display is big enough only for text, but it consumes little power and can be kept on without booting into Vista. The data scrolls across this display, much like a stock ticker. You can flip through the messages using the three buttons next to the display. For e-mail applications, you'll have to set up an account and configure SideShow for use with the account. You can also get information on this secondary screen about the strength of your wireless signal, date and time, and battery life remaining. Other "gadgets" can be downloaded for use with the display, but so far, there are only a few available via Microsoft's site. The ones that were loaded on my test unit included Windows Mail (successor to Outlook Express), Microsoft Outlook 2007, Toshiba's own proprietary notification gadget, and Windows Media Player 11. So far, however, I haven't been successful at getting these gadgets to work with the display.

You can tell that the tablet and the operating system are still in their early stages. I couldn't get some of the network features to work efficiently. For instance, the R400-S4391 has built-in wireless WAN from Verizon's EV-DO, but Internet connection was intermittent, and there were times when there was no data transfer even though the signal was strong. Toshiba is also notorious for preloading a slew of applications, mostly its own, so getting everything to run smoothly is still a work in progress. When the EV-DO connection was working properly, I was able to download data at 758 Kbps in Manhattan.

Performance, unfortunately, is a drawback. The R400-S4391 gives you enough horsepower to run Vista Ultimate and the 3D interface. It does so by implementing 2GB of RAM and dedicating a full 192MB of that RAM to the shared Intel graphics chipset. The 1.2-GHz Ultra Low Voltage Intel Core Duo U2500 processor has lower power than the Low Voltage Intel Core Duo on the Lenovo X60 Tablet. If you're using this machine primarily for handwriting, editing photos, and watching YouTube, though, you'll be just fine. The 43-Wh battery is relatively small compared with the extended ones on the Lenovo and HP, but you can add another 43-Wh slice underneath the base to boost battery life. The extra battery is a little clunky and hard to attach, but combined with the standard battery it will give you close to 6 hours. The standard battery alone drained in 2 hours 45 minutes while running some of my DVD and Web-surfing tasks.

At $2,599 direct, the Toshiba Portégé R400-S4391 is one of the most expensive convertible tablets on the market. What you get is a machine that takes full advantage of the features in Windows Vista Ultimate, including enhanced tablet functions, better handwriting recognition, Vista SideShow, and Bitlocker encryption. You also get a design that raises envy in the Apple community and a chassis that's light enough to make Lenovo raise its eyebrows. In fact, among tablets without an optical drive built in, it's second only to the X60 Tablet. With its light weight, glossy widescreen, and snazzy looks, the R400-S4391 should appeal to media junkies who crave true mobility and who want to do more than just spreadsheets and note-taking.

Company
Toshiba America Inc
http://www.toshiba.com

Spec Data
* Type: Media, Ultraportable, Tablet
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
* Processor Name: Intel Core Duo U2500
* Processor Speed: 1.2 GHz
* RAM: 2 GB
* Weight: 3.7 lb
* Screen Size: 12.1 inches
* Screen Size Type: widescreen
* Graphics Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
* Storage Capacity: 80 GB
* Networking Options: 802.11a/g
* Primary Optical Drive: External