Viewsonic ViewPad 1000 Tablet PC
by Rick Smith (November 15, 2001)
Tablet computing (or pen computing as it was once known as) is gaining a resurgence in popularity. While many industry pundits don't fully understand the power of this technology, I have been using pen-based technology since 1995 and know that it works well. Viewsonic has recently developed two new models that are currently shipping -- the ViewPad 100 SuperPDA and the ViewPad 1000 Tablet PC. This article describes the ViewPad 1000 Tablet PC. (The ViewPad 100 SuperPDA will be described in an upcoming article.)
Combining ViewSonic's knowledge of color monitors and LCD panels into a mobile product, they have created the Viewsonic ViewPad 1000 Tablet PC. The ViewPad 1000 can be used in the office, on the road or at home just like any "keyboard-only" laptop. It features a 10.4-inch, high luminance SVGA TFT touch screen LCD with 800 x 600 resolution. It functions in both conventional landscape or portrait (like a sheet of paper).
Key features of the Viewsonic ViewPad 1000 Tablet PC are:
USB port
PC Card (PCMCIA) ports
stereo speakers
built-in microphone
800 MHz Intel Mobile Celeron processor
128 MB of memory
built-in WAN, LAN and Wi-Fi wireless LAN connectivity
weighs just 4 pounds
integrated digital camera
wireless keyboard with an integrated pointing device
An optional ViewPad dock adds one-touch access to common computer peripherals, network connectivity, integrated CD-ROM and AC power adapter. The Viewsonic ViewPad 1000 Tablet PC runs on Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Operating system. It retails for $1,995 and is currently shipping. It is backed by a one-year warranty on parts, labor and backlight. (I think they need to have an optional three year warranty to match other laptop manufacturers and provide consumer peace of mind.)
Copyright
© 2006 Rick Smith All rights reserved.
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